What soapy thing have you done today?

[Feelin' Soapy]

Yes I do similar sizes to yours 70g ($13) and 40g ($5) . I call them regular and 'sample'. I sell the sample ones at just over cost price in an effort to get people to try them.

I think there's more randomness than logic as far as what sells when and where and for how much.
Some days the stars align and bring out the right buyers ,and I have a great sales day. I make the error of believing I'm selling a desirable product at a good price. Then the next market comes along and I hardly sell enough to cover my vendor fee.
Other times I have a soap that just won't sell, so I relabel it with a new name and poof! it sells. Ya jest never know...
Maybe try calling your shampoos "bath" and "travel" size (or maxi and mini, or ....) and see if that makes any difference.

 

[Zing]

I may have mentioned already that my good bud from Hawai'i recently visited and gave me plumeria fragrance oil and kukui oil. So of course I had to make lotion bars. For our small group of friends that recently went to Hawai'i together, I boxed up the lotion bars and soaps. I included, ahem, the FIRST PLACE WINNING ocean-themed soap that was inspired by Kehena Beach.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’ve been playing around with indigo by itself and with red palm oil to get green. I’m not getting a clear indigo blue, but the greens are working out nicely. For those of you who have used red palm oil, does it fade much?

I’m also trying to finish up drying and grinding the clays I’ve been separating into size and color fractions. I’m pretty astounded by the results. Maybe I can get a job at Nurture when I retire, or sell fractioned clays myself to fund my soap making.

 

[Vicki C]

The thought of doing markets overwhelms and exhausts me. I do think it would be fun (I thoroughly enjoy meeting people!!!!!) but it's a whole other rabbit hole I'm not sure I have the headspace for. All the display stuff, the marketing collateral, table cloths, yadda yadda yadda. I could see maybe doing it once a month, but certainly not every weekend. And I understand that some markets can cost a lot to set up a booth.

I know what you mean - I couldn’t do this when I was working. Now that I’m retired it’s a good fit. I had a long day before my first market - so many details to take care of - but now it’s much easier. A lot of my stuff stays in my car (between markets I mean). But… today a brake line blew and I don’t have my car, and DH is away, sooooo it’s time to make soap!

I’ve been playing around with indigo by itself and with red palm oil to get green. I’m not getting a clear indigo blue, but the greens are working out nicely. For those of you who have used red palm oil, does it fade much?

I’m also trying to finish up drying and grinding the clays I’ve been separating into size and color fractions. I’m pretty astounded by the results. Maybe I can get a job at Nurture when I retire, or sell fractioned clays myself to fund my soap making.

i don’t know how you are doing this magic but I want to copy you!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

i don’t know how you are doing this magic but I want to copy you!

This is my idea of vacation fun.

 

[dibbles]

sell fractioned clays myself to fund my soap making

I first read this as sell fractionated clays TO myself to fund my soap making
But, I'd be a customer of yours

 

[dibbles]

I’ve been playing around with indigo by itself and with red palm oil to get green. I’m not getting a clear indigo blue, but the greens are working out nicely. For those of you who have used red palm oil, does it fade much?

I’m also trying to finish up drying and grinding the clays I’ve been separating into size and color fractions. I’m pretty astounded by the results. Maybe I can get a job at Nurture when I retire, or sell fractioned clays myself to fund my soap making.

I don't know about anyone else, but OMG yes - it faded big time. I made this soap around the first of the year. I was restocking the bathroom soap stash last week and thought I'd pull out the last bar from the batch to use and
Red palm at 5% of oil weight, 2% of oil weight and no red palm layers made in January 2022

The same soap today

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I don't know about anyone else, but OMG yes - it faded big time.

oh drat! I guess in need to try annatto next.

 

[dibbles]

oh drat! I guess in need to try annatto next.

I don't know if others have fading with RPO - I've never seen that mentioned as far as I can remember. @Zing uses red palm sometimes - maybe he can share his experience with fade/no fade. Annatto doesn't fade in my experience - or at least not very much.

 

[Zing]

I loved seeing @dibbles 's photo again but that after photo is quite the dramatic difference. I have not had fading -- and still have bars 2 years old made with red palm.

Ooh! Second soapy thing of today. I made $50! I dropped off an order to my old boss. He placed an order for every bar I had of my "Spring Clean" (rosemary/lemongrass) days after another individual had just bought every Spring Clean bar I had. My boss-friend had to wait 6 weeks for the cure. His wife was so cute, she grabbed the bag and went from bathroom to bathroom (I'm curious about how many bathrooms they had, it was a big house). As she walked to and fro she kept a bar under her nose!

 

[dibbles]

I have not had fading -- and still have bars 2 years old made with red palm.

Good to know. My red palm is from Baraka and I don’t think it has been processed in any way. Do you know if refining is a thing? I guess I don’t have to worry about bleeding anyway.

I made $50!

Congrats! I hope you get yourself a soapy fun thing.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I loved seeing @dibbles 's photo again but that after photo is quite the dramatic difference. I have not had fading -- and still have bars 2 years old made with red palm.

Ooh! Second soapy thing of today. I made $50! I dropped off an order to my old boss. He placed an order for every bar I had of my "Spring Clean" (rosemary/lemongrass) days after another individual had just bought every Spring Clean bar I had. My boss-friend had to wait 6 weeks for the cure. His wife was so cute, she grabbed the bag and went from bathroom to bathroom (I'm curious about how many bathrooms they had, it was a big house). As she walked to and fro she kept a bar under her nose!

I hope I have the kind that hangs around. If not, the soaps will turn bluer which isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

It’s great to hear about your happy customers! I keep meaning to try that eo blend. It sounds good.

 

[~Dragonfly~]

I’ve been cleaning up the area where I keep some of my soapy things and it gave me the motivation to infuse some oils that I’d used up. Because you get blue with indigo and pink with Himalayan rhubarb, I decided to try infusing the powders together (1:2 ratio) to see if I can get a purple-ish color. Right now the oil is green, which makes sense since the HR doesn’t turn pink until it’s mixed with the lye water. I’m sure someone has done this before and it’s not a new idea.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Very low on energy at present. Work is so busy that I get to the weekends and just collapse in a heap. I was thinking I might make up a quick batch of @Zany_in_CO 's No Slime Castile today. I have sea water in the freezer awaiting its time in the spotlight, and they are so easy to make that I can have them in the molds in 20 mins.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

they are so easy to make that I can have them in the molds in 20 mins.

Doncha luv that?! BTW, that's just me. With a family of 9 to feed, and as working parents, I learned to get food on the table in 20 minutes! Finding shortcuts is a good thing!

 

[Soaped]

Having a productive weekend, did a batch of lotion bars, shower steamers and a 100% coconut soap as well as another loaf soap with my regular recipe. I'm itching to make another soap tomorrow but at this rate I need more friends to destash to!!

 

[Misschief]

It's been a rough week here; I ended up with a bout of gastroenteritis and after being sick for about 3 days, I finally feel well enough to make soap. I made two batches of ZNSC, one uncoloured and unscented, the other with charcoal and lavender.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@Misschief hope you start feeling better soon. I think making ZNSC is like chicken soup for soap makers.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Misschief hope you start feeling better soon. I think making ZNSC is like chicken soup for soap makers.

For new members: ZNSC

YouTube Video to see how easy it is to make.



I use the 85% olive oil, 10% coconut oil, 5% castor oil variation for creamy dense lather. Be sure to follow the directions precisely to reach trace more quickly than she does in the video, for no slime, quick cure, hardness and longevity.

 

[Misschief]

@Misschief hope you start feeling better soon. I think making ZNSC is like chicken soup for soap makers.

I'm feeling MUCH better... back at work today. And, yup, it certainly is like that.