I wrote earlier about how I woke up and made the decision to make soap for profit. Who knew that castor oil was the ingredient that could or would cause soap to lather? What? I'll be honest with you, I may just end up making it for fun, but I want to be able to add it to my list of crafts that I can make and sell when I move to Scotland so I can have both work from home, fun work, and it will (hopefully) be enough to sustain me while I carry out my two-year VISA for researching and working on my books. If I can stay longer of course, I will. VISAs can vary from time to time, and I can get extensions if I need to through either employment or .... well, I guess I could get married and stay in the land of Heather, but employment sounds like the better end. Maybe some company will sponsor me for years and years if I don't ask them to pay me. LOL. Why is it that I always get sidetracked when I open a blog? I really couldn't tell you -- rabbits!
I've spent the better part of the day researching my new hobby of soap making. I'll do the same when I decide to make candles, which will be a week after I make the soaps. Candles only take a day to cure, you pour them and let them sit a few hours and they can be packaged immediately, where soap literally takes 24 hours to set, and another 3-4 weeks to dry out so you can package them and send them out for use. (Did you know that? I have to admit I did not know that) I watched three or four videos online for the process and the various recipes of both solid milled soaps and clear soaps. I worked my brain for several hours going through the cost basis of each; what it would cost per unit to make, package, and distribute.
Without adding postage, as that can and will vary, I can tell you that the 3x3.5 or 3.4 inch bar that I will be creating will cost me about $.97 each to make before I mail it off, and that is if I use the ultra expensive fragrances. I do plan on using only the best ingredients in my soaps; I know that. I know I can chinch here and there and make it more commercial. I may end up doing that in the long run if I don't have to compromise the integrity of the product. I am not above saving where I can as long as I don't do so at the expense of the client. I think you know what I mean. There are too many products I once bought whose recipes have changed over the years. The size of the products have managed to shrink in proportion(s) but yet somehow the price of the damn things usually go up, not down. Quite shocking! (smiles)
For milled soap there are only three ingredients (types) to use. You use oils, lye, and water. For the clear soaps you use quite a few more ingredients and the are mostly chemical in nature. That didn't really surprise me, but I was happy to hear that the glycerin is actually vegetable based. I understand there is a controversy now concerning the use of palm oil. I'm not really sure how to respond to it yet, I need to research more. If using palm oil will be a hinderance to my clients I'll use another oil, there are too many to choose from to be picky. I have no problem listing every ingredient on the packaging. I may even go so far as to have little recipe cards created and included in each bar that I sell. That would be fun.
The initial cost for me to start the hobby is going to be around $300. I've set the limit at $300 so that it is not overly expensive, it's not a drag on my budget, and if I don't end up selling the product I can use them for gifts down the road. Soap doesn't depreciate in value, nor does it dissipate with time. You can leave a bar of soap in the cabinet for a 100 years and it will dry up a bit, maybe start to crack, but it will likely still be about the same size as it was when it was made. OK, maybe 100 years is too long, we'll cut it to 40. I know it's at least 40 because I went to a thrift store the other day and found a bar of Irish Spring soap in its original box!! I bought it for $1 and it was perfectly green swirly and smelled just as pretty and pleasant as it did back in the dinosaur age when it was first sold. Not kidding. I only bought it to show my kids the size differences between bars of soap these days.
The fragrance for the soaps are by far the most expensive part of the process. Water being the cheapest ingredient of course, then the lye, then the oils, and finally the scents. Oils range of course, but you can buy 35 pound (5-gallon) containers of coconut oil for $75.00 and if you only use 1.5 ounces of it in clear soap the cost to you soap is less than nine (9) cents per bar. I'm going to start out with only a gallon, so my cost will be closer to 18 cents per bar. Pennies for now, but in the future pennies will equal dollars if I am going to be making soap for a sustainable living. I will still use the best grade of ingredients, but I will buy them in bulk for sure. There is an ingredient that I'm having a hard time finding anywhere but on Etsy or Ebay. It is Triethanolamine. It's a detergent additive and you don't have to use it, there are other things you can use, and if it's not readily available I may have to. We'll have to wait it out and see. It's the only ingredient I can't get by this weekend and I want to make the soaps for Christmas.
If I make the soaps Saturday, November 20, they will have time to dry out by Christmas. I'll be giving the first 3 batches away as gifts to family members and friends. (If I have anything left over I'll actually use them myself, but I hope to be able to find enough friends and family to gift them to.) Once I get the Triethanolamine I will make the clear soaps with the really cool trinkets, beads, herbs, and swirls. I want to try and make soap marbles for the grandkids. That would be really fun. Have you looked at all the soap things you can do and make on Pinterest? I have to stop going there. Hours fly by and I've not done a damn thing but stare, gawk, oogle, and make plans. My little pencil was flying today! My trip to Hobby Lobby was not only adventurous it was EXPENSIVE! Well, I say that, it really wasn't. I decided to buy the supplies in smaller bulk for the weekend and then later I'll buy more and make more as I build up my clientele and even get business cards, set up a webpage, and try to market my wares.
When I visited Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, and a few sweet gift boutiques around the city today, I learned the average price for the same size bar that I'm going to make is $4.99 - 8.99. I'll charge $3.00 per bar, maybe $3.99, but shipping will need to be additional if I'm sending them off. I'll do a 3/$10.00 thing if I go up to $3.99. That will help. The little clear fish soaps that I saw at the boutique were about 2.5" long and about that wide. They were $5.99 EACH. They weren't even an inch thick, closer to 3/4 of an inch. My 3"x3.5" bar is about 7/8" of an inch thick and will be $3.99 tops (until inflation drives up the costs). I may do molds such as fish, hearts, stars, etc. You have to have fun with it. Some of the molds were a bit naughty and I wasn't really sure what I was looking at until I realized what I was looking at. I decided against those molds. I'm not saying I'm a prude, but I don't think I want to be that person who make THOSE soaps. I bet there's a market for it though.
Well, that's about it for the clean investment tip for the day. I think the pots, the stick blender, the measuring cups, digital scale, and silicone molds along with the smoothers, the cutter, and the spray bottle to hold the Ever Clear in, will run me about $75.00, and the rest of the $$$ will come from buying supplies which will include a small bottle of Ever Clear. Who knew that you could and should spray a fine mist of Ever Clear on the clear soaps to remove any bubbles? CRAZY! Chemicals are funny things -- just too fascinating.
WARNING: If you decide to make soap you have to use LYE and it is DANGEROUS, so read up on it, use appropriate gear, ventilation is required, and you MUST keep it away from anyone who may mistake it for water. NOT joking about that, and keep all of your soap supplies and tools separate from your other housewares and food supplies. You just need to be safe and smart. If you do decide to do it, you can buy all of your supplies online at www.bulkapothecary.com and www.essentialwholesale.com. Great places!! You can use Amazon and get prime delivery faster, but the prices seem to be higher. Check and see; I don't want to discourage or influence anyone. BE SAFE.
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