Programs/organizers for the organizationally challenged?

[GemstonePony]

SMF does a lovely job of holding my 17 soap recipes, but now that I'm branching out into body butter, lip balm, and hope to get into bath bombs, does anybody have recommendations for recipe organization?
Currently, I copy my recipes down on paper, put them in a plastic cover, copy down any notes on how it actually went later, and put them in a 3-ring binder. Which keeps all the little notes there, but with zilch organization because I'm very tired by the time I finish the things.
I also tend to constantly tweak my recipes, by crossing things out, adjusting numbers and double-checking the math until the page fills up, then copying what I've got to a new page and continuing. If anyone knows of an online thing that keeps track of your recipes and checks your percentages and allows you to save things and tweak them indefinitely, that would be awesome as well.

What have you all found that works for you?

 

[Misschief]

I use SMF for all my soap and bath & body recipes.

 

[GemstonePony]

I use SMF for all my soap and bath & body recipes.

I guess. I'm just already scrolling to find the recipes I'm looking for and I would prefer to have a more organized file for tracking experiments. Maybe I should get a computer involved with file-keeping, but I have trust issues with hardware.

 

[TheGecko]

I use SoapMaker3 and have it on my PC and a NetBook. It's fairly easy to keep the database straight as I back up every time.

I bought it mainly to track my purchases and inventory, but you can enter a base recipe...resize it, tweak it and then save it as a new soap.

 

[Misschief]

I guess. I'm just already scrolling to find the recipes I'm looking for and I would prefer to have a more organized file for tracking experiments. Maybe I should get a computer involved with file-keeping, but I have trust issues with hardware.

I've created separate folders for different kinds of recipes (i.e. Soap, Bath & Body, and so on).

 

[GemstonePony]

I've created separate folders for different kinds of recipes (i.e. Soap, Bath & Body, and so on).

In SMF? I didn't know there was a way to do that.

 

[Misschief]

In SMF? I didn't know there was a way to do that.

I just realized we're talking about two different things. Check out a program called Soapmaker 3. It's especially geared to soap makers.

 

[GemstonePony]

I just realized we're talking about two different things. Check out a program called Soapmaker 3. It's especially geared to soap makers.

Ah ok, that makes more sense.

 

[shunt2011]

I too use Soapmaker 3. Keeps everything nicely organized.

 

[GemstonePony]

I thought Soap Maker 3 was geared to Pros, making it easier to track the ingredients, cost, and invoicing for a few recipes. Guess I'd better have another look! Thanks all!

 

[Misschief]

I thought Soap Maker 3 was geared to Pros, making it easier to track the ingredients, cost, and invoicing for a few recipes. Guess I'd better have another look! Thanks all!

It does all that but it also helps organize your recipes and track batches... and more.

 

[TheGecko]

I thought Soap Maker 3 was geared to Pros, making it easier to track the ingredients, cost, and invoicing for a few recipes. Guess I'd better have another look! Thanks all!

SM3 does everything but your bookkeeping. You'll want the Professional Edition ($99USD). If money is tight, you can start with the Lite Edition ($49USD) and then upgrade to Professional ($50USD)...in the end, the cost will be the same and it's how I did it.

 

[amd]

I also use SM3 for inventory, creating recipes and tracking batches. When I make a soap I print off the recipe, make the soap, mark any changes, add the changes to SM3 before I mark it as "made". The markup copy goes into a binder. If I remake the soap I pull from the binder first, if it has a lot of markups I will double check it with SM3 (this also helps make sure I have enough supplies). Most of the time I will reprint the recipe from SM3. All of my recipes are in binders in page protector sheets, so I keep the "old" markup and slide the new printoff in the front. My binders are organized by currently stocked soaps, B&B, and archived recipes.

 

[GemstonePony]

I was hoping for a mobile option, but it looks like I'll have to dust off my old* laptop and up my paper file game instead. I don't soap at home, I soap at my parents because they have a bigger kitchen, but I can lug a laptop back and forth. I'll see if I can print from their printers, since I frequently make last-minute changes to recipes. I'll also have to keep SMF in play for tweaking purposes, since SM3 isn't mobile** at all.
*Windows gaming laptop that I have since retired from gaming and relegated to obscure, mundane office work. Mostly taxes.
** Most of my formulating is done on my phone, since I have it with me at all times and can tweak planned formulas or create new ones any time a new thought enters my head. SM3 requires a full windows setup, available only on laptop or computer, and it's just not practical to have my laptop in my hands at all times.

 

[melinda48]

SMF does a lovely job of holding my 17 soap recipes, but now that I'm branching out into body butter, lip balm, and hope to get into bath bombs, does anybody have recommendations for recipe organization?
Currently, I copy my recipes down on paper, put them in a plastic cover, copy down any notes on how it actually went later, and put them in a 3-ring binder. Which keeps all the little notes there, but with zilch organization because I'm very tired by the time I finish the things.
I also tend to constantly tweak my recipes, by crossing things out, adjusting numbers and double-checking the math until the page fills up, then copying what I've got to a new page and continuing. If anyone knows of an online thing that keeps track of your recipes and checks your percentages and allows you to save things and tweak them indefinitely, that would be awesome as well.

What have you all found that works for you?

SMF is perfect for this. I do, however, print out my recipes, laminate them and this allows me to check off each ingredient/step as I work using a grease pencil. When I finish a batch, I take a cloth or paper towel, wipe off the laminated sheet and it is ready to reuse. I do this once I have set upon a recipe - That being said, if I do make changes, I re-print and laminate again. I keep all my soap recipes in a three-ring binder in alphabetical order. This helps me as I make a lot of soap for our son’s business and want my recipes organized and orderly. I do the same for my body butter/salves/etc. recipes.

 

[Vicki C]

I wish there were an IOS version of soapmaker 3. It sounds good.

 

[AliOop]

I wish there were an IOS version of soapmaker 3. It sounds good.

Do you have Parallels, or Bootcamp, or VMWare? You could run SM3 on your Mac using anyone of those. Of the three, Parallels is my favorite and is so seamless to switch whenever you need to run a Windows program.

I'm also looking forward to trying Soapmaking Friend's new features that will include non-soap recipe calculators. It already has the ingredient/cost tracking, but I haven't used that so I don't know how well it works. It's also cloud-based, so you need an Internet connection to use it, whereas SM3 is on your hard drive.

 

[Vicki C]

Do you have Parallels, or Bootcamp, or VMWare? You could run SM3 on your Mac using anyone of those. Of the three, Parallels is my favorite and is so seamless to switch whenever you need to run a Windows program.

I'm also looking forward to trying Soapmaking Friend's new features that will include non-soap recipe calculators. It already has the ingredient/cost tracking, but I haven't used that so I don't know how well it works. It's also cloud-based, so you need an Internet connection to use it, whereas SM3 is on your hard drive.

I don’t have any of those - I guess I should do some research!

 

[AliOop]

I don’t have any of those - I guess I should do some research!

What these programs do is create a virtual Windows drive on your computer. That allows you to install and run any Windows program that you want. I have tried all three and like Parallels the best, because the switching is the most seamless. I simply open Parallels like I would open any other Mac app, and it opens the Windows home screen, just like you are looking at a PC. Then select the program you want to run, and it works just like a PC.

 

[Vicki C]

What these programs do is create a virtual Windows drive on your computer. That allows you to install and run any Windows program that you want. I have tried all three and like Parallels the best, because the switching is the most seamless. I simply open Parallels like I would open any other Mac app, and it opens the Windows home screen, just like you are looking at a PC. Then select the program you want to run, and it works just like a PC.

Thank you @AliOop - it also occurs to me that my husband has a second (Windows) computer - maybe should see if that’s a possibility…