Newbie from NC

[nachoqtpie]

Hello from the Crystal Coast of NC!

I'm completely new to the art of soap making. I'm here to learn all I can learn so I can eventally sell them in my shop.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys and becoming a master soap maker!

 

[Hazel]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[nachoqtpie]

Much thanks!

 

[nachoqtpie]

So... I did some reading in the "business" section.... and after doing the reading, I'm going to make sure that I don't rush into selling my soaps! I honestly had no idea that it would be that hard to get into! I know that there are several local people that are soapmakers and I was going to see if I could take a few "lessons" from one of them. One in particular comes to mind. They have an apiary, which is another thing I wan to learn (beekeeping). I'm so very glad that I found this foum before jumping head first into selling soap!
Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!
I will continue with my cande biz tho... I really enjoy it, and our last name is perfect for it! :-D

 

[IrishLass]

Hello, and welcome!

I'm glad to hear you are taking the cautious approach. Soap-making is a lot of fun, and the mechanics of it are very simple, but there's a definite learning curve to producing a great soap that you'll be proud enough to sell. It's definitely not a hobby for the microwave generation, that's for sure! First, not only does it take time and much experimentation to develop a formula you're finally happy with (not including the time it takes to cure), but more time on top of that to make sure you have a consistent product that will stand up to different challenges, one of which is the test of time itself.

My advice to new soapmakers is to first research as much of the ins and outs of the craft as you can, make lots and lots of soap and take lots and lots of notes, don't be afraid to experiment, avoid even thinking about selling until a year of abundant and fruitful soapmaking has gone by- and best of all- to have fun doing it!


IrishLass

 

[nachoqtpie]

Thank you! I was weighing the options for both melt and pour as well as cold/hot process. I want to learn both, I know that for sure. Is MP "easier" since you're not working with the lye? Both of my kids want to learn as well and I don't even want to think of a 13 year old boy with ADHD and an 8 year old girl in the kitchen anywhere near lye! :shock:

I know that there are some really cool things you can do with MP as well. Like the little loofa soaps! Those things are really neat! I told husband I wanted to grow some loofa and he looked at me like I'd grown another head! Lol

 

[Chay]

Hello, welcome to the forum!

 

[IrishLass]

Is MP "easier" since you're not working with the lye?

Yes- M&P is much easier (and much safer around kids and pets) since no lye is involved in making soaps from it. You just melt it down, add your goodies to it such as fragrances and colorants, etc, and then pour into your molds.

I know that there are some really cool things you can do with MP as well. Like the little loofa soaps! Those things are really neat!

Yes- you can get pretty creative with M&P. I used to do M&P in my early days of soaping, and my favorite soaps to make were the 'aquarium' soaps using clear MP and plastic fish and plants. My son and nephews were younger then and they loved recieving my aquarium soaps. I even made a 'chicken noodle soup' soap once using clear MP with shea MP cut up to look like noodles and chicken pieces. My youngest nephew still talks about that soap to this day. He thought it was so cool. It looked like real soup but it was soap.

I told husband I wanted to grow some loofa and he looked at me like I'd grown another head! Lol

IrishLass

 

[nachoqtpie]

Lol!! Both the kids now want to make chicken noodle soup soap now! Lol

I have seen recipes for "teenager" soap too. I thought that would be really neat since most of my neices and nephews are teenagers or close to being teenagers. I figure that they would really like something to help keep their faces clear.... and I would probably use it too! Could you make it in a loaf insead of a round mold?

Another silly newbie question.... how do I know how much soap a recipe is going to make? Like if I bought a 2# loaf, and the recipe says it makes 4 4 oz round bars, how do I calculate to make it fit the 2# loaf? Or... better question... how to determine how much a recipe will make? If it has 12 oz of palm, 12oz castor, 12 oz water, and 2 oz lye (obviously I just am making this up on the fly... I wouldn't actually USE this recipe.. lol) but how would I determine how many molds/big a loaf to have ready?

 

[IrishLass]

Lol!! Both the kids now want to make chicken noodle soup soap now! Lol

I have seen recipes for "teenager" soap too. I thought that would be really neat since most of my neices and nephews are teenagers or close to being teenagers. I figure that they would really like something to help keep their faces clear.... and I would probably use it too! Could you make it in a loaf insead of a round mold?

Yes- you can make any type of soap, i.e., M&P or CP or HP, in loaf molds to cut into rectangular bars.

Another silly newbie question.... how do I know how much soap a recipe is going to make? Like if I bought a 2# loaf, and the recipe says it makes 4 4 oz round bars, how do I calculate to make it fit the 2# loaf? Or... better question... how to determine how much a recipe will make? If it has 12 oz of palm, 12oz castor, 12 oz water, and 2 oz lye (obviously I just am making this up on the fly... I wouldn't actually USE this recipe.. lol) but how would I determine how many molds/big a loaf to have ready?

That's where online soap/lye calculators come in handy. I use this one:

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

To resize a recipe to fit your size mold, all you have to do is convert the recipe into percents instead of ounces or lbs, etc... which is very easy to do using the calculator above. Once you have converted it to percents, then you can further convert the recipe into any size you want. You can also do it very easily by hand. Here is an excellent tutorial on how to do it by hand:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldp ... ercent.htm

Also- check out Summer Bee Meadows - it has a lye calculator and a handy recipe resizer that helps you determine how to customize your recipe to fit your particular molds (you have to type in your recipe first before it takes you to the resizer):

http://summerbeemeadow.com/content/lye- ... pe-resizer


HTH!
IrishLass

 

[nachoqtpie]

Wow!!! Thank you! Those will be very handy I'm sure of it! <3