Hectic Heaven

My soapmaking story

About 10 years ago while reading a book called "The encyclopedia of country living" by Carla Emery  I found a soap recipe... I like to "try" to do things the way they used to... so I decided to make a batch of soap.... I started saving grease from my cooking... mainly  tallow and lard,  when I finally gathered enough together to make a batch,  I cleaned the fat and made the soap It took me quite awhile to bring it to trace...I knew nothing about lye calculators  or anything else...just what I read in that book....I didnt like it because it didnt lather well.. but my skin felt good....I ended up using it for  laundry soap mostly though.... and then with the help of the internet I started researching soapmaking... I researched oils and what they would contribute... I practiced and played for several years.. developing a recipe that I liked...which is the one I use now...  It has  5 different oils in it... all contributing something to the bar, I then somehow got turned on to milk soaps... and I loved what they did for my skin....I have been making goats milk soap now for about 5-6 years......right now I have about 15 different scents, I am looking for a few more good floral scents and will probably keep it at 18-20..  my batch sizes have also increased, from  a couple of pounds, to about 20 lbs a batch,  each 6 mold batch will produce about 90 bars of soap.

at first I just gave it away... then I had to charge so I could keep playing... I developed the label and  pretty much have just sold word of mouth....I am now deciding to take the next step and get a good inventory built up,  I dont currently have a web page but will be  getting one soon I hope.  I have sold on ebay a few times but mostly folks just hear about it and call...   I work at a school district right now and am thinking maybe about putting samples in the staff room   for sale.. especially for Christmas and such.. I did this at a couple of schools last year with good success..

 I love the way it makes the house smell to....and sometimes the combination is, for lack of better words very interesting....

The hardest part of all those loaves is the hand cutting... pretty time consuming.....

 I was going to quit making soap and one point but my only wholesale account at the time told me I just couldnt... and now I have a few more accounts...Its been slow building but it gives me a few dollars here and there  that sure come in handy at times...I dont imagine I will get rich doing it, but it does satisfy the closet chemist in me...

Hi!

10:20, 2006-Jun-26 .. Posted by Snowberryfarm

Love your soaps! I want some!!

Michelle

Untitled Comment

06:51, 2006-Jun-27 .. Posted by borderling

You sure do have the soap. I see you make patchouli. That's one of my favorites. My soap making is only for family and friends. You sound like you know a lot more than I do about it. I just use recipes that I like, I can't make my own. I hope your business booms.
Rhonda

I love your soap!

06:06, 2006-Jun-28 .. Posted by Rain

And so do my hands.
Mom used to make lye soap; all I remember is rendering the lard. Then rendering lard. Then rendering lard... Man!
I'm not as brave as you. Don't think I'll ever try anything like that. But you make it sound like a LOT of fun. (But a lot of work too.)