The joy of small batches

[Carly B]

I just made my first small batch (all my batches are small, relatively speaking) using only 8 oz of oils. I like making up recipes and experimenting, but since I don't sell, like a lot of us, I am overrun with soap.

A lot of recipes intrigue me, and so I decided if I wanted to try an unusual recipe, or even a basic recipe where I didn't want to play around with swirls and stuff, I would try it on really small batches.

Making the small batch was just as much fun (minus the artsy swirling and stuff), it made 3 bars in my soap stone mold, it took minimal time, and the best thing was cleanup was a dream.

 

[TheGecko]

My largest soap mold is 2lbs (10 standard bars); I have a 1lb mold (4 larger bars) and I a few cavity molds that'll hold about 8oz. I use my 1lb molds for new recipes or to try new scents and colors. I use my cavity molds for 'specialty' soaps...like the salt and coconuts I just made. Or the 'princess' soaps I made for my granddaughter and a friend's daughter.

I have a box that I keep my 'extra' soap in. Extra soap is soap that I didn't like the colorant, or the scent, or the recipe, or the design, and since I just cut a soap cutter...a lot of wonky cut bars. When the box gets about three-quarters filled I head over to Walmart and buy a few dozen wash cloths, but bars in half and put in a ziplock baggie with a washcloth and these go to the local homeless shelter. The less wonky bars get wrapped in Dollar Store wax paper, slap on an ingredient label and donated to my church's food pantry***.

*** - Food Stamps buy food, but not bar soap, laundry soap, dish soap, cleaning products, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, feminine hygiene products. Next time you see good products on sale at your local grocery, variety, discount, Dollar stores...consider spending an extra five or ten dollars and picking some of this stuff up and donating it. If you're a hobby soap maker...donate your excess soap. If you're a business, donate a slab or two (you can deduct the retail value as a charitable or advertising expense).