Teach Soap

I made a point to not copy any soap recipes and come up with my own recipes before making soap. I came up with about 4 or 5 that I've tried so far and they all came out great. I have a good assortment of oils at my disposal but I feel like I'm in a rut already. I've spent countless hours on Soapcalc till I felt like my head was going to explode. How do you come up with new recipes? Is it normal to have a few 'tried and trues' and just futz around with colors and scents but not really new and exciting recipes?

I guess its not really a question so much as an invitation for discussion.

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ween rules

I have my tried and true recipes and then I also like to mix it up just by adding a different ingredient, changing the amounts of some others. When I do change, I make sure to do a small batch just in case it doesn't work out like I think it should.

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Haven

I'm relatively new to soaping (± 6 years). I was still futzing around with recipes until I started selling them and running a side business and began concentrating on making money instead of loosing it. I'm a scientist (molecular biologist)....not an accountant. I was having a great old time just making, making, making soap and playing around and experimenting. And believe me, I can experiment. Then one day I realized I spent about $1500 over the past couple of months on soapmaking stuff, had about 500 (no kidding) bars of soap lying around, and didn't have the foggiest idea what to do with anything. I got a tax ID, business license and all the banking stuff to go along with it. It wasn't until I started selling this stuff that I realized that I had to have a "standard" recipe and some standard operating procedures. I came up with one recipe based on the ingredients that I liked to use and formulated a "standard" blend. I deviate because I sell "facial" bars and "exfoliating" bars, etc. Then I started taking orders faster than I could make them. But my plain old bar of soap that smells good and is pretty, is my standard recipe. I've made it so many times I can make it in my sleep with no notes.

Sorry....I know I'm long-winded. I think your rut will pass after you get a little more established. Right now you're experimenting so much that it doesn't mean anything and experimenting is your standard. Find a good recipe and stick with it. After you start making your standard recipe then your experiments will be a lot more fun and exciting. I don't know if any of this makes any sense....it's been a long day and I'm smarter in the morning .

I don't know if any of this makes any sense....it's been a long day and I'm smarter in the morning .[/quote]




Thank you so much Supersoaper! I love it! Now I can tell people that a molecular scientist buddy of mine says you are smarter in the morning! Now I just have to figure out smarter than what......!!

I too have a standard recipe since I sell also---- I constantly am adding and subtracting scents though --- and with each scent I decide if or what kind of coloring. My customers have some tried and true regulars they expect but they sure all ask me what I have that's new.

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You may be only one person to the world, but you may also be the world to one person

Most of my soaps these days are restocks, made with a tried and true recipe. I will make a small batch on ocassion with different oils or butters just for fun. I keep coming back to the tried and true though. Sometimes the simpler is the better.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I have about 3 basics and change out eo's and herbs to mix it up. Although lately I seem to be dreaming about new recipes. LOL

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Diana
Butter Babies Soap
bbsoap.com

I prefer my tried and true recipe for everything. I use it for my salt bars as well as my goats milk bars. I just change out the additives, colors and scents as needed. I think it's much easier for production to do it this way. I do wish I had unlimited funds, then I would experiment more.

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"Maintaining Balance Between People and Nature"

I think you must have a standard to be the core of your business. So people get the same results every time. That keeps them coming back. Then you can tweek it all you want.

I have one standard recipe I use and then some of my soaps use another recipe. I experiment every now and then just for fun but like my standard recipe.

i have four standards - i used to have three, but i just added one specifically to increase trace time with difficult fragrances. i make a lot of different types, just by switching up the additives, but i stick to those well-researched base oils.

if you're producing a lot of soap, it makes sense to measure multiple batches at one time, and making all of one base recipe at once vastly reduces the chance for mistakes.

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