question about selling melt and pour

[maxxx39]

I started with melt and pour and I still adore it. It lets me customize colors,scents and shapes even though my plastic molds seem to be giving out on me!!! :x I think in the future I will be buying more silicone molds for their heat tolerance and easy release.

I tell people I use a soap base also to be honest. M and P has allowed me to customize my most requested Irish Spring type scent in various colors and shapes for certain customers. I've done good old Irish Spring in not only classic green, but blue and brown,flowered and regular shapes.

 

[NinaRey]

There are a lot of things that are considered "hand crafted" at farmers markets that aren't made entirely from scratch. People buy pre made flowers and attach them to bows and headbands. People make clothing out of pre-made fabrics. Etc, etc. I know everyone has their own opinions about it, but in the end i I think it's a matter of how you feel about it. Did you put enough creativity and "you" into it to call it your own? If you feel like you are cheating, maybe find something extra to make it more unique so you feel confident saying that you crafted it yourself.

 

[vikvik]

it is hand made you mould it and shape it you self, if people ask do you make it from scratch ex-plane the different between your soap dont say i melt it and add fragrance say its made from a base but this type of soap holds it fragrance better if your looking for strong smelling soap you would go for soap base, if you want creamy and luxurious soap you would got for c.p. i make both i find people love m&p they go for look and smell first and its not as costly for them to buy

 

[new12soap]

Re:

I don't really like a the cake analogy because a cake mix does do most of the work for you. It is not like most people take a cake mix and change it some how. If you buy a chocolate cake mix, you make chocolate cake.

I think of it more like sewing your own dress. It takes skill to make the dress even though you bought the material and the pattern. In mp you buy the base (material) and molds (pattern) but what you do with them is up to you. There is a lot of room for creativity.

If you use a goat milk melt and pour base, you are "crafting" a goat milk soap. I can put any flavor or color icing on that chocolate cake and decorate it with sprinkles or flowers or whatever. M&P is exactly the same. You didn't formulate the soap, I didn't formulate the cake, the rest is just decoration.

You also didn't sew the dress, you bought a dress at a store and accessorized it. Be as creative as you like, and I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with that, I am saying you didn't make it. You melted it, decorated and poured it. Not the same.

The reason I prefer M&P is because it allows me to get to what I really enjoy doing most, and that is decorating, decorating, decorating! I enjoy making pretty soaps. I personally wouldn't enjoy making the base myself. (I'm sure others do enoy the process). I want quick results to get to my main objective, which is to decorate. Rose

That is exactly it. It's like the difference between the contractor that built the house and the decorator that picked out the colors and the furniture. Again, they are not the same.

M&P soaps are not handmade, but they are handcrafted.

 

[MegaSoap]

When customers ask if you make your melt and pour from scratch what would one say? "uh, sort of?"
Any opinions would be appreciated.

You would have to say no to that question and add that you put in the scent and colour to the soap base.

I agree with this. You don't make it from scratch.
When you bake a cake using a mix, you wouldn't say you made it from scratch. It's basically the same thing.

+1

 

[sherrilynn]

Interesting thread.... my question.... do customers really ask about MP or HP or CP?????????? I've been on the road selling at all different types of venues for the past 12 years and that question has never been asked. Gosh, maybe people are too blown away by my great soaps.. huh?? LOL....

Our soaps are MP....we've sent photos in for juries of how we melt and blend our home grown beeswax with our base, fragrance, pour, mold, decorate and package our soaps and have always been accepted into hand crafted shows. For the past 5 years we've marketed only at handcrafted juried shows.

I figure it this way... does a painter make their canvas and paints? Do those who make dried floral arrangements make their flowers, woods and baskets? I'm sorta wondering how many soapers make their own lye, cocoa butter, palm waxes, etc. In some capacity we all purchase a product from someone else to make an end product. Whether that be a base or a raw product and it's great we have this diversity. It gives our customers many choices of fine products.

Homemade - made or prepared at home
Hand Crafted - to fashion or make by hand
Hand Made - mady by hand not a machine

According to Websters dictionary,, I'm all three, homemade, hand crafted and hand made.
Just my two beans in the pot today.... hope you're all having a good one.
~S~

 

[Genny]

Sherrlynn ~ I honestly don't think that the average market goer or customer knows the difference between MP or CP/HP. To them, soap is soap. They don't really know the process behind it. I think back before I knew how to make soap and I honestly never knew there was a difference between the 2.

I've had maybe a total of 2 people in 6 years ask me if I make my soap from scratch. But, each person said "from scratch" and I was doing MP at the time, so I did say no. Now if they would have asked if they were homemade, then I would have said yes. Because I did make them in my home.

I think it's the soapmakers who get their panties all in a bunch over the "homemade", "hand crafted", "hand made" description. Other people don't care.

In the crochet/knitting world, I see the same thing. Knitters that use knitting looms get bashed by other stick knitters for "cheating".

 

[WeirdSoap]

Sherrlynn, as a professional painter and artist, I disagree with your analogy...

I have nothing against MP soap. MP soap is still art in its own form, is safer to work with children and can be really creative.

 

[lisamaliga]

Remember that the technical term is either glycerin melt and pour soap or melt and pour glycerin soap. M&P can have up to 25% glycerin which makes it a softer soap. While I love using CP, and am grateful that there are so many talented and creative CP soapers out there, I love being able to stir up a batch of M&P in less than an hour!

 

[BulkApothecary]

We always recommend our customers be honest with those who ask but focus on the positives. If you are taking a mp base and adding color, fragrance, herbs, essential oils or anything else and then shaping it and packaging it, you are definitely making a homemade creation. You are not making that product from scratch but you are creating something that is completely unique. You are hand crafting a product that takes a lot of time and in many cases skill to get it perfect. Be proud of your creation and don't focus on the fact that you didn't make it from scratch. Focus on the fact that you put the time and effort into creating a custom soap by hand that others can enjoy. Most of our customers tell us that when they take an honest approach like this, the customers at these shows appreciate the hard work they put into their items and really don’t care about the fact that the soap wasn’t made by them from scratch.

 

[Pawfect]

If I'm using a m&p base that's less than 5% glycerin, can you still call it a glycerin melt & pour base?

 

[Genny]

If I'm using a m&p base that's less than 5% glycerin, can you still call it a glycerin melt & pour base?

Honestly you can call it anything you want. If it's got glycerin in it, I don't see any reason why you can't call it glycerin melt and pour.

 

[Pawfect]

Honestly you can call it anything you want. If it's got glycerin in it, I don't see any reason why you can't call it glycerin melt and pour.

Good! . I don't plan on selling it, (using it for gifts), but would like to label it properly anyway so they know what's in it.

 

[Sanctuary]

It's not cheating....it's just a different process....each has it's pros and cons....each has it's limitations. I do both..... I do CP in the spring and summer and MP in the fall and winter....(lol)....they way I figure....why limit yourself.....

Sanctuary

 

[pyokochan]

Re:

I think of it more like sewing your own dress. It takes skill to make the dress even though you bought the material and the pattern. In mp you buy the base (material) and molds (pattern) but what you do with them is up to you. There is a lot of room for creativity.

Nice analogy. I agree with this interpretation. I know I work dang hard crafting. manipulating and bending this base to my will and imagination! Yes I start off with a base but the rest is up to me.