A New Road! Soap Making! Gulp.

A New Road! Soap Making! Gulp.

I have always said that when I know everything there is to know about candle making that I would move on to soap.  Well, I can't say that is the case.  The candle making field is changing and growing so fast with different waxes that it is almost impossible to keep up.  So, while I don't know everything I feel that my 30 year background gives me a pretty good and strong breath of knowledge in which to draw upon.  I now venture into soap.  I go tentatively.  Maybe even kicking and screaming a little.  Soap making scares me.  No not because of the lye.  But because I feel I will get lost in this world.  When I do something I can't just scratch the surface.  I need to dig down to the core of the subject and dig out all of the juicy, messy tid-bits.  It is time consuming.  Oh so time consuming.  But, here I go.  I am starting at point 0 on the soap making knowledge base.  Well, maybe .5 on a scale from one to 10.  We have had our scents tested to know if there are allergens in them so that they can be used in soaps and lotions.  But other than that I know almost nothing about soap making.  So here I go.  And you are invited on my journey.

The start.  I want to bring soap making supplies into Candle Cocoon.  I asked customers on my Facebook page what they would like and quickly got overwhelmed.  It makes the most sense to me to start simple.  I don't know how to make soap from scratch.  I don't know what hot process and cold process means so I probably shouldn't be selling the stuff yet.  The only thing that I know about accelerating the trace is from when I was in Kindergarten and we had to trace pictures from a book.  There was one that I really liked.  I think it was a clown.  And it was taking me a very long time.  I wouldn't go to lunch until I was finished.  I still remember the teacher trying to get me to hurry.  I just remember messing up and starting over.  The poor teacher was not happy.  I would not move.  So hopefully I will not have to "accelerate the trace" .  I don't know what that really means yet.  I believe that it has something to do with adding certain ingredients (like scent oils) that can cause the soap mixture to start to harden before it is even poured.  I told you.  Starting close to "0".

I think Melt and Pour bases are the way to start.  If they are truly as simple as the name we are going to be "good to go" quickly!  I have been researching for a few weeks now in order to bring in the best quality bases with attributes that customers want.  I am hearing from a lot of people that they don't want SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulfates).  As to the kinds of bases that people want it is all over the place.  I don't know my hemp base from my aloe.  So at this point I am guessing.  I am going to bring in about 9 different bases.  Some have been requested by customers and some are the best sellers of SFIC.  I should say that after much deliberation I did decide to go with SFIC.  I do really like that they have a good selection and that all of their soaps seem to be of the highest quality AND they are all SLS FREE!  I don't like that they won't talk to me on the phone and I have to resort to endless emails to get all of my questions answered.  And email is such a tricky medium.  You can never tell the tone of an email.   When I work with a new company I like to feel that we know each other.  I want to trust my companies.  I want to feel that I have a new friend and ally on this journey.   I want my hand held a little.  This is a huge jump for me and I don't want to belly flop.  I also want to get the soap ordered quickly so that I can get my hands on it and start experimenting!  And selling!  Stay tuned!!!
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