Lots of Recipes or Just a Few?

[cursivearts]

I went to the most popular local farmer's market today (it's in an old mill, with lots of local farms selling beef and fish and things). Anyway, there were two soap sellers. On one, each bar had an entirely different list of ingredients, which I understand for shave soap or a pumice scrub, but I mean every single bar had a different variety of oils in a different order, and since this is a very well trafficked market that undoubtedly requires insurance I am sure her items had them listed according to regulations (especially since additives were always listed last). The other soap seller, had the same two oils (olive and coconut) in that order on every bar of soap and none of them really varied, with the exception of essential oils. The only time it was different was if it was specifically shea soap or goat milk soap.

I hope to sell my soap in a year or two, after I have tested and perfected recipes, patterns, swirls, etc. and I always figured I would have a base recipe that I would just change the main liquid for coffee or goat milk or tea soap, and then a few special soaps (shea, shampoo and facial).

So I wonder, we all experiment, but those of you that sell or plan to sell, do you have a couple of basic recipes, or do you have something completely different for each kind of soap?

Also, completely unrelated, I am presently eating a bar of artisan chocolate made with goat milk, which I got at the market, and it is the best chocolate bar I have ever had.

 

[newbie]

I don't sell, but I have one basic recipe that I use nearly aways, because I really like it and then I know how to work with it. One recipe for bastile soaps, the 100% CO recipe for salt bars, and I have one high tallow recipe that I made for a friend who does reenactments and wants to use a soap that's authentic to the period. I just started making the shampoo bar recipe from Lindy as well. I used to like to try a different recipe really frequently, but I ended up liking one so just stay consistent with it now.

If this lady has different ingredients for each bar, you wonder where the rest of the batch is. Surely she doesn't make one bar at a time.

 

[cursivearts]

I should have clarified. What I meant was, she had a different recipe for each batch. There were at least 15 kinds of soap on display (several of each kind), and each of the kinds had a very different recipe, in terms of order of oils.

 

[soap_bubbles]

I know when I started soaping, I was all about a different recipe for every batch... over time though, I have about 4 I am good with-- one that has butters, a bastile, and a couple others. I trimmed back due to cost and storage factors, although I do like to get small amounts of different oils and butters to play.

 

[OHello]

The only thing that I can think of is that she likes to experiment and ends up with loads of soap, which she then sells.

I can totally see how that can happen.... I'd like to make at least a batch a week, but soon we would be wading through piles of soap bars! There's only so much you can use, and so much you can give away.

 

[Serenity]

I think if you're going to sell your soaps it's better to have a standard recipe (with variations for specific purposes) so you can be confident of the quality of your soap and so you can calculate your costs more easily. You'll want to create a standard recipe that has a nice lather, is skin friendly, is easy to work with, and is economical to make.

Perhaps the lady with lots of recipes just likes experimenting. It's certainly one of the fun things about soap making.

 

[Bicycle808]

I have one basic recipe, and I vary additives/infusions/nonsense within that basic recipe to offer some variety.

If you want to make money with soap, you need to cut costs by buying in bulk and streamlining your offerings. Buying small quantities of many different oils is expensive, and will only drive up your costs and (consequently) your prices.

 

[Ruthie]

I did LOTS of experimenting years ago when I first began making soap. I thought I had to try every oil out there! Now I have a different approach. I have worked hard to perfect my basic recipe. Now I am happy with how it feels and how my skin feels afterward. I also have one veggie oil recipe which I like but may still tweak a bit, and of course there is castille. I still like to experiment, but that is with liquids, colors and additives.

 

[lsg]

I was the same way, I had to try many of the expensive butters in soap recipes. Now I have settled for two or three recipes that I use and tweek every now and then. I think one of the pitfalls of being a newby is to be sucked into using really expensive products in a wash off product. I Know that is how I did it until I came up with a recipe on my own that I really liked.

 

[cursivearts]

I, thankfully, being broke most of the time, have never been sucked in by the expensive oils. No evening primrose or jojoba for me, thanks. Shea butter, sweet almond and avocado oil are about as fancy as I get. I mostly don't like to use a bunch of oils, because I am bound to forget one. I think six oils was the most I had in one recipe, and I decided that was one too many and tweaked it down to five.