How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap?

[Koshka]

Hello everyone, I have a question regarding toxic waste we get from soap making.
So, for example, I have made batch of soap, say, 20 lbs, added FO's (I measure mine out in a separate glass container, that I wash afterwards), poured into the molds and now I'm ready for the clean up.

What would be the safest way to get rid of all the toxic waste? I'm talking about washing my pots from the soap (with lye), cleaning the containers that have FO residue on them (technically, they are considered harmful to the environment, when concentrated), throwing out my dirty paper towels after wiping the counters clean, throwing out soap mold liners, etc.

I make about 100lbs of soap each day and I am concerned about dumping all that toxic waste into the sewer system, how much it too much? I called the township, they really didn't give me much information unfortunately

 

[Seifenblasen]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I would do the best you could to wipe the FO containers down with paper towels/rags as much as possible before washing them. While the FOs are synthetic chemicals, having a small quantity in the sewage system is no different than people taking showers, shampooing their hair with products containing FOs.

It may not be practical, and would definitely add to additional costs, but you may consider getting two sets of equipment and use them on alternate days. If you wait till the following day to wash your pots, most of the soap batter would become closer to soap, and there will be a lot less free lye, not to mention it makes for much easier cleanup.

I would be more worried about clogging your sewer lines than what you would do the municipal sewer treatment system. People used to use lye to clean drains. When you dilute the amount of lye you are washing down the line with waste from hundreds, if not thousands, of other households (unless they all make soap, too :mrgreen: ), it would not alter the pH of the waste much, if any.

The "waste" on paper towels and soap mold liners will eventually become soap, which is not considered a toxic waste. I assume your trash goes to a municipal landfill? I won't worry too much about it.

 

[squigglz]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I would do the best you could to wipe the FO containers down with paper towels/rags as much as possible before washing them. While the FOs are synthetic chemicals, having a small quantity in the sewage system is no different than people taking showers, shampooing their hair with products containing FOs.

It may not be practical, and would definitely add to additional costs, but you may consider getting two sets of equipment and use them on alternate days. If you wait till the following day to wash your pots, most of the soap batter would become closer to soap, and there will be a lot less free lye, not to mention it makes for much easier cleanup.

I would be more worried about clogging your sewer lines than what you would do the municipal sewer treatment system. People used to use lye to clean drains. When you dilute the amount of lye you are washing down the line with waste from hundreds, if not thousands, of other households (unless they all make soap, too :mrgreen: ), it would not alter the pH of the waste much, if any.

The "waste" on paper towels and soap mold liners will eventually become soap, which is not considered a toxic waste. I assume your trash goes to a municipal landfill? I won't worry too much about it.

Ohh, that's an excellent idea about waiting to wash til the next day-I think I'll steal that idea I struggle with the whole 'how to safely get rid of the waste' as well. Now to figure out a safe place to keep the pots and utensils until the next day xD I'm guessing shutting them into a closet overnight wouldn't be good?

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I wipe away as much left over soap batter as possible with paper towels (a lot of waste, unfortunately) or old bath towels (that I wash and reuse) before I wash my pots and utensils. I haven't had a problem with clogged pipes as of yet (fingers crossed). I can't wait until the next day, especially if I'm on an everyday soaping marathon to restock...but if you can, it is a great idea. If you wait til the next day when it's soap (and not a caustic oily mess), you can save those scrapings from your pot and utensils, put it in jar, and use it for dishes, laundry, etc...
I hate wastefulness, and I don't want to contribute to polluting the environment more than I "have to"...but honestly, the things we use to make soap are no more harmful than any other soap product that millions of people use everyday, or the cleaning products, or the pesticides...

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Seifenblasen, you're a genius! I am getting another set of pots today, I don't mind waiting an extra day to clean them up. Thank you for all the clarifications, now I can sleep at night again!

About clogging the drains: before I wash my pots, I always wipe them with paper towers or newspaper to get rid of excess soap residue. So there's minimum amount of soap going into our drains.

Cheers!

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Thank you Shawnee! Towels seems like a great idea, because I waste so much paper towels while making each of my batches. I am also getting a separate dishwasher for my soap making pots, hopefully it will help a bit too!

 

[Lilahblossom]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Wow if I make two four lb. batches in a day, I feel like I've done something. Wish I were doing as much as you. lol.

 

[2lilboots]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I wouldn't have enough space to cure the stuff, let alone store the supplies to make it.

 

[maiseycat]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

ok, so it wasn't just me who while reading the post was thinking "they must have an entire area devoted as their soaping studio" and feeling quite jealous about it?

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Awww, guys, I miss the times when I could do a 2 lbs batch and be like "yay!" and not do anything for the rest of the week. My hobby has turned into a full blown soap manufacturing business overnight, (I literary have done my first craft fair 2 months ago). This is more of a headache than anything right now. Mostly accounting, taxes, purchasing and all. I'm still transitioning from making soaps at my house because I have a whole bedroom dedicated to drying my soaps and I'm running out of space. Warehouse costs money, supplies cost money, labels cost money. I don't want to take out a loan, and I have to be very careful with the way I spend. I am constantly working on my manufacturing system. What would make it more time efficient and how can I save on production costs. (Silly me, I went for the round shaped soaps)
Recently, I just had one of the "big guys" place an order for 15,000 soaps. Of course I said: "Sure! No problem!" But inside I was like O__________O I live with the hope that one day it will all get better, but inside I know that once these problems will get solved, I will have 10 more come up. The only thing that keeps me interested and going is the fact that I absolutely love making soap and will not grow tired of it.

 

[squigglz]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

ok, so it wasn't just me who while reading the post was thinking "they must have an entire area devoted as their soaping studio" and feeling quite jealous about it?

Haha, definitely not just you. I keep my soap stuff on a high shelf in my hall closet and also down in my basement. The drying shelves are in my laundry room. When I make soap, there's a LOT of running around involved, up and down stairs-I wish I had just a room where I could do everything.

Edit:

Awww, guys, I miss the times when I could do a 2 lbs batch and be like "yay!" and not do anything for the rest of the week. My hobby has turned into a full blown soap manufacturing business overnight, (I literary have done my first craft fair 2 months ago). This is more of a headache than anything right now. Mostly accounting, taxes, purchasing and all. I'm still transitioning from making soaps at my house because I have a whole bedroom dedicated to drying my soaps and I'm running out of space. Warehouse costs money, supplies cost money, labels cost money. I don't want to take out a loan, and I have to be very careful with the way I spend. I am constantly working on my manufacturing system. What would make it more time efficient and how can I save on production costs. (Silly me, I went for the round shaped soaps)
Recently, I just had one of the "big guys" place an order for 15,000 soaps. Of course I said: "Sure! No problem!" But inside I was like O__________O I live with the hope that one day it will all get better, but inside I know that once these problems will get solved, I will have 10 more come up. The only thing that keeps me interested and going is the fact that I absolutely love making soap and will not grow tired of it.

Why is making round soap worse in terms of production costs? I use a square mold myself, but I'm just curious. Is it because they don't sit flush with each other in packing?

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I found it easier to work with square molds, you need one person to pour the soap, plus you can do all kinds of fancy swirls and patterns. The best I can do for my soaps is marble them. But I have noticed that customers don't pay much attention to the design of the soaps, but are more attracted to scent and additives (oats, herbs, clays). And they prefer round soaps just for the sake of comfort (I tried to sell both square and round soaps, and the last are more popular). For the round soaps I use round pipes (and its a pain in the a$$ to pour the soap into them, you need at least 2 people) and also insulation is a problem, some of them don't gel all over. My boyfriend has made me a bunch of cloth sleeves for the pipes, so far it's been working...
What else... oh, packaging! When I made small batches, I had them wrapped in coffee filters and that was all. Now I bought a wrapping machine from Great Britain for 15K (!!!!!!) so they can look pretty and professional. With that I can wrap up to 60 soaps a minute, not to shabby, but so darn expensive!

 

[squigglz]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I found it easier to work with square molds, you need one person to pour the soap, plus you can do all kinds of fancy swirls and patterns. The best I can do for my soaps is marble them. But I have noticed that customers don't pay much attention to the design of the soaps, but are more attracted to scent and additives (oats, herbs, clays). And they prefer round soaps just for the sake of comfort (I tried to sell both square and round soaps, and the last are more popular). For the round soaps I use round pipes (and its a pain in the a$$ to pour the soap into them, you need at least 2 people) and also insulation is a problem, some of them don't gel all over. My boyfriend has made me a bunch of cloth sleeves for the pipes, so far it's been working...
What else... oh, packaging! When I made small batches, I had them wrapped in coffee filters and that was all. Now I bought a wrapping machine from Great Britain for 15K (!!!!!!) so they can look pretty and professional. With that I can wrap up to 60 soaps a minute, not to shabby, but so darn expensive!

I didn't think about that with the round molds! But, if you made a smaller batch, couldn't you just use half moon molds (maybe a pringles can cut in half or something, or two half pipes for larger batches), layer the soaps on either side, and then stick it all together with some clear soap after it hardens? (I have never tried this so I have no idea how feasible it is, esp since you seem to have a huge operation going xD)

I'm also going to be nosy and ask you if you have a link to wherever you sell? I love looking at everyone's soap creations ^^

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Haha, Squigglz, you're a genius! I swear! I'm gonna have to try the 2 parts soap, it might actually work!

 

[Lilahblossom]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

If your cloth sleeves wear out, you can go to the pharmacy and ask for stockinette. They use it to cover arms, legs etc before casting. You just cut off the length you want. Might help you with the pipes.

 

[Lindy]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

I tend to do 6 x 6 lb batches at a time and I perfer to wash up when completely. The lye is actually good for the drain because it cleans it as it goes (drain cleaner is mostly lye). Then I'm ready to go again the next day.

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Lindy, but doesn't soap mixture clog the drain? My significant other is ripping his hair out every time he sees me washing pots, screaming bad things about clogged pipes. It hasn't happened yet, but I just want to prove him wrong

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

If your cloth sleeves wear out, you can go to the pharmacy and ask for stockinette. They use it to cover arms, legs etc before casting. You just cut off the length you want. Might help you with the pipes.

Oh wow, that's a great idea! Does stockinette insulate well? I'll def. try it out.

 

[Lindy]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Koshka - nope. Remind him that number one you are putting the whole batch down the sink and that the active lye is a drain cleaner. When my drains get slow I put lye down them followed by hot water and let it sit for an hour or so. No problems with the drains here. For me, because I do wholesale as well as retail I need to make a lot of soap and I need my soap kitchen set up and ready to go the next day. I'm one of those people that procrastinate if my kitchen isn't ready to go so it's easier for me to do it when I finish soaping for the day to get it cleaned up and ready for the next run.

 

[Koshka]

Re: How do you get rid of waste after making a batch of soap

Lindy, thank you for that explanation. I let him read it and now he feels "defeated"