old pictures

[karon L adams]

I was looking for my old cutter pics today. Didn't run across those but I will eventually. But I DID run across some of our old pics. I thought you guys might get a giggle. some of our old large batch soap making.

 

[amd]

Holy Soap Balls, Batman! I can't even comprehend how that works!

 

[karon L adams]

This was in my first commercial space. but, all of this began in my kitchen then living room

 

[SaltedFig]

Impressive volumes (looks like heavy work, and yet you are spotless and look so cool as you work )

Now we've seen your old photos - are you going to show n tell your current setup?
(First thing I'm going to look for is the swing arm for the super-size blender ... and see if I can spot what model you are using )

Thanks for sharing karon - I really like "behind the scenes" photos

 

[karon L adams]

Oh, I don't make soap anymore. I sold the business. I had an auto accident and, yes, it WAS heavy work. and so I sold the stock and went on. I am not just hanging out here and will answer what questions you may have. not certain if I can be much help, but I'll answer what I can

 

[Dawni]

I wouldn't necessarily call that a large batch...... More like, gigantic? Humongous? Ginormous? Haha

I'm with amd, can't even begin to imagine the hows..

I'm also with SaltedFig.. I was admiring how cool you looked in the pic, as if you were just casually stirring sugar into your coffee lol

Lastly, I'm curious to know if you've come across some old soap pics, of soap made in this very interesting soapmaking space.

 

[karon L adams]

HAHA! I never thought of myself as "Cool". my mom took these for our then website so I DID look a little more erm, neat, than most days I might just tell you guys the story of "Naked Soap" one day. anyway, to give you the labels for these pics: the first one is opening the barrel of Coconut oil, then 4 shots of putting the lye into the mixing tank. a quick handstir, though I think that was BEFORE the lye went in. I only really had to use the hand paddle at the very beginning to make certain all the oils were uniformly melted and mixed and then at the end, to make certain that the saponification process had happened uniformly in the tank.

the next shot is the finished soap. 400 pounds, all saponified, then draining it from the mixing tank to the buckets. each bucket had a mark on it to show me how much 20 pounds was. you can see it on the clear ones, the black bit of electrician's tape.

The last shot is the lined molds waiting on the tables. the jars in front of them were the add ins for each batch. the bucket of my base recipe would be measured, then the contents of the jar, whether veg juice, essential oils or whatever as well as any colorant I planned to use, already mixed into it's carrier. we blended the mix ins in the bucket, poured about half the soap, put the colorant into the remaining soap in the bucket and poured that then swirled.

 

[dibbles]

Wow! Thanks for sharing

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Thanks for sharing, Karon. So happy you joined SMF. Got any more "old pictures"? Would love to see them. So sorry about your accident. That must have been tough. If you don't mind my asking, where did you sell? Did you have a brick & mortar store?

 

[karon L adams]

every online business is a brick and mortar business somewhere. But I was mostly online. I started in my kitchen in 1990. THAT was an adventuresome time. I cannot even remember WHY I decided to make soap. I just remember thinking, "My grandmother, who lived on an isolated farm in Texas with a 3rd grade education, made soap on her front porch. it CANNOT be that hard.

I spent about a month doing research. drove an hour one way from Atlanta to UGA and spent time in their non-circulating rare books section. found several old texts published in the 1800's. since they were WAY out of print and copyright, I was able to xerox them. I still have the copies. and took them home and taught myself how to make soap. Did a LOT of experimenting and finally came up with my recipes.

Back then, there were no ready made anything. I bought coconut oil from popcorn suppliers, until the crazies tried to make it illegal. there was a time that some of the diet extremists were convinced that "Tropical Oils" were poison and lobbied the government to ban them from importation. that made it harder to find. my first barrel of coconut oil, my husband had to drive to Savannagh GA to pick up. eventually, we were able to get the barrels delivered to atlanta. and when we moved to Chattanooga, we were finally able to get them delivered here. but, it was....fun, back then.

we designed out own molds. I hadn't discovered butcher paper, yet. had my old molds made from plexiglass. we put them together with wood braces and all thread and coated the corners with GOBS of vaseline. crazy days.

this was just as the web was taking off. I began on Compuserve teaching soapmaking on the old "Crafts" forum. the owner of the forum eventually set me up with a soapmaking section. I ran it for about 15 years until CS began to fade away.

the business grew, took over my house, then moved into commercial space until I was finally able to buy a building. then I was able to teach classes through the local college continuing ed. and, l;ater, of course, sold the business. Some days I miss it. then I look at these pictures and remember how backbreaking making 400 pounds of soap was. Originally, I had that giant tank in my LIVING ROOM! ah, good times...

 

[Jeboz]

What a brilliant story..... Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[MGM]

w Some days I miss it. then I look at these pictures and remember how backbreaking making 400 pounds of soap was. Originally, I had that giant tank in my LIVING ROOM! ah, good times...

You are straight up amazing!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Oh my. What a journey!

I made my first soap in 2003 at age 60. Also self-taught from all the books I could get my hands on from the library. I was lucky... by then the internet had arrived and there were a few soapmaking sites. Remember Walton Feed? "Soap Making the Way We Used to do it."? It's long gone but there were wonderful pictures of the old days when women stirred cauldrons of soap out in the yard for days. Majestic Mountain Sage was also up and running so supplies were readily available. After my first batch of soap ran out a year later, I joined an on-line forum in 2004 and the rest is history. I wasn't remotely interested in going into business. Been there; done that. It's still a hobby for me that I thoroughly enjoy. If only I had more time to soap!!!

 

[Dawni]

I loved reading that.. Then at the end of it I was thinking, if I had that in the livingroom I'd have baby soap and dog soap... Literally!

Thank you for sharing @karon L adams, and whenever you feel like typing that much again feel free lol I would love to read it.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

And so the epic continues... ?

 

[karon L adams]

majestic mountain sage was a woman I taught to make soap. and she and I don't get on. we were working on a project "together" and when we were finally ready to go public with it, she cut me out, took all the info I had given her and used it to start her business. selling herself as the "Original". and everything she sold was stuff she had gotten from me, info from me, my recipes and my sources. needless to say, we never spoke again.

She's also why, when I would recieve my weekly phone call (and I mean weekly) from people who would say, "Hi! I'm planning to start a soap business. tell me everything I need to know about making soap and where to find all the wholesale Supplies". I finally started telling them I'd be happy to do so. I had a small busisiness start up package I offered. it was $25,000.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

majestic mountain sage was a woman I taught to make soap. ... everything she sold was stuff she had gotten from me, info from me, my recipes and my sources. needless to say, we never spoke again.

OUCH! This must have happened often in the early days of soap making ventures. I've heard similar stories over the past 15 years. So sad, really.

... I had a small business start up package I offered. it was $25,000.

Brilliant!

 

[Christine Beale]

I was looking for my old cutter pics today. Didn't run across those but I will eventually. But I DID run across some of our old pics. I thought you guys might get a giggle. some of our old large batch soap making.[/Q]

When I grow up I want to be like you!! I thought my 15 lb batches were big. That is just awesome and thanks for sharing!!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Just ran across this thread while looking for something else.