Soap Zero!

[WyvernWench]

Sorry that I bothered anyone with this post

 

[SPowers]

that's depressing!

 

[AliOop]

Oh my! Can you pour off a couple bars for her into some cavity molds, and then use the rest of the batter to make your fun soaps for everyone else?

 

[goat soap rulz!]

maybe order a few cavity molds and make a tiny batch for her. maybe 3 bars LOL! because that sounds like absolutely no fun!

 

[BattleGnome]

Make her what she wants. If you have the molds split a 2lb batch. One pound of plain soap then you can have fun with with other half and pretend the second fun one is what you intended all along.

 

[Obsidian]

A beautiful plain soap is my favorite and my most asked about soap.

 

[TheGecko]

So my sister calls and wants to know if I will be making soap again this year (which is a real compliment that she is looking for more ... grin!)

Of course, I say Yes!!! So she says what she wants is just plain soap ... ????

No additives, no color, no scents, no swirls, no texture, no additives (not even dried calendula petals), no butters, no waxes, no flakes, .... nothing .... zip, null, nill ...
She wants Just Plain Soap = 30% of coconut, olive, and palm, with 10% castor for bubbles = Soap Zero

Talk about taking the fun out of the holidays with just one phone call ... ahhhh!

Have ever considered that maybe she has been having a reaction to your soap because of all the "additives, color, scents, butters, waxes, flakes"?

One of the gals in my sister's stamping group loves my soap and lotion bars, but she has a reaction to the butters so I always make sure to make a basic one pound batch of soap for her...it's just Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils...she loves it. For the Christmas get together this year, I have some gorgeous rose cavity molds that I bought and will make her soap in those.

Gift-giving is a two-way street, not just one-way. My joy in giving gifts comes from giving someone something that THEY will get joy out of.

 

[AliOop]

My joy in giving gifts comes from giving someone something that THEY will get joy out of.

Well said, Gecko!

People who are chemically sensitive are often blessed the most by the effort to make what they need, AND to make it pleasing to their eye despite the lack of color. I love the idea of pouring her "plain" soap into a pretty mold. My family members who need unscented and uncolored soap LOVE the soaps from my cheap sunflower mold, my ocean wave mold, and my flower impression mat.

 

[Hope Ann]

One of the gals in my sister's stamping group loves my soap and lotion bars, but she has a reaction to the butters so I always make sure to make a basic one pound batch of soap for her...it's just Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oil.

What kind of reaction? Love learning. Also I giggled at this as I got a plain soap from a local soaper and it dried the crap out of my skin. I had to toss it. How funny and different we all are. (Also I actually love a plain white soap - so pretty!)

Hope

 

[TheGecko]

@Ali

What kind of reaction? Love learning. Also I giggled at this as I got a plain soap from a local soaper and it dried the crap out of my skin. I had to toss it. How funny and different we all are. (Also I actually love a plain white soap - so pretty!)

Hope

She broke out with a rash that took a week to go away.

 

[DeeAnna]

Sorry that I bothered anyone with this post

I don't see that you're bothering anyone with this post. I wish you hadn't deleted your original post -- it's a good thing I was able to read what you originally wrote in TheGecko's post #7 to put the everyone else's responses into context. I was intrigued by your reaction to your sister's request.

I'd be thrilled if one of my family asked me to make soap for them ... any type of soap whatsoever ... because that meant they really wanted it and would actually use it.

Every bar I've given to family members has been met with polite indifference, so I've learned to not give soap to them. If it's not a commercial cleansing bar or body wash, it can't possibly be worth using, I guess. Good thing I have several friends who truly like and use my soap.

 

[SPowers]

Well, you know what they say about opinions! We are all so different that you can't ever please everyone. We love going through the process and playing with colours and scents but not everyone is into that. Just roll with the flow and don't let it get your down. I decided to make a version of my basic soap with some lux oils, etc and call it Bare Naked - no colour, no fragrance - inspired by your post. There's good in everything!

 

[TheGecko]

Sorry that I bothered anyone with this post

I second @DeeAnna, you weren't "bothering" anyone. One thing you need to understand that is soap, done badly, has the potential to harm others so we are naturally honest here...about everything.

 

[WyvernWench]

Have ever considered that maybe she has been having a reaction to your soap because of all the "additives, color, scents, butters, waxes, flakes"?

Gift-giving is a two-way street, not just one-way. My joy in giving gifts comes from giving someone something that THEY will get joy out of.

I was going to leave this alone ... but it has bugged me all night.

For about three to four years, two times a year, I have been making soap as presents for my sister and sister-in-law. I believe that I have shared the fun of handmade soap with them and feel extremely complimented when they tell me what they want for this next batch. That they have a 'list of desires' ready to give me is a thrill.

My sister's batch, which hopefully I can mail by the end of October, will contain 60 bars of Soap Zero, 60 bars of Soap Zero with ground oatmeal, 12 bars of Soap Zero with ground walnut hulls, 12 Soap Zero with luffa sponge slices, and 12 Soap Zero with a small percentage of avocado oil. Which equals three batches of 60 each.

Why so much? My sister is the ICU charge nurse for a small Colorado hospital and she is in charge of 25 other nurses in her unit.

When I sent her my very first batch of handmade soap samples, maybe 25 bars total with all the 'bells and whistles' that a newbie does, she took it to work, placed it on her desk, and let any nurse that wanted to try a bar take one home. Because of HER generosity, it has become a tradition that she shares HER soap when it arrives in the mail with her fellow ICU nurse.

Because these are going to ICU nurses and ICU doctors they all want 'just plain', no additives soap.

For her second batch we began with just 30 bars each of the three batches, an estimate of 3 bars per nurse. But the other nurses on the other floors of her hospital soon learned the ICU was giving away free handmade soap, so we upped it to 48 bars.

But then the doctors seem to have begun visiting the ICU, unexpectedly, during what they now call 'soap season'. So this year we estimated the 3 batches of 60 bars might get her going this fall, with each nurse/doctor getting at least two bars, with more in the making as needed.

I will do this again for a soap delivery to her for a late May delivery as I have done since I began soap making. I do all of this again, in the same numbers, for my sister-in-law as I have done for the last three to four years.

I do my sister's first because I have to mail her package. I do my sister-in-law second, not because she is anyway lesser than my sister. She lives close enough to me that she can pick up her soap box when she visits, saving me a little on shipping costs.

All soap that I make is clearly labeled with the date, the ingredients, the weight, and my name and address as the maker, as is necessary by law. All soap is neatly packaged, ready for their nurses to simply pop them into their bags to take home. AND ALL OF IT IS TOTALLY FREE TO THEM.

This 'present' does not include the 50 hand sewn scrub caps and matching face masks that I gifted for her in the spring. Because she and her fellow nurses work the ICU unit they must cover their hair as well as their face and scrub caps weren't available.

She does craft and she does sew beautifully, but she has been so busy this year with Covid that the caps and masks were just something little I could do to help her. 50 cap sets meant a nurse on her ICU could be wearing one while the other was in the wash for tomorrow.

But posting any or all of the above simply comes off as bragging, arrogant, self-serving, self-centered, and attentionizing on my part. So I didn't say any of it in my original post. All of the above WASN'T the purpose of my post.

The reason I posted Soap Zero was I thought the irony between what I think of when I say its time to make soap and what my sisters think is the two extremes of this craft.

I thought the JOKE WAS ON ME ...

I was laughing so hard at myself that I just thought I would share it. I thought the joke was hysterical on my part because after three to four years you would think I would have tempered my expectations when I tell my sisters its 'soap time' again.

So I am very sorry that I posted.

 

[TheGecko]

But posting any or all of the above simply comes off as bragging, arrogant, self-serving, self-centered, and attentionizing on my part. So I didn't say any of it in my original post. All of the above WASN'T the purpose of my post.

It only comes off as "bragging, arrogant, self-serving, self-centered, and attentionizing" if that is the reason why you are doing it. I make no secret of the fact that I donate a lot of my soap to a local homeless shelter and food bank...NOT because I want an 'attagirl', but because it's a nice thing to do and I hope to encourage others to do the same.

The reason I posted Soap Zero was I thought the irony between what I think of when I say its time to make soap and what my sisters think is the two extremes of this craft.

I thought the JOKE WAS ON ME ...

Context. You see a teenage girl leaning into the car window of an older man at night and he's handing her money...what comes to your mind? Money for sex, or a father handing his daughter money for the movies? When you hear hoofbeats...do you think horses or zebras? Knowing the whole story changes how we react to it. In your initial post, you came off as resentful. Knowing the history, I can now see the irony.

 

[AliOop]

@WyvernWench thank you for sharing the lovely story behind your soap making. It doesn't sound bragging or arrogant at all.

I"m sorry if any of us sound like you bothered us. I didn't feel that way at all! My response post was meant to be encouraging, not criticizing, so I feel badly if it came across that way. Tone is so difficult to read through a forum post, but I will work harder to make sure my true intentions are conveyed.

Hopefully you will stick around and see that although we are an opinionated bunch, we are actually very friendly and helpful to one another, too. I can already tell by the story that you shared that you will be very welcome and will fit in here just fine.

 

[Marsi]

I saw your original post as a lighthearted boast about your sister wanting some of your soap
i underestimated the strength of your irony
thank you for your Soap Zero story

I was going to leave this alone ... but it has bugged me all night.

For about three to four years, two times a year, I have been making soap as presents for my sister and sister-in-law. I believe that I have shared the fun of handmade soap with them and feel extremely complimented when they tell me what they want for this next batch. That they have a 'list of desires' ready to give me is a thrill.

My sister's batch, which hopefully I can mail by the end of October, will contain 60 bars of Soap Zero, 60 bars of Soap Zero with ground oatmeal, 12 bars of Soap Zero with ground walnut hulls, 12 Soap Zero with luffa sponge slices, and 12 Soap Zero with a small percentage of avocado oil. Which equals three batches of 60 each.

Why so much? My sister is the ICU charge nurse for a small Colorado hospital and she is in charge of 25 other nurses in her unit.

When I sent her my very first batch of handmade soap samples, maybe 25 bars total with all the 'bells and whistles' that a newbie does, she took it to work, placed it on her desk, and let any nurse that wanted to try a bar take one home. Because of HER generosity, it has become a tradition that she shares HER soap when it arrives in the mail with her fellow ICU nurse.

Because these are going to ICU nurses and ICU doctors they all want 'just plain', no additives soap.

For her second batch we began with just 30 bars each of the three batches, an estimate of 3 bars per nurse. But the other nurses on the other floors of her hospital soon learned the ICU was giving away free handmade soap, so we upped it to 48 bars.

But then the doctors seem to have begun visiting the ICU, unexpectedly, during what they now call 'soap season'. So this year we estimated the 3 batches of 60 bars might get her going this fall, with each nurse/doctor getting at least two bars, with more in the making as needed.

I will do this again for a soap delivery to her for a late May delivery as I have done since I began soap making. I do all of this again, in the same numbers, for my sister-in-law as I have done for the last three to four years.

I do my sister's first because I have to mail her package. I do my sister-in-law second, not because she is anyway lesser than my sister. She lives close enough to me that she can pick up her soap box when she visits, saving me a little on shipping costs.

All soap that I make is clearly labeled with the date, the ingredients, the weight, and my name and address as the maker, as is necessary by law. All soap is neatly packaged, ready for their nurses to simply pop them into their bags to take home. AND ALL OF IT IS TOTALLY FREE TO THEM.

This 'present' does not include the 50 hand sewn scrub caps and matching face masks that I gifted for her in the spring. Because she and her fellow nurses work the ICU unit they must cover their hair as well as their face and scrub caps weren't available.

She does craft and she does sew beautifully, but she has been so busy this year with Covid that the caps and masks were just something little I could do to help her. 50 cap sets meant a nurse on her ICU could be wearing one while the other was in the wash for tomorrow.

But posting any or all of the above simply comes off as bragging, arrogant, self-serving, self-centered, and attentionizing on my part. So I didn't say any of it in my original post. All of the above WASN'T the purpose of my post.

The reason I posted Soap Zero was I thought the irony between what I think of when I say its time to make soap and what my sisters think is the two extremes of this craft.

I thought the JOKE WAS ON ME ...

I was laughing so hard at myself that I just thought I would share it. I thought the joke was hysterical on my part because after three to four years you would think I would have tempered my expectations when I tell my sisters its 'soap time' again.

So I am very sorry that I posted.

 

[The Park Bench]

I don't see that you're bothering anyone with this post. I wish you hadn't deleted your original post -- it's a good thing I was able to read what you originally wrote in TheGecko's post #7 to put the everyone else's responses into context. I was intrigued by your reaction to your sister's request.

I'd be thrilled if one of my family asked me to make soap for them ... any type of soap whatsoever ... because that meant they really wanted it and would actually use it.

Every bar I've given to family members has been met with polite indifference, so I've learned to not give soap to them. If it's not a commercial cleansing bar or body wash, it can't possibly be worth using, I guess. Good thing I have several friends who truly like and use my soap.

It took 3 years for my husband to switch from his beloved store bought brand of soap to my line of hand crafted soaps so I understand the frustration!!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Tell you what - I'd want to be rich to make all that soap and give it away for nothing. Do they appreciate that it's little ol' you making and supplying all their 'free' soap? I guess with no fragrance or additives it means it's cheaper to make.
I'd also be doing a whole lotta marketing there - for one day when you want to start charging for your time and effort. Make sure you put a little business card with contact details with each bar so that that they know where to come knocking when they want to buy some. $$$$$$