Teach Soap

Dear lavenderlady and soapbuddy-
I could tell you a lot of things about me and my craft, but unfortunately it seems you've already made up your mind about my products....I could tell you that I have been putting in over 60 hours a week into teaching myself about soapmaking, and selling, that I have researched and done more than what you have recommended in your post...that I have been an RN for 20 years, am a member of both the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Holistic Nurses Association, am taking classes each semester toward my Nurse Practitioner degree, have a goal of passing my RN Aromatherapy Certification exam by next spring, and if the bill that is up before congress passes, I will still be able to work on soaps through my RN licensure- in the near future I will be a Holistic Nurse Practitioner, which means that I can assess patients, prescribe an essential oil blend for them, and create an essential oil/aromatherapy vehicle to deliver it in to them.... not to be mean, but I would never try to trash or put a bad spin on anyone's industry, which is why I have been pouring all of my blood sweat and tears into learning about it, and why it has taken me so many hours per week of studying and doing to even be able to think about selling them....

Words on the page don't always come across the same way as they do in person. I am a Holistic Health Practitioner and have been in this field for the last 20+ years. All of us want to make a safe product for the public to enjoy. It's too bad that there are people on the net (I don't mean you, I'm speaking in general terms) that make the soap today and sell the soap tomorrow.

Get to know this forum better and you will see we really are a good bunch that do our best to help each other.

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

Soap Queen actually had a good post today (yesterday?) about "Assume Good Will. It's Easier" which would apply here ^_^
I just wanted to say "Hi, Karen!" and welcome to Teach Soap. As you browse and make comments on here, you'll find that we're all pretty nice and generous with answering questions and never (purposefully) make anyone feel bad about questions being asked. This community is extremely helpful and there are people who have been making soap for YEARS who want to help newbie soapers work on the craft! There are several reasons why holding off 6-12 months before selling soap is a good thing. Often times, the people who buy soap may not use the soap right away and it could sit on their shelves for much longer than one would think! So, during the time that your soap sits on your shelves waiting to be sold and then possibly sit on the shelves of the buyers before being used, many things can happen that you'll want to know about. These things often include, but are not limited to: colors changing (colors often morph over time, fade, and even bleed), scent morphing or fading, dos (the oils in the soap actually go rancid).
And I have to agree with everyone else who have been saying that it's not right to use somebody else's recipe for selling your own bars (I am not saying that you are, just making a general statement). I think it's best to know every in-and-out of any recipe and why you made it that way. Plus, it puts your own stamp on a product out in the market! I'm still working on my own recipe, but then again, I only started soaping a couple months ago myself- and I'm kind of like you in that I've been pouring over soap-related materials for 60+ hours a week (since February when I started thinking about the possibility of making my first batch), and keeping my fingers crossed that the bill doesn't get passed, because I fell in love with soap making after my first batch and would love to eventually have my own business once I gain enough experience!
But definitely make sure that you have yourself covered legally with the sale of your soaps! Business insurance (catered specifically towards soap and other bath and beauty products), registering your business name, and registering your business through your state and if needed through the Federal Government as well!
I look forward to seeing your soaps over on the CP thread and hope that you'll enjoy hanging with the Teach Soap community!

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

karen; The only thing that I had decided about you was exactly what you said, you began making soap in March and are already selling it. I am not/was not trying to be mean or rude. I in no way meant that you personally intended to "trash" our industry. I was merely trying to assist you to look in the right direction, think about things you maybe had not thought of, and this was to protect you, as well as the rest of us. Many newbies just begin making and selling and that is that. Some dont even know there are any regulations to follow, and most don't know how their product will be in a few months, much less 6months or a year. So I am exceptionally happy that you have done some homework., and I commend you for that.
I am also a RN and aromatherapist, have practiced holistic medicine for more than 30 years, and am in the process of writing a book about EO's, so I appreciate your knowledge base where health, herbs and Eo's are concerned. Of course there is so much more to it all than what I mentioned in my first post, but I was just pointing, not setting up a tutorial. Again, we have seen way too many newbies begin selling without any knowledge base [again, so I am glad that you have some].
And believe me, if that bill passes as is, none of us will be able to afford to continue on in this business, even those with our credentials. There is a thread somewhere on here with links about that too if you are interested in signing the petition against it.
At any rate, we are a nice bunch of people, passionate about our crafts and very sharing oriented. We do welcome you, hope you stick around and find out for yourself.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

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

Karen, no worries, and I understand being testy, I frequently am! Lol So all is good!
As for the bill, currently what you say is true, soap is exempt if it falls into the guidelines. But the new bill, which was supposed to still exempt soap, does not. So even just plain soapers will have issues if it passes. When you put the rest of the industry into it, the lotions and potions, well it is just plain horrible. So yes, it looks like they want all small businesses out of business. So I hope it doesnt pass and am working hard to ensure it fails!

And yes Irena, that is the link!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Tammy and Irene-
Hi- thanks for the post. Through the posts on this forum I did find my way to a petition against this bill and signed it. It is important to stand up for small business rights- the small businesses of America make this country what it is. Apart from that I feel it would be unfortunate for the people of this country to only have highly chemicalized, detergent-filled soap to use on there skin- at a time when even the government encourages natural foods, etc. be consumed to avoid unhealthy additives being introduced into our bodies, they will be advocating us to do that by putting the small business soaping industry to be eliminated with this bill. We will turn backwards in time to days when people HAD to make there own soap!!
Again, thanks for the post:)
Karen