Teach Soap

I've been reading some on GMP. I know that there's a lot involved. But...I am curious about batch lots.

What do you do to keep track of batches? I know that not everyone does this, but I'm interested to know what some people do. It seems like it could be a really hard/difficult process and I'm just curious how it would work.

Do you keep track of ingredient batch lots and the combination in those? The company that I work for uses them for the products we manufacture, but it's usually just one component coated with another (each having their own individual ID numbers). Is it basically the same for soap? Also, do you have any software or other system that you use that works?

Sorry to be technical, it's my analytical side kicking in :-/

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Inspiri Body - Bath & Body products Inspired by Life

I created a very simple spreadsheet to keep a running list of the soaps I make. It lists the date made, recipe used & size, scent used, and any additives (goats milk, lemon peel, etc.) Having everything on one list makes it easy to refer back to my notes for additional info. It also makes it easier when it's time to print soap labels.

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

I print out a 'recipe' sheet from soap calc for each batch. Then I have a half page list of info that I fill in, such as date, fragrance, colorings etc. This all goes into a binder and is kept - I guess forever?? I do not give it a batch number as I only make soap for us, family and a few friends. I have heard of the soapmakers software and have considered getting that... I know there are two types of the program, one for the professional and one for those that consider it a hobby.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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

XD I'm also in the "soapcalc recipe in page protector" club! I even scrapbooked a kooky cover for my "cookbook" Along with the base recipe, I record all the additives that went in, observed time and temperature until gel (yeah I'm a peeker... maybe once I settle on my recipes I'll stop doing that ), any notes about the tracing process, and so on. This has more to do with repeatability than batch lots, but it keeps track of exactly what went into the batch and how it was made. Since pretty much every batch I make right now is different, it's not hard for me to know which bars were which batch... when I start making bigger quantities, I may have to store them with more care to take that into account. (And maybe "born dates" on the labels, too ;D)

As far as ingredients, I've started dating all my supplies with a Sharpie when I get them. I even date my fragrance mixtures when I make them, because especially with essential oils, the mixtures can age to be quite a bit different than the initial throw-together :3

I'm considering soapmaker software when I start trying to sell, because it'd be good to have everything all in one place -- I'm working out of a handful of spreadsheets at the moment.

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CP newbie who's turning into a soaping addict!

If you buy/have Soapmaker 3 you can track batches. It will, by default, start numbering your batches at "1" and just keep going from there every time you "make a batch" in the software. (PS: Soapmaker is well, well worth the relatively small investment because it saves you a lot of time and number crunching!)

You could use a little sticker (or a pen) to number each label/product with a batch number which I've seen a bigger soap co. here in Canada do. I think this is quality control thing.

Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

Along with keeping notes of all my batches, I also keep a bar from each batch that I have made if anything has changed (even if only a different FO), that way I know if anything strange will happen to the soap if stored for a long period of time. If storage space becomes an issue, I may go with "guest sized" bars.