liquid soap dilemma

[carolynp]

Good Morning, I would like opinions about somthing. I have been asked to supply a very prominent massage/spa with bulk liquid soap. This would then be sold in bottles that would have my logo on them . I have found a liquid soap/shower gel that I like because it contains several oils and shea butter. Having read the ingredients off other formulas I'm not seeing much more than detergents and chemicals. My question is ,would it be ethical to by from one company in bulk say 22.00 a gallon and add scent to it and charge the customer more for that same gallon? I know if I make 6oz bottles of soap from a gallon of soap I make 130.00$ approx. from that gallon. What do I charge them for a gallon? I suppose this is a benifit of buying wholesale,you resell for a profit. If this company doesn't know to buy wholesale themselves should I tell them that is an option for them? I think maybe they think I make the liquid soap myself from scratch. I have only so far done M&P,lotions whipped butters,from scratch. How do you make liqid soap? I have been avoiding the whole LYE thing maybe it's time. SOOOOO what do you think???

 

[Bigmoose]

Hi Carolynp, I will try answering some of your questions. I was looking on Etsy once to see what kind of competition I would be up against when I thought of making my own shampoo from scratch. I was suprised to see that by the ingriedents in everyone elses shampoos that they were doing one of two things. They were either selling it from a base they bought and adding a little FO/EO and color or buying all the compounds themselves and mixing them then selling it. If you choose one of these 2 methods for your liquid soap I would suggest doing a lot of research and doing the second of the 2 choices but find a way to set your product apart from the rest so you are the only one they can get it from. If you want to make the soap yourself from scratch I would suggest you get a book from Catherine Failor called "Making natural liquid soaps." Also read as many other methods as you can so you can try and select the best that everyone has to offer. A good source for info on making many products including liquid soaps is http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/formulary.html Some liquid soaps are harder to make than others and may require several test batches made and alot of testing to get it right. Also making them from scratch can be time consuming at first untill you get the hang of it. But it is a great feeling when you finally get it right and know you are proud of the product you have made.

Bruce

 

[carolynp]

Thank you, that is a great site. Here is another question, Should you do a test on a batch of lotion with or without the preservative in it? I watched the demo from SDF and she seemed to be implying that she was testing without a presevative,??

 

[Bigmoose]

I would test it with the preservative in it. Depending which one you use it could alter the smell of your lotion. Before even thinking of selling lotion you would want to have it lab tested or I thought I remember reading somewhere that someone sells a home test kit. If you get a customer who gets mold growing in thier lotion you have lost them for life. I was lucky, I have a family member who works at a big name lab so I managed to get mine tested for free. I hear from others that it costs about $500. Handmade lotions are the best!

Bruce