Opinion on bar sizing - need photos

[AAShillito]

So I am almost at the point where I can put a decent chunk of Nurture rewards towards a multi bar cutter. I do about 1/2 my soaps with frosted tops so I'm hesitant to buy one off etsy unless someone here can for sure recommend. My issue is that I feel my bars shrink during curing so would I be better paying the extra money for a 1.25" wire spacing on a NS cutter? Does anyone here cut both sizes I could see side by side as a comparison? Thanks!!

 

[TheGecko]

My issue is that I feel my bars shrink during curing so would I be better paying the extra money for a 1.25" wire spacing on a NS cutter?

I was doing 1" bars, but between planning and curing, my bars were falling under my stated weight. This is a problem since I have my labels mass produced with the weight on them. Right now I'm using a Single Bar cutter so adjusting isn't a problem, but eventually I will need a multi-bar cutter.

 

[AAShillito]

I was doing 1" bars, but between planning and curing, my bars were falling under my stated weight. This is a problem since I have my labels mass produced with the weight on them. Right now I'm using a Single Bar cutter so adjusting isn't a problem, but eventually I will need a multi-bar cutter.

So what size are you cutting to match your labels?

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I'm using a hand made single cutter that I can cut at any thickness' after the soap cures it's shocking how much they shrink. I'm now trying to cut just a little over a 1" I may go as wide as 1.25" cause my soap label usually are premade & if the weight is off I gotta reprint them. The older the is the more it will shrink.
Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[TheGecko]

So what size are you cutting to match your labels?

It's not so much the physical size of the label as it is the weight of the bars. My labels are pre-printed with everything but the name of the soap...company name, "Artisan Soap", where it's manufactured, weight of the bar in grams/ounces, ingredients. I did it this way so I could order them in bulk and not have to worry about wasted labels if a FO was discontinued or I quit making a soap because it wasn't a good seller.

The cut on my soap is 1" x 3.375" x 2.5" and after a 6 months weighed over 4oz. Since I wasn't planning on having soap in inventory for more than 6 months, I put 4oz on my labels. But then I started tidying up my bars by beveling and planning and even though it's just a little bit of soap, it adds up pretty quickly and after 6 months, my bars weigh less than 4oz. So the choice is either to sell my bars at 3.5oz or cut them at 1.25".

 

[Megan]

So I am almost at the point where I can put a decent chunk of Nurture rewards towards a multi bar cutter. I do about 1/2 my soaps with frosted tops so I'm hesitant to buy one off etsy unless someone here can for sure recommend. My issue is that I feel my bars shrink during curing so would I be better paying the extra money for a 1.25" wire spacing on a NS cutter? Does anyone here cut both sizes I could see side by side as a comparison? Thanks!!

I use a 1.25" cutter because of the boxes I use. I have a 1", a single bar, and a 1.25" though because I have issues with commitment to my packaging. My 1" is a nurture soap multibar cutter and the 1.25" is from bud haffner. I like both equally.

 

[Sudzy]

So I just started making soaps a couple months ago, so please forgive my not so pretty soaps and take my advise with a grain of salt. I’ve been playing around with both sizes and I really like the 1.25 better. It’s still curing so I haven’t used it yet, but it’s nice and chunky and feels perfect in my hands. I don’t sell them, but I feel like if I did - the size alone would help set me apart.

 

[AAShillito]

So I just started making soaps a couple months ago, so please forgive my not so pretty soaps and take my advise with a grain of salt. I’ve been playing around with both sizes and I really like the 1.25 better. It’s still curing so I haven’t used it yet, but it’s nice and chunky and feels perfect in my hands. I don’t sell them, but I feel like if I did - the size alone would help set me apart.
View attachment 61495

Thank you!!!!

 

[Ladka]

TheGecko and Megan, thank you for giving your bar dimensions.

 

[Megan]

I also think it depends on your bar's other dimensions as well. If you do a frosted top you might find the 1.25 inch to give you waaay to big a bar. It sounds like this is for selling, so you have to think, would your customers be willing to splurge on an 8 ounce + bar?
I do mostly flat tops right now (again, because of the boxes I have) so 1.25 works great for me...If I want to do a frosted or fancy top, I think I would still use my 1 inch because those still almost always come out over 6 oz a bar.

 

[TheGecko]

I also think it depends on your bar's other dimensions as well. If you do a frosted top you might find the 1.25 inch to give you waaay to big a bar. It sounds like this is for selling, so you have to think, would your customers be willing to splurge on an 8 ounce + bar?

It works for Royalty Soaps. High tops are her specialty and she always sells out...and not because she makes a small amount of soap. Her business is big enough that she has a good dozen full-time employees. And she makes more than just soap.

I do mostly flat tops right now (again, because of the boxes I have) so 1.25 works great for me...If I want to do a frosted or fancy top, I think I would still use my 1 inch because those still almost always come out over 6 oz a bar.

I keep my tops very low key too since I use boxes. I had done a swoopy spoon dealy on a couple of soaps one weekend, only to find that they wouldn't fit in the box without planning it down and then it just looked wrong. I prefer a simple 'infinity' swirl...with or without a mica drizzle. I do have a soap that has a 'whip cream' topping, but it's taken from the main batter.

 

[Megan]

It works for Royalty Soaps. High tops are her specialty and she always sells out...and not because she makes a small amount of soap. Her business is big enough that she has a good dozen full-time employees. And she makes more than just soap.

Yes, but my point was she cuts 1 inch bars and her bars are more like 6 oz or so. If she cut to 1.25 inches she might have 7 or 8 oz bars (which she probably could still sell given her popularity). Customers generally don't understand they are getting more when the shop down the way is selling for $6 a bar and someone else is charging $10 even if it is more soap.

I'm not bad mouthing high tops at all, I just think high tops are better cut a little thinner. I like doing high tops every once in a while too, and for the first year most of mine were high tops.

 

[AAShillito]

I guess high top is the wrong term then for me. They are more of a "medium top" The issue is I use frosting and embeds. Sometimes both. I've attached my current loaf and another example. When I cut at an inch
they still seem like they shrink a ton. I can't afford both an inch and 1.25 inch cutters .

 

[AAShillito]

It's not so much the physical size of the label as it is the weight of the bars. My labels are pre-printed with everything but the name of the soap...company name, "Artisan Soap", where it's manufactured, weight of the bar in grams/ounces, ingredients. I did it this way so I could order them in bulk and not have to worry about wasted labels if a FO was discontinued or I quit making a soap because it wasn't a good seller.

The cut on my soap is 1" x 3.375" x 2.5" and after a 6 months weighed over 4oz. Since I wasn't planning on having soap in inventory for more than 6 months, I put 4oz on my labels. But then I started tidying up my bars by beveling and planning and even though it's just a little bit of soap, it adds up pretty quickly and after 6 months, my bars weigh less than 4oz. So the choice is either to sell my bars at 3.5oz or cut them at 1.25".

My apologies I meant size to match the weight on your labels. I see you're doing 1.25"

 

[Megan]

All soap is going to shrink. Depending on your water content, you could have it shrink less. Do you use full water (whatever that means lol)?

My 1 inch bars cure to about 15/16" and I have a similar loss (1/16") on my 1.25 in so it ends up being around 1 and 3/16". This is using a 33% lye/water solution.

 

[earlene]

Personally, I prefer thicker soap, so if I was your customer, the thicker the better. I have always preferred larger sized bars of soap. The only time I want smaller bars is for traveling and for hand washing. But for bathing, I prefer big chunky soap.

I know this is not what you are asking, but there is a way to determine how much your net weight will be. Marie Gale wrote a very useful 2-part article that gives two effective methods for doing so:

https://www.mariegale.com/calculating-net-weight-soap-part-1/
https://www.mariegale.com/calculating-net-weight-soap-part-2/
It may help you to choose the width or you cut, if you have a general idea of the net weight of your bars after the cut.

What are you using now to cut your bars? Do you already have a single bar cutter? Or do you use a knife or bench scraper? Either way, it may help in your decision making process, to weigh a bar that is 1" thick and another that is 1.25" thick, then weigh each of them (new, right after the cut.) Then do the calculation of what the net weight will be using the Weight Loss from Water Evaporation method in part 2 from the above link. That will not tell you the final width, but it will give you an idea of your net weight for your bars for the two width options.

 

[AAShillito]

Personally, I prefer thicker soap, so if I was your customer, the thicker the better. I have always preferred larger sized bars of soap. The only time I want smaller bars is for traveling and for hand washing. But for bathing, I prefer big chunky soap.

I know this is not what you are asking, but there is a way to determine how much your net weight will be. Marie Gale wrote a very useful 2-part article that gives two effective methods for doing so:

https://www.mariegale.com/calculating-net-weight-soap-part-1/
https://www.mariegale.com/calculating-net-weight-soap-part-2/
It may help you to choose the width or you cut, if you have a general idea of the net weight of your bars after the cut.

What are you using now to cut your bars? Do you already have a single bar cutter? Or do you use a knife or bench scraper? Either way, it may help in your decision making process, to weigh a bar that is 1" thick and another that is 1.25" thick, then weigh each of them (new, right after the cut.) Then do the calculation of what the net weight will be using the Weight Loss from Water Evaporation method in part 2 from the above link. That will not tell you the final width, but it will give you an idea of your net weight for your bars for the two width options.

That's great advice. I just got a loaf cut @ 1.25". We use a cutter box and scraper. I'll go compare them now.

 

[SirSoapsAlot]

I also found great info here related to shrinkage and cutters.

https://www.soapguild.org/how-to/make-soap/choosing-a-soap-cutter.php

 

[lucycat]

I use a single wire cutter. I knew I wanted the flexibility of cutting different sizes and thought I would purchase a second cutter (multi-bar) later when I made more soap. I never did. I spend 2-3 minutes cutting a log verses 10 seconds. I still like being able to adjust the width of bars so that they will weigh the same even if the log is filled to a different level.

I wouldn't purchase a multi-bar cutter until after I had been cutting logs both 1" and 1 1/4" as well as making decisions on how they affect your packaging. I think a cutter should help you with what you want not you having to adapt to a cutter.

 

[TheGecko]

I spend 2-3 minutes cutting a log verses 10 seconds.

Which is not a big deal if you're only cutting up a log once a day, but what happens when you're cutting up 10, 20, 30 or more logs?