How much, is too much??

[Michelle Keddy]

Hi there,
So this is my first official post concerning soap. I am rather new to cold process soap making and have made roughly 10 batches in the past month (getting ready for Fall farmers markets).

Tonight I made a bit of an oppsy..
I was set to make 3 batches and somewhere along the way I got confused. I measured 2 ounces too much of Canola Oil for my Lavender soap.

The ratio is 8 oz Canola, 8 oz Coconut & 19 oz EVOO.
4.7 oz of lye & 10 oz of water
I use Bramble Berry essential oils, standard mica & titanium dioxide.

For some god awful reason I measured the Canola while the Coconut was still in the pitcher and thought
8+8=18 WRONG 8+8=16 ...derp!

It traced and as far as I can tell it looks like it is setting up.

So my question is, will 2 ounces of extra oil mess up the entire batch??

I figure at this point only time will tell but I figured someone may have made this mistake before and could lend some advice.

Thanks so much!!

 

[msunnerstood]

No it will just have a higher superfat. Its a softer bar of soap with that much olive oil s you may need to wait longer to unmold and likely a longer cure time but not ruined

 

[Michelle Keddy]

Awesome! Thank you so much
I just checked ( I made this batch 4 hours ago) and it is setting up like the rest of them.

I've been waiting 3-4 days to unmold on average.
I will just have to keep an eye on this one!

 

[cmzaha]

The main issue is the approximant 11% superfat, so they may feel oily and be short on lather.

 

[Michelle Keddy]

@cmzaha ahh.. that makes sense. I didn’t think about the affect it would have on the soap itself. I was concerned it wouldn’t solidify but I see how it would just alter the overall feel of the bar itself. Thanks for your help.

 

[Misschief]

Umm... hold up a sec.... you've made about 10 batches in the past month and you're getting ready for fall Farmer's Markets? Do you know what your soaps will be like in 3 months? 6 months? A year? Unless you're selling something other than soap, I'd be holding off for at least a year before even considering selling if you've only been making it for a month.

 

[jcandleattic]

ITA with @Misschief because of this statement -

I didn’t think about the affect it would have on the soap itself.

you are not ready to sell. If you don't know the affect superfatting is going to have on your soap, how are you going to know what it's like in the long run.

I see how it would just alter the overall feel of the bar itself.

It's may not be just the overall feel. With that high of a SF it could be prone to DOS - but you won't know until time has passed.

 

[amd]

There is a really great thread regarding what you should consider before selling:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/are-you-ready-to-sell-your-soap.16002/

Worth a read for anyone. I started selling 18 months (approx.) into my soap making journey and I wish I had waited another year.

 

[Saltwater Scented]

There is a really great thread regarding what you should consider before selling:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/are-you-ready-to-sell-your-soap.16002/

Worth a read for anyone. I started selling 18 months (approx.) into my soap making journey and I wish I had waited another year.

I was looking at craigslist a few days ago in Phoenix and saw someone who is selling soaps that look like a child put them together out of modeling clay. I guess people see that there are seemingly few barriers to entry to becoming a salesperson.

Personally I like doing this because it gives me a tinkering project to play with. The ingredients are relatively inexpensive. Some of my coworkers have asked for some of mine since I've brought it up, but I've told them these are experimental only.

 

[cmzaha]

Thank you Amd, JCandleattic, and Misschief for mentioning the selling issue. I wanted to say something but I am usually the bad guy so I kept my fingers from typing. I can honestly say what I sold in the beginning I would not sell today. While they were not bad back then, I would not consider them as nice as what I now make.

 

[amd]

While they were not bad back then, I would not consider them as nice as what I now make.

I can say the same for my soaps as well - and Carolyn and I are not talking about appearances, but our formulations. (Although I will say for me that appearance has improved greatly, lol.)

 

[Relle]

I wouldn't have dared sell my first soaps, I did give some to my sister (who liked them), but cringe now when thinking about it. I give her soap now which she loves, but she also mentioned she remembers all that long time ago when I gave her the first ones.

Michelle please don't sell your soap being a beginner, 10 batches of soap doesn't even go close to know what you are doing. It's not like selling knitted items at the market where if you don't like it you just don't wear it, people put this product on their skin and can get reactions.

You could get sued if this happens so think of that, you should also be insured. The people above who have soaped a LONG time are giving you good info, I think you should take that in. Also if you have only done 10 batches in a month, that means your first batch is only JUST cured.

 

[Misschief]

I made soap for at least 3 years before I even thought about selling at a market. Even now, I'm still tweaking recipes that I'm not happy with. (I've been making soap for about 5 years and am into my second year of selling.)

 

[Kathymzr]

Where I live people sue first question later. Be sure your business ducks are in order, with a good lawyer! Selling personal care products is risky. And liability can set you back a lot!

 

[Saltwater Scented]

I made soap for at least 3 years before I even thought about selling at a market. Even now, I'm still tweaking recipes that I'm not happy with. (I've been making soap for about 5 years and am into my second year of selling.)

I believe soap making is like any new endeavor, you need a few years to know what you don't know. You get the big picture ideas, and then start to slowly master details.

It took me about 3 years to teach myself geology and gold prospecting to have a good handle on what to look for in a gold mining property. I cataloged and researched every single gold/silver/copper mine in 6 counties in Arizona. After that, I went square mile by square mile and cataloged another 2000 mines that exist nowhere on paper or gov't registry. That included almost every weekend in the field as well. Once I had that down, another two years to figure out which areas are still harboring good gold and which areas are harboring good gold that won't take $5-$10 million to get out of the ground.

It took about 2 weeks at the end of those five years to realize when most of the mines were running in this state, you didn't have a lot of choice in employment. I call them "starvation" mines. You mined your own dirt, worked in someone else's mine, or starved. People ask why I gave it up. You want a mine you can pull $50K a year out of, consistently? Got a half dozen of them. Got 1 for sure that's worth between $90 and $100K a year too. They come with: no medical insurance, no dental insurance, no 401k, nothing but what you dig out yourself, and they'll tear up your body and vehicles at the same time.

 

[Kathymzr]

So true!

Saltwater Scented: There is a great book called “Klondike Fever”. Great read. You might enjoy it.

So, not to dampen entrepreneurial spirit—just sage advice for the enthusiastic soaper.

 

[Misschief]

So true!

Saltwater Scented: There is a great book called “Klondike Fever”. Great read. You might enjoy it.

So, not to dampen entrepreneurial spirit—just sage advice for the enthusiastic soaper.

Exactly! The first year or more is training, making sure you know your product before you jump in to selling.

 

[Kathymzr]

I am a beginner to soaping, but have sold products in my past lives. Seems to me that for each soap you sell, you should be able to discuss the properties and ingredients even to a chemist. No easy feat. It inspires trust. I’d say 3 years might be a starter.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Boy, I'm so pleased I don't live in the USA with all your regulations around selling - and the way y'all sue over every little thing.
People in NZ are a lot more relaxed about buying things at markets and wouldn't sue over getting dry or itchy skin from soap. That said - I still give the best advice I can on what they should buy - especially when people ask things like - "what soap is good for eczema?" To which I reply "none", but then go on to explain about milder soaps, and the different qualities in the oils used, and how handmade soaps differ from commercial soaps, etc. I think people seem to appreciate someone explaining that stuff that's never been explained before.

 

[Misschief]

Boy, I'm so pleased I don't live in the USA with all your regulations around selling - and the way y'all sue over every little thing.
People in NZ are a lot more relaxed about buying things at markets and wouldn't sue over getting dry or itchy skin from soap. That said - I still give the best advice I can on what they should buy - especially when people ask things like - "what soap is good for eczema?" To which I reply "none", but then go on to explain about milder soaps, and the different qualities in the oils used, and how handmade soaps differ from commercial soaps, etc. I think people seem to appreciate someone explaining that stuff that's never been explained before.

That's one of the things I love about being at the market where I sell. I love educating my customers and they seem to appreciate learning about handcrafted soaps and bath and body items, and the differences between "store bought" and handcrafted.