Teach Soap

Hello Soap Family,

Well I just recently order my supplies to create my first soap batch. I am very excited and scared to death at the same time. Not because I will be working lye. I am scared because I do not do well with failure. Meaning I am Miss Perfectionist .

I am currently a candle maker looking to expand to a full product line of candles, lotion, soaps, etc.

I read through the Newbie Post that stated it could possible take 6 months or longer until you should consider selling your soaps. I was wondering how long did it take the more skilled soap crafters to sell your products? For those that do sell them.

Also can you please put my mind at ease that I will be alright with my first batch of soap.

Millicent~FarBeyond Candles

Hi Millicent!
You'll be fine as long as you've done your research and have all your safety equipment, etc. ready to go. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. There's tons of info here.

6 months is the minimum amount of time for CP. You need to try different recipes and get feedback from testers. Then you need to tweak the recipes to make them better. Then you have to wait to find out how they do down the road a bit - did the scent hold up; did the colors fade, morph, bleed, etc; did the soap get DOS; you get the idea - lots of things to be considered. I made soap for a year before I started my business and it was almost another 6 months before I started to sell it to anyone other than close friends and family. Patience is an excellent thing to have when making CP soap!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I'm approaching a year with my CP soap making and only now allowing my soaps to be sold to the 'general public'. Previously all my soaps have gone to close friends, work makes, friends of friends etc where it could be clearly understood that I am still learning, testing, tweaking, etc.

I'm STILL working on my base / main recipe as I'm not 100% happy with my product as it is. I would rather take longer, and be confident knowing I am putting out a quality product that people will come back for than just "making and selling soap".

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

I'm about five or six months... deep, into it and still not ready to sell, and won't be in a month. I'd like to think I'm a fairly good cook, and having taught biochemistry and TA'd a Biochem lab helps but the six month minimum people talk about on the forum still seems like it would be rushing it. It feels like I'm back in the research lab, tweaking recipes and testing results. You'll give away your soaps to testers and get a lot of feed back, good and bad. What I'm trying to learn is how to really control how my soap comes out. Knowing if a batch comes out too soft, what I need to do to harden it, if it comes out too trying, what I need to do to make it milder, and so forth. I had a disaster in the kitchen today, and my first batch ever to over-heat on me. You think you work one thing out, something else goes wrong. Take your time, but enjoy the ride! I know I am.

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Just call me "Apo"

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

I'm a newbie myself. Have been making CP soap for 6months, (and an additional 4months reading and researching)
and there is still so much to learn. Thank goodness for this forum. All I can tell you from one newbie to another, is to have fun, keep calm, and practice, practice, practice...oh, word of warning! It's addictive.
All the best on your new adventure.

Hi Millicent! As Coolah said, the waiting is the worst part! It is fun to plan out a new soap or to be out running errands and think "Hey, that would make a good soap mold!" The process really can't be rushed so indulge your creative side and experiment, test, and tweak away. It's amazing how fast 6 months or even a year will go when you are working on that just right soap. Definitely, enjoy the ride and remember you will find lots of enablers here to share your new addiction.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

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www.fostersfields.ca
https://www.facebook.com/FostersFields

The reason why my sticky for the newbies says 6 months for soaps is because by that time you should know how well your recipe works, how well your oils and butters hold up and how well the fragrance and color stays.

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

I Just put my very first batch of soap in the mold today. It took me forever to get to this point.

I had to pull in the reigns on myself and really decide where I was going with this and how I was going to get there.

Candle making sounds like such fun too. I have a beehive and might give that a try at some point too.

Best of luck!

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I would answer that but my mind is giving me the silent treatment right now!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for all the explanations and encouragement. Coolah you are hilarious. We sound so much alike. I hate waiting, but since this is something that I am passionate about. I will learn to have patience.

Well everyone. I jump into the frying pan of no return from soaping making... I made my first batch of soap this evening. I've made a Mango Butter Soap and even played around with color. I think it looks pretty. I still to work on my technique. Now I am playing the waiting game. This game is not fun....lol.

I was trying to upload an image of the before shot, but I am unable to. I keep getting an error message telling me my file is to large. I figure it out later.

Millicent~FarBeyond Candles