Prep, Mess, Clean Gallery.

[TashaBird]

About 15 minutes, +/-, of soap making, gets all the glory!!! While prep set up, messes, and clean up are the unsung hero’s!!! My pride in those phases of the process make me feel like the biggest soap geek ever, and I love it!!! Non soapers just can’t understand.
Let’s see your meticulous set up!
Let’s see the soap tornado mess after!
Let’s see your Tetris mountain of clean dishes!!!
Fortunately I find these parts of the process oddly comforting, or I probably wouldn’t still be making soap.

If dish washing were an Olympic sport!
This is so weirdly satisfying.

 

[amd]

I don't have pictures as I'm at work...
My soaping area has always been pretty well organized - when I moved 3 years ago I went from a 200sq feet soap space to 90sq feet, so I was forced to do it. This last spring I upgraded my making area from a 6ft plastic craft table to a 4ft counter top (which my back appreciates) so I'm still adjusting to the shorter length, and having decent storage there. My dishes no longer get completely out of control as my husband setup a dish "sidebar" next to the sink just outside my soap area. I've discovered it is so fast to just take the dishes to the sink, run the water and wash them right away. They can dry on the sidebar for a day or two without being in anyone's way. before this, all of my dishes went into a tote and when the tote was overflowing I would take it up to the kitchen and everything was in the way of kids making food, me making food, general traffic through the kitchen... everyone [especially me] hated it when the tote came upstairs. The other bonus to my new madness, is that I never have to delay soap gratification, as my dishes are always clean when I'm ready to make soap.

 

[TashaBird]

Uh oh. Am I the only one likes a well stacked pile of clean dishes?!

 

[AliOop]

No, you aren't alone, and in fact, you inspired me to wash all of mine today... even the ones I had just used for today's batches. It's a good feeling!

 

[TheGecko]

I have a rolling kitchen island that sits against the wall next to a socket. On top is a large cutting board with an indent and it sits on a non-slip mat. I have a Command Hook on the right side for my cat apron and stick blender. It has a towel rack on the left and three shelves on the side, two drawers and the two doors on front open wide with two shelves inside.

It used to hold everything when I first bought it, but It only took about three months before I started running out of room and hubby put in a shelf above to hold my colorants; I now need a second shelf for scents. As I started buying in larger quantities, I bought shoebox size clear containers to be refilled from inventory in the garage. I also picked up a three-drawer clear cabinet from a yard sale for my cavity molds and miscellaneous stuff.

Master batching and microfiber towels have changed the landscape a bit. Most of my recipe ingredients stay in the garage unless I need to make a new master batch, and shoebox containers now contain packaging supplies and labels. Towels make clean up so easy, that I just reuse the same bowls and spatulas regardless of how many different soaps I make. I’ve gone from a sink full of dishes to just a few items I can toss in the dishwasher.

 

[TashaBird]

I have a rolling kitchen island that sits against the wall next to a socket. On top is a large cutting board with an indent and it sits on a non-slip mat. I have a Command Hook on the right side for my cat apron and stick blender. It has a towel rack on the left and three shelves on the side, two drawers and the two doors on front open wide with two shelves inside.

It used to hold everything when I first bought it, but It only took about three months before I started running out of room and hubby put in a shelf above to hold my colorants; I now need a second shelf for scents. As I started buying in larger quantities, I bought shoebox size clear containers to be refilled from inventory in the garage. I also picked up a three-drawer clear cabinet from a yard sale for my cavity molds and miscellaneous stuff.

Master batching and microfiber towels have changed the landscape a bit. Most of my recipe ingredients stay in the garage unless I need to make a new master batch, and shoebox containers now contain packaging supplies and labels. Towels make clean up so easy, that I just reuse the same bowls and spatulas regardless of how many different soaps I make. I’ve gone from a sink full of dishes to just a few items I can toss in the dishwasher.

That sounds like such an amazing system! I hope to continue to streamline mine into greater efficiency! I’ve really got to give these microfiber towels a try. I’m concerned about my %5 super fat and my washing machine with the towels.

 

[TheGecko]

That sounds like such an amazing system! I hope to continue to streamline mine into greater efficiency! I’ve really got to give these microfiber towels a try. I’m concerned about my %5 super fat and my washing machine with the towels.

Efficiency is the mother of necessity...I simply don't have time. I work full-time with a two-hour commute. My husband is retired, but he is disabled so he is limited in what he can do. And my adult daughter works graveyard and weekends. I also knit. Getting into master batching has allowed me to make more soap in a shorter amount of time and I can make soap during the week.

I also have limited space (I'm so jealous of your picture above). We were supposed to convert half of the garage for soaping at the beginning of summer, but CV-19 changed all that. The garbage company was only willing to deliver construction size dumpsters...for $800. My neighbors generously offered their cans, but it would take weeks and I wouldn't have time to make soap. The plan was to get a dozen good quality totes, a commercial dumpster and hire my nephew and a friend for a weekend. We go through every box...keep what is really important, donate what we can, toss the rest. The following weekend we'd wall with door for the storage portion of the garage and the rest would be my soap area/laundry room/pantry. Then a friend had a large kitchen counter and two sets of cabinets he was going to give me, and then we'd put in two more industrial shelving units (with additional shelves), a hot plate and a microwave and I would be set to go. Maybe next year.

I 'wash' my towels in the sink with a bit of Dawn and then let them dry out before washing them. Dawn does a better job of breaking down the oils/butters in the towels than it does on soaping dishes. And of course, any batter left over on the towels turns into soap.

 

[Zing]

This is the clean version. In our new house I repurposed the wood shop into a soap shop. Off camera is a deep concrete basin sink. It's kind of a dark and gloomy basement but I love it -- everything is out and in reach! My old house had no dedicated space and I was always hauling boxes around. Also our new house has a dishwasher (automated, not human)!

 

[AliOop]

@Zing that is an awesome soap space!

Are the Christmas tablecloths used year-round, or do you change those out for each holiday?

 

[Zing]

Woops, I meant to include the gelling towels. I like cubbies (and the Cubbies).

 

[TashaBird]

Efficiency is the mother of necessity...I simply don't have time. I work full-time with a two-hour commute. My husband is retired, but he is disabled so he is limited in what he can do. And my adult daughter works graveyard and weekends. I also knit. Getting into master batching has allowed me to make more soap in a shorter amount of time and I can make soap during the week.

I also have limited space (I'm so jealous of your picture above). We were supposed to convert half of the garage for soaping at the beginning of summer, but CV-19 changed all that. The garbage company was only willing to deliver construction size dumpsters...for $800. My neighbors generously offered their cans, but it would take weeks and I wouldn't have time to make soap. The plan was to get a dozen good quality totes, a commercial dumpster and hire my nephew and a friend for a weekend. We go through every box...keep what is really important, donate what we can, toss the rest. The following weekend we'd wall with door for the storage portion of the garage and the rest would be my soap area/laundry room/pantry. Then a friend had a large kitchen counter and two sets of cabinets he was going to give me, and then we'd put in two more industrial shelving units (with additional shelves), a hot plate and a microwave and I would be set to go. Maybe next year.

I 'wash' my towels in the sink with a bit of Dawn and then let them dry out before washing them. Dawn does a better job of breaking down the oils/butters in the towels than it does on soaping dishes. And of course, any batter left over on the towels turns into soap.
[/QUOTE
I like the idea of a predawn with Dawn!
@Zing I like your style set up! Looks so organized!!

 

[TashaBird]

The struggle is real.

 

[TashaBird]

Maybe it’s the beautiful weather today. But I’m a bit too happy about my clean up session. It’s probably because I’m so excited to cut my soap when I’m done!