Teach Soap

I'm new to this forum, but not new to soapmaking. I've been making soap for about 15 years now - I started because I couldn't find a honeysuckle soap I like!

In the last few years, I've sold some soap, to individuals and also at craft shows. I'm toying with the idea of having a website, but I'm afraid that the first day it's up, a customer will place an order for 500 bars of goatsmilk soap, to be shipped the next day! (And I don't make soap on that scale, at least not at this point.)

I do CP soapmaking. I guess one of the most important things I've learned about soapmaking is to always, ALWAYS, run any recipe though a lye calculator. Learned the hard way (wasting 10 pounds of olive oil in the process) that just because someone has written a book about soapmaking doesn't mean they know how to put together a good recipe.

I've been out of soapmaking for a while. I broke my ankle, then my leg, and couldn't walk for about nine months. I'm getting a serious case of "gotta make SOAP" - in fact a friend and I are doing a craft show in a couple of weeks. Just went through all my materials, and have found some new suppliers, and I'm ready to get back to it!

I live in NE Colorado, with four cats (two just plain cats and two Maine Coons) and three dogs (a Giant Schnauzer and two English Mastiffs). My mastiffs are show dogs, and one thing I'd like to learn to do beyond soapmaking is to make some kind of coat conditioner for them. We were at a show a couple of weekends ago, and my handler was using one that smelled like grape bubble gum. (And I'd really prefer another scent!)

The only thing that makes me nervous about expanding my creations beyond soap is the thought that doiing some of that other stuff incorrectly looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I'm a completely self-taught soapmaker. Bought a book, assembled the equipment, rendered some suet into tallow, and off I went!

Anyway, glad to be aboard. Hope to learn some things, and maybe help some folks as well.

Anita

Welcome Anita!
You don't need 500 bars of soap to have a web site. Just start with whatever inventory you have.

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

Welcome to a great forum

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Soapbuddy, I know I don't need that much to start. But the way my luck runs, that amount will be what my first customer wants!

And thanks for the welcome.

Anita

Welcome Anita!
We had a dog a long time ago that was a mastiff mix. He was so huge and just loved me. He liked to stand up and place his paws around my neck and lay his head on my shoulders. He was way taller than me when he did this, and would have to bend down, like a tall human. It was sooo cute! He was my Sons dog actually, and was way larger than my boy. It was a trip to watch him take my Son for a walk! Thanks for walk down memory lane, and again, welcome to the forum!

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Tammy