What soapy thing have you done today?

[UnScented Arizona]

Funny you found that old post - the cocoa butter is now $13 for 100g, so if I thought it was expensive before...! And now the supermarket is cheaper than my supplier. Except the supermarket has been out of stock for about 7 months. I blame covid.

I try to read everything I can. Always learn something new here. Deep dive is the way!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Where do you find it in the supermarket ? Never found any here before, I must have a look, but at $13 for 100g. it's too expensive

No, that’s the suppliers price now. The supermarket was about $9 for 200g last time I bought it. Not countdown/woolworths - they never stocked it. Only New World.

 

[Relle]

No, that’s the suppliers price now. The supermarket was about $9 for 200g last time I bought it. Not countdown/woolworths - they never stocked it. Only New World.

Thanks, we don't have that one here.

 

[MrsZ]

I tried a pencil line (I think that is the right term) for the first time today. I used Fire Cider mica from Nurture Soap in the lower section, AC for the pencil line, and uncolored batter on top. It is a RBO/Tallow/Shea soap with a fragrance blend I found for my husband. Not a great picture because it is dark, but I'm pleased with it as a first attempt.

 

[Jorah]

Does 'anxiety dream' count? I tried to sleep in this morning, and of course my subconscious decided to punish me. I started thinking about my first table coming up in April, and it occurred to me that I would need to be ready to make change if someone offered to buy with cash, so I tried to figure out how much change I'd need to bring with me (100 cents, 50 nickels, 100 dimes, 200 quarters?), finally fell asleep again and had a dream where I put my 'seconds' out for sale with a sign marked 'Sales Tax Included! The Price You See is the Price You Pay' and I realized that I had to figure out how to price it so that I could account for the sales tax,* and was trying to imagine how I'd calculate it in Excel. Not very restful, no.

After I have my second cup of coffee I need to package some soap for gifts, and this evening start nailing down my production goals for the April event. I want to have a good range of colors and scents on hand...

Oh, and I still have to figure out my labeling look.

Tell me again why I'm spending my free time starting a business rather than watching TV and having a cold beverage?**

-=-

*After I woke up, I discovered that I won't need to gather sales tax at my first table, because it's in the neighboring state, so my anxiety dream was even more useless than usual.

**This is a rhetorical question.

 

[Shelley D]

Does 'anxiety dream' count? I tried to sleep in this morning, and of course my subconscious decided to punish me. I started thinking about my first table coming up in April, and it occurred to me that I would need to be ready to make change if someone offered to buy with cash, so I tried to figure out how much change I'd need to bring with me (100 cents, 50 nickels, 100 dimes, 200 quarters?), finally fell asleep again and had a dream where I put my 'seconds' out for sale with a sign marked 'Sales Tax Included! The Price You See is the Price You Pay' and I realized that I had to figure out how to price it so that I could account for the sales tax,* and was trying to imagine how I'd calculate it in Excel. Not very restful, no.

After I have my second cup of coffee I need to package some soap for gifts, and this evening start nailing down my production goals for the April event. I want to have a good range of colors and scents on hand...

Oh, and I still have to figure out my labeling look.

Tell me again why I'm spending my free time starting a business rather than watching TV and having a cold beverage?**

-=-

*After I woke up, I discovered that I won't need to gather sales tax at my first table, because it's in the neighboring state, so my anxiety dream was even more useless than usual.

**This is a rhetorical question.

"Anxiety dream"! I never thought to give it a name but I do the same dang thing!
I'm no help with the business stuff but that part made me giggle a bit! Sometimes it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

 

[Jorah]

"Anxiety dream"! I never thought to give it a name but I do the same dang thing!
I'm no help with the business stuff but that part made me giggle a bit! Sometimes it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

Right? I crave more sleep, but if I try to sleep more than about 6.5 - 7 hours, these dreams start (they also start if I have a deadline, an early morning appointment, a big decision to make... yeah, fun times...).

 

[Misschief]

Does 'anxiety dream' count? I tried to sleep in this morning, and of course my subconscious decided to punish me. I started thinking about my first table coming up in April, and it occurred to me that I would need to be ready to make change if someone offered to buy with cash, so I tried to figure out how much change I'd need to bring with me (100 cents, 50 nickels, 100 dimes, 200 quarters?), finally fell asleep again and had a dream where I put my 'seconds' out for sale with a sign marked 'Sales Tax Included! The Price You See is the Price You Pay' and I realized that I had to figure out how to price it so that I could account for the sales tax,* and was trying to imagine how I'd calculate it in Excel. Not very restful, no.

After I have my second cup of coffee I need to package some soap for gifts, and this evening start nailing down my production goals for the April event. I want to have a good range of colors and scents on hand...

Oh, and I still have to figure out my labeling look.

Tell me again why I'm spending my free time starting a business rather than watching TV and having a cold beverage?**

-=-

*After I woke up, I discovered that I won't need to gather sales tax at my first table, because it's in the neighboring state, so my anxiety dream was even more useless than usual.

**This is a rhetorical question.

I have a $100 float. We no longer have pennies (I'm in Canada) so I usually have 5 nickels, 10 dimes, lots of quarters, 5 loonies and 5 twonies ($1 and $2 coins, respectively), and the rest in $5 bills. For the past few years, I've upped my float from $100 to $150 for the Christmas markets but decided not to this year because it's been a much slower year. I find that, generally, nickels and dimes are rarely given out; it's predominantly quarters and $1 & $2 coins.

 

[lsg]

I made some M&P Christmas soap for our little ones. I already had made the M&P base. When I was making the base, I got the idea to pour the base into individual silicone Christmas molds. That way, I didn't need to guess how much soap to melt before mixing it with colors and FO. The little soaps were different designs and colors, so this actually was a time saver with no soap left behind.

 

[Jorah]

Before I got into the housecleaning (yesterday was a total-day-off; I donated platelets in the morning, napped when I got home, then binge-watched the show Baptiste on the PBS/Masterpiece channel) activities I have planned for today, I looked on YouTube to learn a little about how to swirl soap, since I got a soap swirl tool as a Xmas present from my cats (my cats always give me small stocking-stuffer presents, because they're smol beasts) and I need to know how to use it. While I was there I found an interesting video 'studio tour' of the soap-making operation of an company called 'Muddy Mint' in Colorado; at the time of the video, they were shipping 50,000 bars a year ( !!!! ). I checked the comments and found that this was something of a good-bye video; they've decided to scale back to a much smaller operation, as the business was about to become something that no longer resembled the craft soap operation they started with, and they realized that they didn't want to start running a largeish small business in their 50s. Fascinating view of what a good-sized craft soapmaking lab might look like. I also watched a video of one of the owners making a large slab with layers and a top-treatment.

I think this counts as an educational soapy thing to do! I also preordered their book, which is scheduled for release in May. It will arrive in time for my birthday, and by then I'll have forgotten I ordered it. Happy B-day, future me!

 

[AliensrReal]

Thanks to this forum I learned about Custom Craft Tools. Was going to go with another company but decided on them and I am very happy. I got a tall and skinny 3lb mold and the cylinder mold for kaleidoscope today!!! My kaleidoscope is already being used. Will use the other mold tomorrow.

 

[AliensrReal]

I need to work on my patience when I have new toys to play with. I unmolded too early so the soap was a little squishy but I wanted to see what I created!

My first kaleidoscope soap in bergamot and coriander. It did accelerate trace so by the time I was finished my soap was at medium trace. It smells heavenly though. It came out much better than expected and looks very pretty to me. Not bad for a first timer.

 

[linne1gi]

I need to work on my patience when I have new toys to play with. I unmolded too early so the soap was a little squishy but I wanted to see what I created!

My first kaleidoscope soap in bergamot and coriander. It did accelerate trace so by the time I was finished my soap was at medium trace. It smells heavenly though. It came out much better than expected and looks very pretty to me. Not bad for a first timer.

Looks great!

 

[Tammyfarms]

I need to work on my patience when I have new toys to play with. I unmolded too early so the soap was a little squishy but I wanted to see what I created!

My first kaleidoscope soap in bergamot and coriander. It did accelerate trace so by the time I was finished my soap was at medium trace. It smells heavenly though. It came out much better than expected and looks very pretty to me. Not bad for a first timer.

That looks great! I bought all the stuff needed for kaleidoscope pull throughs but haven’t taken the time to make them. Any helpful hints other than not unmolding too quickly?

 

[AliensrReal]

That looks great! I bought all the stuff needed for kaleidoscope pull throughs but haven’t taken the time to make them. Any helpful hints other than not unmolding too quickly?

Thanks! This weekend I’ll try again with a scent that should be slow moving.
- You want to start at a very light trace.
- Use a slow moving recipe if you have one and a slow moving fragrance/essential oil if you plan to use it. I soaped at around 90-100F and added my fragrance last.
- Do very thin pours of each color. Next time I plan to count to 3 for each color.
- Use a funnel or squeeze bottles with a pipette as a tip to keep the colors from pouring into each other. You want the colors to layer on top of each other.
- Take your time and don’t rush. It’s really fun to do it.

 

[dibbles]

I need to work on my patience when I have new toys to play with. I unmolded too early so the soap was a little squishy but I wanted to see what I created!

My first kaleidoscope soap in bergamot and coriander. It did accelerate trace so by the time I was finished my soap was at medium trace. It smells heavenly though. It came out much better than expected and looks very pretty to me. Not bad for a first timer.

They look great! I think kaleidoscope soap is one of the most fun to cut. Every bar is a surprise!

 

[AliensrReal]

They look great! I think kaleidoscope soap is one of the most fun to cut. Every bar is a surpris!

It really is. You never know what you will get. I had so much fun doing it and can’t wait to improve the technique.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Thanks! This weekend I’ll try again with a scent that should be slow moving.
- You want to start at a very light trace.
- Use a slow moving recipe if you have one and a slow moving fragrance/essential oil if you plan to use it. I soaped at around 90-100F and added my fragrance last.
- Do very thin pours of each color. Next time I plan to count to 3 for each color.
- Use a funnel or squeeze bottles with a pipette as a tip to keep the colors from pouring into each other. You want the colors to layer on top of each other.
- Take your time and don’t rush. It’s really fun to do it.

Thanks! I am looking forward to trying it.

 

[Vicki C]

I have been working on a studio reorganization project - I bought some deep shelving from IKEA and have finished putting them together. I reoraganized my fragrance oils and essential oils - fragrance oils are grouped by scent family (Christmas, citrus, fall, floral, fruity, hippy, ocean, spicy, tea, vanilla, woodsy). The shelves are 14” deep so I bought a bunch of narrow fridge containers to store them in. I think this system will work for me. Hopefully it stops me from buying any more fragrance oils for a while…

 

[Misschief]

I have been working on a studio reorganization project - I bought some deep shelving from IKEA and have finished putting them together. I reoraganized my fragrance oils and essential oils - fragrance oils are grouped by scent family (Christmas, citrus, fall, floral, fruity, hippy, ocean, spicy, tea, vanilla, woodsy). The shelves are 14” deep so I bought a bunch of narrow fridge containers to store them in. I think this system will work for me. Hopefully it stops me from buying any more fragrance oils for a while…

This is something I planned on doing this week. I like the idea of narrow fridge containers. Right now, I have my FO's in Dollar Store trays and it's difficult find what I want. I'll be looking into something different.