How do you organize your soapin' gear?

[unmouton]

I originally started with large plastic storage bins... but I've accumulated enough stuff (translation: become completely obsessed with the craft and cannot stop purchasing things!!) to be overwhelmed. I need this stuff to fit nicely into a closet, and be easy to find.

I've been smart enough to put purchase and expiration dates on my oils, fragrances, etc... but that doesn't help much when you can't locate the one you want. GAH! My packaging station has also become a mess, because I enjoy purchasing packaging materials for my soap as much as the ingredients themselves!

Organization is not my strong point. I'm just curious: What do you guys do to keep things clean, organized, and generally attractive looking? Any things you would recommend purchasing that have been lifesavers in keeping your soaping area sane?

 

[kbn]

I'm still trying to figure out the best method for myself, but one thing I've done that has helped me with all the FOs is to group them by type. I use either a shoe box or small plastic bin from the dollar store and put all the fruity-type scents in one bin, herbal and spicy in the next, dupes in the next one, EO's in their own... you get the idea. I still have to sort through a few to find the exact one I want, but it is quicker than having them all jumbled together. I label on the outside of the box what type is inside then stack on top of each other.

I keep all my utensils (spatulas, chopsticks, measuring spoons) in an old pottery pitcher so I can grab one easily when I need it.

HTH! I'd love to hear other tips on how people stay organized

 

[cwarren]

Organize ? Whats that ... LOL I have all my stuff in a box, oils on a shelf, additives under center island, molds on dryer. notebook on counter next to computer... I need a soap room !!

 

[Sillysoap]

I am with Cwarren, I have it scattered out everywhere it seems including the soap it's self. I do have all the EO/FO in a box together and several of my things store inside themselfs but I need a soaping room so I am thinking that cute little craft building that I have out back may just become my soaping room!

 

[Vintageliving]

I appropriated a set of shelves in the kitchen, though I usually have soap paraphernalia in several places in the kitchen, and bars curing, etc., and then there are all the bars in the bathroom.

 

[BakingNana]

Organization. What a bugaboo.

Our basement consisted of a laundry room with sink and storage closets, a storeroom, and a sewing room (I used to be a competition quilter). We turned the entire thing into a soaping area.

We took all the out-of-season clothing out of the closets in our laundry room, took the doors off the closet, and use shelving in them to store soap making supplies. I have an old kitchen table between the laundry room sink and the closets,and the scale and hot plate are on it. I use the top of the washer and dryer (front loaders), covered with microfiber dish drainers, to dry soaping bowls, spoons, molds, etc., that have been washed in the sink. We moved everything out of an adjacent storeroom and used the existing shelving for curing shelves. I packed away all the sewing stuff I no longer use and donated a bunch of fabric to the charity committee of my quilt guild, and use my sewing machine cabinet (with the machine lowered) as an office/computer desk, my old cutting table as a labeling/packaging station, and two tall bookcases to hold boxes of cured soap. I put in a 2 drawer filing cabinet and set up bookkeeping, batch, and soaping records systems.

Sounds terribly organized, doesn't it? NOT. What a mess. The harder I try to organize, the worse it gets! Not enough hours in the day to get everything done. And I'm sitting at this stupid computer instead of washing the mountain of yesterday's soaping stuff that's in the sink and making the egg yolk dog soap I'm supposed to be testing!! Sigh......

 

[heyjude]

My dh thought that since our kids are high school and college age I should clear out the game closet in the powder room and put my soaping stuff inside so I wouldn't be trucking up and down the stairs each time I soap. (I soap on the kitchen island)

Of course I couldn't fit everything into the closet, so I still have some things on a shelf in my unfinished basement, but I make a lot fewer trips down there when I soap!

It is organized, sort of. :wink:

 

[scouter139]

One thing I did that was a huge help was I put little white sticky labels on the tops of all my fragrances and wrote the name on it because I too keep them in plastic shoe boxes. I was forever picking up every bottle to see what was in it. When you get 3 or 4 shoe boxes it was getting a little much.

 

[Bayougirl]

Well, having a smaller house, with not much closet space-I'm not organized. I have f/o and e/o's and lotion supplies in a hall closet (triangle shaped, to boot) with a box of palm oil next to it. In another triangled shaped closet-soaping oils and colors. In my bedroom, shelf unit of 100 batches of cured soap. In my sunroom-buckets for mixing, my 50 lb of coconut oil, spoons, blenders, table clothes, etc. In my laundry room, newly drying soap, molds and bath salt supplies up on shelves DH put up. Oh yeah, bottom of food pantry-more surplus oils from Soaper's Choice.


We have a "little house" that is still just gutted from Hurricane Katrina, this will (eventually) be my soap house and some much needed storage (so we can take some out of the main house). It will have kitchen and bathroom with shower, so it can be a guest house, if need be. I just have to get the DH to finish up his solar project and concentrate on the little house. He doesn't like that my "soap stuff" is in his way when he goes to do stuff (but it's okay for his computer stuff to be there!). Maybe then I can get it more organized when I get everything in one spot.

Here's a photo of the outside of the little house when it snowed in Louisiana in Dec of 08.

 

[BakingNana]

Bayougirl, how cool is that house! I'm positively GREEN with envy. That will be soooo great.

 

[dagmar88]

Organized?! Well, the stuff I'm using often is crammed in one of my kitchen cupboards and all the other stuff is piled up in my soon-to-be soap making room (now the room where everything from tools and paint to unpacked boxes and suitcases are stored )

 

[dubnica]

I live in condo so I bought tall plastic storage cabinet for my patio and I keep there all of my tools and supplies, larger pails of oils are right next to it and for my soap drying I use guest room closet.

 

[unmouton]

Ah! So the concensus is... I'm normal and not a messy slob! Thank goodness. I guess I will simply try to make sense out of my plastic bins, and I LOVE the idea of sticky labels on top of fragrance. I keep mine in a divided box (I bought small lotion jars in it, so I can put a few FO bottles in each compartment) and I have to lift every single one out.

I'm thinking of making my boyfriend build me a rack for xmas. I used a wooden DVD rack with slanted bars (anyone know what I'm talking about?) and put my WSP buckets of oil on it (they lean back) and it worked perfectly, but was too flimsy. I was worried it would all fall off and crush my cat or something.

Back to the drawing board. If anyone would like to build me an additional closet for free, let me know. :wink:

 

[Chris-2010]

Lye tank left on rolling carriage, with valve to dispense. Base oils tank right, temperature regulated with valve; stock tank for initial heating to clarity behind. Center digital floor scale. Exhaust fan. Washing sink.

Bench to hold two larger oil pots and two smaller lye pots, to make 2 at a time is more efficient. All soap is made here.

Steel shelving for essential oils and solids. Smaller wooden shelves on this hold 1 lb and 1 kg bottles for essential oils, alphabetical. Solids in clear containers, alphabetical. Refill cans beneath, 5 lb to 35 lb cans.

Separate shelves for all the necessary soap making tools and items . . .

Cabinets for heavier tools.

More safe shelves for an orderly prepositioning of all ingredients needed for the upcoming run.

Floor platform behind bench with 11 block molds (one run) 5 x 2 plus 1, in a tight array to minimize surface area, retain heat. Blanketing for heating and fans for cooling.

Cutting table behind with frame cutters and log cutters, for mold disassembly, block cutting, mold cleaning and reassembly, and log cutting and tray placement.

Drying racks opposite.

Grinding and mixing table farther along for prepping many solids.

 

[PrairieCraft]

All of my little 1 oz sample bottles of FOs (that I will hopefully get around to trying one day) were driving me nuts. They were stored neatly in a tupperware container but I had to lift them out 1 at a time and no matter how I separated them it wouldn't stay. So...I put them into like groups, all the different coffees together, the fruity, the flowery etc. and then rubber banded them together. Cheap, easy, maybe not the best looking but now when I want to make something seasonal I pull out the seasonal bunch and they are all there to choose from. This has been the best thing for me.

 

[BakingNana]

Lye tank left on rolling carriage, with valve to dispense. Base oils tank right, temperature regulated with valve; stock tank for initial heating to clarity behind. Center digital floor scale. Exhaust fan. Washing sink.

Bench to hold two larger oil pots and two smaller lye pots, to make 2 at a time is more efficient. All soap is made here.

Steel shelving for essential oils and solids. Smaller wooden shelves on this hold 1 lb and 1 kg bottles for essential oils, alphabetical. Solids in clear containers, alphabetical. Refill cans beneath, 5 lb to 35 lb cans.

Separate shelves for all the necessary soap making tools and items . . .

Cabinets for heavier tools.

More safe shelves for an orderly prepositioning of all ingredients needed for the upcoming run.

Floor platform behind bench with 11 block molds (one run) 5 x 2 plus 1, in a tight array to minimize surface area, retain heat. Blanketing for heating and fans for cooling.

Cutting table behind with frame cutters and log cutters, for mold disassembly, block cutting, mold cleaning and reassembly, and log cutting and tray placement.

Drying racks opposite.

Grinding and mixing table farther along for prepping many solids.

That's my "someday" dream; kinda overkill for the hobbyist!!

 

[Wick's End]

I'm new-ish, so space isn't yet an issue. I am trying to stay organized as I go. I use a 3x5 index card box for my ordering web sites. I have a large calendar which I post soap batches and then their curing dates. I also use a binder clip to hold my index card or printed order sheet until the order comes in. I also have a binder clip hung up to hold my bills. I have a plastic tub the size of a shoe box to keep receipts in. I put a sheet of paper in there at the start of each month. On my bottles I write what I paid and how much that is per oz. I have a shallow book shelf I keep my fragrances on. I have a book shelf for soap needs and a book shelf for candle needs.
My work bench has 2 large shelves I keep large equipment in.
I love my sets of plastic drawers. They are light and portable plus they stack nicely.
I have a plastic shoebox to keep urinals in and will be expanding to another couple more soon but then to expand into plastic drawers. I have a room size of a large office.

 

[Wick's End]

I'm new-ish, so space isn't yet an issue. I am trying to stay organized as I go. I use a 3x5 index card box for my ordering web sites. I have a large calendar which I post soap batches and then their curing dates. I also use a binder clip to hold my index card or printed order sheet until theQ order comes in. I also have a binder clip hung up to hold my bills. I have a plastic tub the size of a shoe box to keep receipts in. I put a sheet of paper in there at the start of each month. On my bottles I write what I paid and how much that is per oz. I have a shallow book shelf I keep my fragrances on. I have a book shelf for soap needs and a book shelf for candle needs.
My work bench has 2 large shelves I keep large equipment in.
I love my sets of plastic drawers. They are light and portable plus they stack nicely.
I have a plastic shoebox to keep utensels in and will be expanding to another couple more soon but then to expand into plastic drawers. I have a room size of a large office.

 

[steffm]

I have a craft room/laundry room. It has all the supplies of the crafts I do and the crafts I want to do . I have a couple of shelves in my room with most of my soaping supplies. The rest are scattered everywhere else because there is not enough room :roll: .

 

[steffm]

I should add the my DH has an office next to my craft room and we keep a curing rack/shelf in there along with all the shipping supplies (he has his own small business).