Yet Another Newbie Question :)

[Lin]

You can always donate extra soap There are charities that specifically collect soap to distribute around. You can also donate soap to local shelters. Homeless, domestic abuse, halfway houses, etc. Getting a bar of quality handmade soap would be a real treat.

 

[ilovesoap2]

If it makes you feel better I still have a good boxful of bars that "weren't up to par" that my family is working through (can't stand waste ), and my mom has probably 100 bars of my "early years" soap as well. I did practice a lot, probably a couple times a week on average. Like I said, consider it an investment in job training because you are developing a craft. Best of luck to you!
Cheers!
Anna Marie

100 bars?
wowza!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

100 bars?
wowza!

That seems a lot, but it's only about 5 or 6 batches if you make 2lb (or 1kg!) batches. Seems strange how quickly you can get up to a high number of bars just from trying out new things.

 

[shunt2011]

I gave away and donated probably 500+ bars of soap before I began selling it. I had a good year under my belt and was making 1-2 or more batches a week. I look back now at some of my first bars that I kept and it's funny how far I've come. I started with 2 & 3 lb batches and now make 10-15 lbs at a time. I use 5lb silicone molds and get 14 bars per mold. When if first started I cut my soaps at 1 inch or so and finally decided on just under 1.25.

 

[lenarenee]

I'm curious....when you say it's funny how far you've come; is that because of pinning down a better recipe? Or something about the soapmaking process technique?

In other words, it a person makes the same recipe once a week for a year, will there be a noticeable difference in the quality of the first soaps, compared to the final soaps? If so, then what makes the difference?

The reason I'm wondering is: I made a small alteration to a recipe given on this website, and used it after only one week and I love it already (I started making soap mostly because I often have allergy issues with commercial soaps and finally got tired of costly trial and error, and rashes!)

Wondering if this recipe that I'm happy with already before it's cured, will be
even better after a year of making!

 

[cmzaha]

I also keep a bar from each batch so that if anyone comes back to me with an issue, I can check my batch control bar to see if it's having the same issue. Each batch is also issued a batch number for clear record keeping and a label with the batch number goes on the bars.
I keep a print out of each recipe that corresponds with each batch so I can say exactly what went into each bar to the gram. I'm trying to show due diligence and professionalism. I take my soap-making pretty seriously, as I think all sellers/manufacturers should.

If you are doing all this you should also have each batch number connected to the suppliers batch # of the oils you used. I do not bar code at this point but list my oil batch numbers on my soap calc printouts which I have everyone I have made. The label on my soaps are dated as to the pour date, so all I have to do is go back and check what was used

 

[coffeetime]

I use Soapmaker 3, so all my batches are already correlated with my oil purchases.

 

[cmzaha]

I gave away and donated probably 500+ bars of soap before I began selling it. I had a good year under my belt and was making 1-2 or more batches a week. I look back now at some of my first bars that I kept and it's funny how far I've come. I started with 2 & 3 lb batches and now make 10-15 lbs at a time. I use 5lb silicone molds and get 14 bars per mold. When if first started I cut my soaps at 1 inch or so and finally decided on just under 1.25.

I use hdpe molds and cut at 1.25" which gives me between 5.3-5.7 oz bars and up to 8 oz salt bars. I also get 14 and 2 sample slices from my 5lb mold. Big difference from 5 yrs ago when I was hand cutting, but I can say I still use some of my original recipes and was selling soap 6 months after starting and still have some of the same customers. They now love the larger sizes!

 

[AnnaMarie]

I think soap making is a lot like cooking- if you follow Martha Stewart's instructions can you serve a show stopper dish right away? Absolutely. Does that mean you are a good cook? No. Being a good cook means knowing what you are doing on many levels. Technique, skill, and creativity need to be developed to be a good cook, and this happens only with practice. I notice that practice is really underrated for many in the domestic arts because our culture makes it look so easy, and that a person can be a pro right away without the patience and discipline of a committed professional. My soaps now look FAR better then my first ones, and I can honestly say that it is because of a lot of invested time. There's a reason grandma's such a good cook.....
Cheers!
Anna Marie