Any soap maker at Mylot

I have a book with recipes for soaps, when I can stand up for awhile I will find it and P.M. the recipes to you, as mylot doesn't allow recipes. (I had knee replacement surgery in June, and I took a hard fall this afternoon so it is a bit touch and go about standing and walking around.) I haven't gotten into soap making deeply but it is fun, and you don't always need molds for making the soaps but they would be nice so your product is a bit different from others.

I have never made my own soaps, but there is a lady who has a booth at the farmers market here who does really well with it. I don't know exactly how much she makes doing it, but I know it is her only source of income.

I've made glycerin soap, but most of the home made soaps they sell are made with lye and I haven't gotten into that...

I make glycerin soap and sell it online and in craft shows. I might sell $100 a month sometimes, but it is not really profitable because of all the supplies and such that go into it. I like doing it, though, so I keep trying to make it more successful of a business.

I don't know how to make modern day soap but have made real lye soap that would strip the skin off the bone. As an experiment to see how it would work for a period re-enactment I got a couple of women to help out. We got the white ashes and a bunch of pork fat from a butcher. We rendered the fat forever and went through the process including straining it through grass. Well it was a bit greasy and one of the women burned the skin on her hand and the other inhaled some fumes that gave her a wicked sore throat. Anyway, we tried it and decided it was too dangerous.

I would love to learn how to make soap and also candles. I think this would be a great money maker. I live in a rural area and unfortunately we do not have any classes in crafts. I will probably do a web search and find out how to make these items. If I can sell these online it would definately help my financial situation.

I think it does get a bit expensive because you really need to be using the best ingredients to compete with other sellers. There are some very good soap makers on Etsy and one of my friends also has a shop on Etsy, but doesn't generate a lot of online business because she doesn't promote very often. But she does a great consignment and wholesale business and does really well at craft fairs. Her products are very good, she has great packaging and she gets out there and gets her products into boutiques, shops, etc. Every soap maker I have ever spoken with, says it is not very easy...there is a lot of trial and error and there are weeks when you don't get many days off. The few that I have spoken with, made all of their income with their business. Between the trial and error, building up and then trying to maintain and increase their business was very hard on all of them (a couple of them had children of various ages and they had to give up some things to make this business work) But with people looking for natural products, soap that is healthy and safe to use is a good product...it's a staple and is always needed, plus soap makes for an awesome gift!

I love making soap. You can tailor it to your own needs and likes. One batch lasts forever, even if you give some away.