Soaps and bathroom rebuild
Been super busy lately. Still working from home, but decided to start making artisan soaps from scratch (oil blends + lye and water = soap). AND working on our basement bathroom rebuild [I'll share photos of the bathroom once done].
Here's some soapy pictures!
And lotion bars:
I'll check back in tomorrow!
NO POLITICS!
NO POLITICS!
Nice. Lol, they look edible !
That went through my head when I first looked at the photos as well. I thought some of them looked like vanilla fudge, some like Stilton or other cheeses. Made me feel hungry.
9 and 10 look like frozen Hamburg.
That one acted funky as soon as I added the fragrance oil. I found out the hard way that floral scents will thicken the batter almost immediately in most instances. They still smell great though!
The packaged ones in the last two photos are beautiful - they should be shown on the Creative Arts group, because they certainly are creative.
Those last two photos are of the lotion bars. Those are just molds that make them that pretty.
Anoon Ms..
Good on you..they look great and I would certainly buy them...
Very popular over here and appears the same there..
I think they're pretty popular across the globe, but most people use coconut oil, because it's cheap. I can't use coconut oil or any of its derivatives; that's why I started making my own soaps in the first place. So... mine are all coconut free. I looked at the prices other artisan soap makers sell their bars for and I'm actually surprised that I'm charging a couple dollars less than those people... then again, I don't have a website to pay for or large drums of materials or employees. I've gotten a LOT of requests so far. Ironically mostly from men. I've sold a few bars from the first batch I've done. It took me almost a year to get the courage.
Welcome back.
You have been busy!
Wow. If that's your soap, can't wait to see the bathroom rebuild. Kudos
Nice!
You are very creative! 😊
Wait a second … one of them says Fight Club on it. By “oil blends” do you really mean liposuctioned fat???
Home made soap, the only soap I use.
Nice job, that stuff is fantastic.
Well... I believe you're in the same state... it'd be easy enough to get some to you.
Thx but I’m all set. My ex makes it and I buy it from her but if you’re having trouble selling it let me know. I’d take a couple bars off your hands.
As a matter of fact, I've got droves of people asking me when they'll be ready for sale! Thanks a bunch though.
Welcome back lady. Have not seen you on in a while. You've been missed.
Aw. Thanks. I've just been really busy lately.
Those are amazing soaps! Are they for sale?
Perrie, the fact that there appears to be so much of it, she would be smart to market them, but she knows to not offer them to NT members here.
Once they're fully hardened, yes. I'm going to sell them at a couple of local fairs to see how well I do.
I looked to see if I needed a business tax ID, but because I don't have employees, I don't need one. I will be keeping track of my sales through and "old school" receipt book... that way I can provide receipts too. It's really just a side gig... especially since I just got a nice raise and I'm still working from home.
I saw a running commercial about this and it pique my interest. I am looking for time to start making my own soap (mainly for myself) as I use vegetable soap nowadays, but would love 'mixing' in some heady fragrances "all for me." Might be quite interesting! You 'look' like you are having the time of your life with this! Congratulations.
Now then when selling to the public, obey all 'rules of direct sales': list your ingredients (for sensitive skin patrons), warn your product are not edibles on the packaging, and boldly state: KEEP UP FROM YOUNG CHILDREN (who might put it in their mouths). Enjoy! It's all good!
Actually, those rules are only for cosmetics, not soaps. However, I do all of that anyhow.
I just ordered some pre-printed labels for each batch.
If you're really interested in making your own, check out "Mrs. Soap & Clay" on her YouTube channel: . She's pretty awesome and a fun personality to boot. She also responds to questions and comments. She and her husband will have live videos on occasion too.
Thank you!
Your soaps look like tasty sweets! (So attractive!) And to think you are only going to get better with time. I wish you SOOOO much success! One question: Is the soap-making process as 'serene' as the soaps look?
Yeah. I enjoy it. When I mix the lye with the distilled water, I weigh it out and then take it outside to stir it. Once it's fully combined, I put it on the counter away from pets and where anyone might try to prepare something to eat while I'm taking over the kitchen. That's the most dangerous part, because it can cause wicked burns and the "steam" coming off of it while mixing is not something anyone should breathe in... hence me taking it outside to mix it. Then... I have to wait until the lye / water mix cools to below 125F... some people prefer closer to 100F, but I'm simply not patient enough for that.
While I wait for the lye water to cool, I get my oils ready. Because you need hard and soft oils, generally have to microwave the oils just to melt the hard oils / butters. As long as both the lye water and oils are relatively close to the same temperatures, the batter is good and stays fluid. I found out the hard way that floral scents will thicken the batter at a crazy high rate. That made it difficult to get in the mold.
Hmmm, so instructive. I can't wait to try. Looking for the time in my schedule. I am also planting tomatoes, squash, and cucumber this year. Where to find the proper sun (as I have an over-bearing amount of shade) around me is the thing!
Well, the YouTube channel I referred you to, start with any of her "for beginners" soaps if / when you chose to try. If you want to use coconut oil, most of her recipes use it. If you want to replace coconut oil, you can use babassu or palm kernel flakes.
If you chose to do this, download an app. called "Soap Calc" because you put in the batch size you want to do and then put the percentages of each oil or butter you want to use. That will give you a full on recipe with amounts in oz.
The things you need before trying this [for safety and accuracy] are as follows:
I had much of this stuff on hand already and you might too. I had safety glasses, a digital scale, extra measuring cups and spoons, a digital thermometer, and tiny containers. Many of these things were from my mom or from my days as a mechanic.
For a basic, unscented batch of soaps, all you need is 3 oils (most common used are coconut oil, olive pomace oil, and palm oil, but I use babassu)... actually you could do a single oil (Olive Pomace) if you really wanted and no, you cannot use EVOO from the grocery store, Sodium Hydroxide (aka Lye), and distilled water. A basic loaf mold on Amazon is like $15... so that's not really expensive.
Depending on where you live, would depend on what company I would recommend getting your supplies from though. Like, I started with Chemistry Store's website, but the cost of shipping was high, because they're on the opposite end of the US from me. Brambleberry is on the west coast, so shipping cost would be high for me from there too. However, Bulk Apothecary is in Ohio and I'm in Michigan... a LOT less expensive for shipping and I usually get it very quickly. I will get some things from Amazon if they are about the same price, because I have Prime... but the costs of oils are usually a little higher than if I went to Bulk Apothecary... even with the shipping cost.
You could always just try doing the melt & pour (M&P) to start with... no safety equipment necessary... just need some Pyrex measuring cups (glass) and a microwave (I prefer a double boiler, but that's merely my preference and I already had one). Amazon is WAY expensive for M&P though. I would suggest going through one of the aforementioned companies for the M&P bases. If you can use soap with coconut oil, any of those will be fine; however, if you cannot use coconut based products, you would want to go with Chemistry Store or Bulk Apothecary and go with the Stephenson brand.
Sorry... that was a lot of information. Hopefully, that was NOT TL:DR.
I have saved (bookmarked) this comment. Thanks!