Teach Soap

I came to soap via lotion. I only use fragrance-free items and was sick and tired of paying big bucks for lotion that did not do for my skin what I wanted. Not sure how the thought "I can make it" popped into my head but it did. So Google lead me to many places including Bramble Berry. And BB so impressed me with the how-to-do-it information and ingredient lists that I started there making fragrance-free lotion, which lead to creams and while looking at BB's website I noticed soap making and started reading about that and decided I needed to make my own fragrance-free M&P soap and now I'm having so much fun with soap and lotion that I can hardly control myself. I give away the excess to friends and family and neighbors and even to some of my favorite vendors at the Fremont Sunday Market! (I buy their stuff and give them my stuff- grin). I'm also a weaver and made soap-on-a-rope with handwoven rope which I sold at the Seattle Weavers' Guild Annual Sale last year and will do again this year (October). I have many many molds and keep lusting after more. Once I fill up my large basket with my soap I try not to make more until I give most of it away -- so please, if your're in Seattle come by and get some soap so I can make more, OK? Seriously, people love my soap and I do too. Thank you BB. I've also hooked a friend on making bath bombs and I'm telling others with pre-teens and teens in their lives about the eye shadow and foundation kits. I don't wear makeup so I'm not interested but I think it would be almost s much fun as soap making.

Here's my two cents! I started soaping for a bunch of reasons. As I mentioned before on another post I found an old bar of soap my daughter had bought me at a fair 5yrs before and it still smelled great and lathered well, so that peaked my curiosity. I am a pretty crafty person do all the usual knitting, crocheting, sewing,quilting, and canning in the fall. Most of my craftiness has come since moving to northern maine 10 yrs ago. We live in a tiny village, inaccessible by auto and the closest store is 3 hrs away(boat in the summer snowmobile in winter), so you learn to make things or do without. The big reason for going all out with soapmaking is that my husband and I and our 5 children run an Inn. Everything we serve our guests is homemade, we even raise all our own meat, so I figured why not soap! So far everyone has loved the soap so I am hoping that when I do start selling I'll have an instant customer base! I must say that this site has made the experience well worth it. I don't know what I enjoy more making soap or reading all the posts.

Well here goes mine. I also remember my first batch back when my grandmother inspired me .My 3 kids were little then and she just wrote me up a recipe with about 4 ingred. and sent me home. Go figure. I think all it had was rendered lard ,lye, soft water and maybe something else. no calculation just a measuring cup. I did everything she said I remember pouring it in a box and putting it under the bed for a longggggggggg time. you know I remember that soap was the whities and hardest soap with a grease smell that I ever made. Back then I was so proud of it .Such a simple bar.
Several years later, 7 mo,s now I,ve been bit by the bug and think I have became a soap addict! I love it. I started before Christmas with gifts to friends and family and everyone won,t let me be about it ,and thats a great thing.They love my soap and have encouraged me to sell it. That venture is going very well for me.I learn so much with each batch I do.
This is a great forum and can glean alot here!
Thank you Soap buddy for the tip on the GM recipe, to mix my water and lye first and then after cool add to oils and then add my milk. I had a very lovely nice creamy white batch turn out Fri. I did add 1/2 oz of TD to the warm oils also. NO more burnt milk!
Anyhows, Thats how I got started and really love it.Its such good therapy. Thanks Grandmother in heaven!

While I was a Virtual Assistant I found the Indie Business Forum. After spending some time reading through the posts I decided to target independent beauty manufacturers. The more time I spent reading through the posts, the more I got involved. I started a newsletter for independent manufacturers and joined IBN, but that wasn't enough for me. I was not satisfied on the inside.

The more I learned about making handmade beauty products the more I wanted to make a batch of soap. On September 30, 2008, I made my first batch of soap. The following month I had to make a decision to either target independent beauty manufacturers or make soap, but I couldn't do both. I didn't think it would be fair to other Indies if I made beauty products and also served as Virtual Assistant. I decided to make soap !

I'm very happy with my decision, and I'm more satisfied than ever.

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Dusty W