Navaria
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2016
- Messages
- 505
- Reaction score
- 489
Hello for rural southern Illinois! I've been soaping for about a month and a half. I have 10ish batches under my belt so far. I've been stalking this forum for a while, and decided I probably should join since I spend so much time here.
When I decided I wanted to try making my own soap, I did a lot of research. Recipes, methods, techniques. And I learned A LOT! But there were things I didn't learn, things I really wish someone had told me before I started on this adventure.
1) Soaping is addictive! I mean all consuming addicting! I can be in the middle of goodness knows what, and I'll wonder what will happen if I try a soap made with x. I have to drop everything, run to my SoapCalc, and formulate the potential new soap RIGHT NOW!
2) Soaping can get very expensive, very quickly. I see so many new products, amazing oils, and cool gadgets and gizmos and I want them all. And I want them right now!
3) When you live in a very rural area, with no big city close by, there is no place in person to get soaping supplies. Let's face it, Hobby Lobby doesn't cut it when you're a lye soaper. I cannot smell my fragrances in advance, I have to trust the descriptions to be accurate. And everything has to be ordered. Waiting for shipping sucks when you're out of a main component for your recipe!
4) As a part of #4, you have all kinds of deliveries happening. Sometimes several per week. And when your UPS guy, your FedEx guy, and the mailman all show up at the same time, they start to plot against you! They also get so used to delivering to your address, that they see the road name, and assume the package is for you. So you start getting your neighbors' packages too. Which is a real bummer, cause it's not your stuff!
5) Soap "stuff" takes up a lot of space! Between drying racks, oils and butters, molds, and pots/pans/utensils it really needs it's own closet just to store stuff. Not to mention the making part! My kitchen looks like a tornado hit a soap factory when I get on a soaping roll. *I* look like a tornado hit me when I get on a soaping roll! And I actually love every minute of it! Including the cleanup! SO not like me! :Kitten Love:
So maybe ya'll could warn a person what they're getting themselves into when they get the harebrained idea, "Hey, maybe I could just make my own soap. It can't be that big of deal, right??"
When I decided I wanted to try making my own soap, I did a lot of research. Recipes, methods, techniques. And I learned A LOT! But there were things I didn't learn, things I really wish someone had told me before I started on this adventure.
1) Soaping is addictive! I mean all consuming addicting! I can be in the middle of goodness knows what, and I'll wonder what will happen if I try a soap made with x. I have to drop everything, run to my SoapCalc, and formulate the potential new soap RIGHT NOW!
2) Soaping can get very expensive, very quickly. I see so many new products, amazing oils, and cool gadgets and gizmos and I want them all. And I want them right now!
3) When you live in a very rural area, with no big city close by, there is no place in person to get soaping supplies. Let's face it, Hobby Lobby doesn't cut it when you're a lye soaper. I cannot smell my fragrances in advance, I have to trust the descriptions to be accurate. And everything has to be ordered. Waiting for shipping sucks when you're out of a main component for your recipe!
4) As a part of #4, you have all kinds of deliveries happening. Sometimes several per week. And when your UPS guy, your FedEx guy, and the mailman all show up at the same time, they start to plot against you! They also get so used to delivering to your address, that they see the road name, and assume the package is for you. So you start getting your neighbors' packages too. Which is a real bummer, cause it's not your stuff!
5) Soap "stuff" takes up a lot of space! Between drying racks, oils and butters, molds, and pots/pans/utensils it really needs it's own closet just to store stuff. Not to mention the making part! My kitchen looks like a tornado hit a soap factory when I get on a soaping roll. *I* look like a tornado hit me when I get on a soaping roll! And I actually love every minute of it! Including the cleanup! SO not like me! :Kitten Love:
So maybe ya'll could warn a person what they're getting themselves into when they get the harebrained idea, "Hey, maybe I could just make my own soap. It can't be that big of deal, right??"
