Kamalpreet Kaur asked:


Getting just the right wick is one of the trickiest things to do when making candles. Too big a wick and you get an enormous flame; too small a wick and the candle doesn\’t melt correctly. Most of us use our experience, our notes, and various online wick testing data bases to make estimates for what wick will work best with what wax and container. But here\’s a way to speed up the process, and waste less wax too! 
Make your candle without a wick!

Yes! Make your candle without a wick. If it\’s a molded candle, like a pillar or a votive, that uses a wick pin, the rest is easy! If it\’s a container candle, or a molded candle that doesn\’t use a wick pin, you\’ll have to add a step — take the finished wick-less candle, and, using a spare wick pin or a drill bit the same size in diameter as your wick (you can also use an ice pick or awl, but they have a tendency to make the hole too wide) make about a 1.5\” (or so) hole down the center of the candle, where the wick should be.

Then, take your wick-less candle and stick a 2\” (or so) piece of wick into the hole. To help keep it from slipping too far down into the hole, it helps to bend the very end of the wick a bit .For more details visit to www.greateducationonline.com .That\’s it. Light the candle and test the burn qualities. (Remember to TAKE NOTES!) If the wick is not quite right, just pull out the piece of wick and insert another one in its place. Note: After you\’ve inserted the new wick, let the top of the candle re-harden.

If you\’ve chosen the right wick and it burns well, great! If it\’s a wick pin candle, and the hole is already all the way through, pull out the piece of wick, push the wick pin through the hole to clear the hole out, and insert the proper wick as you normally would. To know more logon to www.greatindustrialguide.com .If it\’s not a wick pinned candle, pull out the piece of wick, and either use your heated awl, ice pick or wick pin to make the hole go all the way through, or remelt the candle and wick it as you normally would.

This technique allows you to test several wicks in a container or mold without having to make a new candle every time!

Special Note: This testing method will get you a quick answer of whether you are in the ballpark with your wick choice or not. It is not meant to replace more thorough wick testing! After you find a wick that works, you will still need to make a whole candle and test it from top to bottom! Remember, that sometimes (especially with container candles) what works for the top half of the candle doesn\’t work for the bottom half. Visit the Candle and Soap Making Forum to discuss your questions, results or comments about this quick tip - and share other candle making tips!

 



REFUGIO

Lynn Powers asked:


Maybe you’ve been making soaps for a while now and it has become more of an addiction than a hobby. Why keep investing more money into your “hobby” without getting anything in return? Why not turn your hobby into a full-fledged business? One that not only makes sense, but can also earn you some major cents!

The Basics

More and more, people are turning their hobbies into money-making opportunities. And it’s no wonder. There’s nothing better than getting paid for something you spend time doing anyway and already know you enjoy!
With much focus these days on taking care of our earth, soap making offers a wonderful way you can do your part in promoting products with natural ingredients - vegetable oils, herbs and clays, to name a few.

It may take some trial and error on your part to get the hang of it, but once you have it down, the marketing options are endless. Not only do homemade soaps appeal to earth-conscious consumers, but they have also become popular gift items. Aromatherapy items are in demand, as are fun and unique products you can’t find on every store shelf. Homemade soaps make perfect gifts for house-warming, bridal or baby showers, Teacher Appreciation, Mother’s Day, or even as children’s birthday party favors.

What you will need to begin

While oils, lye and distilled water are the base ingredients, there are several others you will need for your soaps, including fragrances and colors. You’ll need to research which exact ingredients are needed for the particular soaps you intend to make.

Other than ingredients, moulds are a must. You can use any form of mould made from plastic, wood, or cardboard. Some candle and candy molds work well but there are many various soap moulds available, which give you plenty of options.

Of course, a computer and Internet access is vital with any home business today so you can promote and advertise your soaps on message boards, blogs, and by creating your own website.

And don’t forget about the technical stuff, like a business licenses or permits and record keeping essentials.

Money matters

You definitely will not get rich quick making soaps. In fact, you may not even get rich slowly. But once you’ve established your business, you could earn a comfortable income, depending on how much time you invest into it. The major factor will be how well you market yourself as a soap-maker and how quickly word spreads.

Between moulds, ingredients, and wrapping materials, the cost per bar of soap you make can be anywhere from $.50 - $2.00. So, if you charge say, $3.99 per bar, you will earn a 100% (or more) profit. And then you must also factor in your time and other miscellaneous business costs. But don’t let that seemingly small number discourage you. By researching wholesale supply companies and spending wisely, as well as learning to make soaps quickly, your overall earnings greatly increase. It’s not unusual to make upwards of 500 bars of soap per month. That can add up to a nice amount of cash.

Where to sell your soaps

As mentioned above, a website is an easy way to widely spread word about your business and direct potential customers for more information. Other avenues of advertising and selling include craft fairs, local gift shops, or hosting home parties. But, of course, word-of-mouth is the best way to gain a reputable reputation and cause those orders to start rolling in. Give your soaps away as gifts and include a tag or business card with contact information.



ELWOOD

David H. Urmann asked:


Soap making is a challenging task because you decide on the qualities of the soap you will produce. You can add various additives in order to achieve results depending on your desire.

Soap is a common necessity in every household. It is essential for personal hygiene and cleaning our clothes as well as other places in our house. While there are a lot of varieties of soap available in the market, you can make your own soap or turn it into a profitable business. It is quite easy to do soap making.

Basically, soap is made up of vegetable or animal fats. The sodium tallowate comes from beef fat and is commonly used as ingredient in making soap. Softer soaps are typically made of palm oil which is a vegetable oil. Castile soap is made up of pure olive oil. Different oils and butters featuring different qualities are used for soap making. Such ingredients may come from olive oil, coconut, cocoa, palm, shea butter, and hemp oil.

Hand-made soaps are better compared to industrial soap. A hand-made soap is the result of excessive fat or super fatting which leaves a moisturizing effect and ideal for the skin. This can be achieved by putting less lye to the mixture. On the contrary, an industrial soap usually uses more detergent which is not very friendly to our skin. Sometimes soap makers make use of a ready made soap which is melted and poured in different kinds of molds. This method is called melt and pour.

In soap making, there are several processes which you can use depending on your preference. The cold and hot are two of the frequently used processes. Ideally, both cold and hot processes need constant heat for proper saponification. In cold process, above room temperature is required to achieve liquefaction of the fat. It also requires that the lye and fat is maintained warm after mixture to make sure that it is saponified completely. This method is the most popular method used in soap making, too. This process allows the reaction of fats such as olive oil with lye.

Hot processed soap can be immediately used compared to cold processed soap. A great advantage of hot process is that there is no need to know the exact concentration of the lye to achieve successful results. While in cold process, it is essential to know the exact quantity of lye to achieve a mild and skin friendly quality of the soap.

In hot process method, the lye and fat are boiled at temperatures between 80 to 100°C until saponification is achieved. Afterwards, salt must be added in order to precipitate the soap from the solution. Any excessive liquid is drained. While still hot, it is poured into molds and allowed to cool. Saponification charts are used for both methods.

In cold process method, the first thing to do is to use the saponification chart to identify the measurement of saponification value of fats to be used. It can be utilized to compute the right amount of lye to be mixed. You must be careful of the process because un-reacted lye can lead to high pH that may cause skin irritation and burn. However, if lye is insufficient it will cause the soap to be greasy and unpleasant. In order to achieve the best results, it is recommended to formulate the recipes with 4 to 10% discount of lye. This will ensure that the lye will totally react and excess fat is available that’s beneficial for skin conditioning.

In the process, lye is thoroughly dissolved in water and oils are heated at room temperature. Soon as the substances are cool enough, they are mixed together and stirred until no traces remain. After constant stirring it becomes a thin pudding. Then, you can add other recipes such as essential oils, herbs, fragrance oils or any other recipes you wish to add.

After the process, it can be poured into molds. You can use towels to keep them warm. Leave it for 17 to 46 hours to continue with saponification. When the soap is hard enough, it can now be moved out of the mold and cut into desired sizes. The soap can then be used because it has completed saponification. But with cold process soaps, it must be totally hardened and dried for 2 to 5 weeks depending on water content before it is safe to use. If you use caustic soda, it is ideal to cure the soap for 4 weeks.



ALAN

Jeffrey Dorrian asked:


Doing free soap making demonstrations is a win-win situation for the sponsor and the crafter. Many organizations have loyal members who are looking for new ideas and crafts. This is where you, as an experienced crafter, step in. You offer to do a free soap making class for the group and the charity/organization charges a nominal fee for any member wishing to attend the class. They provide the venue and you provide the expertise. They get to raise some much-needed funds, and you get a new customer base with a very loyal following.

Virtually every charity across America is strapped for cash. They are always looking for new and creative ways to raise money. Many of their members are affluent and have their own businesses and volunteer their spare time to their favorite charity. More and more of these charities are offering classes taught by their members as a way of raising money. Their members have plenty of expertise in diverse fields that fellow members would love to know about. As an experienced soap maker and crafter you can provide the very thing that they would like to offer – a class in soap making from an experienced soap maker.

When doing the class, remember an hour and a half is generally considered the maximum amount of time to keep a class interested in a specific subject. If you need to melt your oils beforehand, do that to save time. Do some background research on your fats and essential oils so you can integrate this knowledge into the class. Open the class to questions as you go along to maintain interest. Be very careful and take full safety measures with your lye solution. Doing a dry run and having family members ask you questions should iron out any wrinkles in your presentation and give you a degree of comfort that will show in your demeanor.

Make sure you take some of your own products and promotional material to make available after class. This is where you can make valuable contacts that make the whole effort worthwhile. A basic handout at the beginning of class should cover the soap making process. Your name and website should appear at the bottom of the flyer. Take a wide variety of soap with you and offer a special class discount. You could even offer a secret supplier list for small fee to those who want to start a soap making hobby of their own. Stress the creative aspects of the endeavor and you will make soap making friends for life. Also explain that many different creams, bath salts, and body butters are offered by soap makers as complimentary items to their natural soap. And each soap maker has a different specialty. Especially with all of the exotic fats available nowadays, you can develop your own niche quite easily.



ALVARO

Jeffrey Dorrian asked:


You’re a stay-at-home Mom, or a retired person, or someone who lives in an area where decent full-time jobs are hard to come by. Or you’re just someone who loves to create, and would love it even more if you could recoup the expenses you put into your craft, or would walk on air if you could actually support yourself at it.

But whatever your situation, you have begun exploring the possibility of becoming a work-at-home soap maker. You love the idea of producing a natural product which will have health benefits for those who use it, and offer an alternative for over-processed, and often toxically-altered, commercial soaps.

So you want to get started, but what is the minimum you need to know before you do?

First, you need to assess you living situation and decide if you have the physical facilities to make soap making on an income-producing level. It’s one thing to whip up a couple of pounds of soap for the family’s use, and another thing entirely to produce it in batches large enough to satisfy demand from dozens, or, hopefully, hundreds of customers.

Second, decide which technique of soap making you will employ. As a beginner, you might be wise to start by using “melt-and-pour” soap bases and adding your own fragrances and colors, until you are satisfied that you want to continue with a more advanced technique.

If you have either a microwave, or double boiler and standard stove, you can use the melt-and-pour method. You’ll need to have a supply of the soap base, a heat-resistant container, essential or fragrance oils, colorants and any other additives–oatmeal or dried flower buds for exfoliates, honey, glycerin, or Aloe Vera gel as healing and emollient agents, and almond meal to absorb excess skin oils are just a few suggestions. All of them can be found at your crafts or grocery store.

You’ll just melt your soap base, according to the manufacturer’s directions, in the microwave or double boiler, stir in your additives, and pour it into your molds. Once cooled, it will pop right out, and you’ll have your first home-made soap!

If, however, you want to make soap the “old-fashioned”, cold-pressed way, remember that it requires the use of lye. So you’ll need to have an area where you can use the lye without its caustic fumes being a problem. This implies an area away from your normal living space–perhaps a porch, garage, or workshop.

Since cold-pressed soap ingredients need to be measured by weight, you’ll need an adjustable scale. Research the types of oils available, and learn what properties each will lend to your finished soap. Most soap makers use a blend of different oils.

You’ll need, when you work with lye, gloves, goggles, and protective clothing; glass, enamel or plastic containers in which to mix the lye, and wooden or plastic utensils with which to stir it as lye will corrode metal, and a supply of white vinegar handy to neutralize any lye that is spilled. You’ll also need two glass or stainless steel thermometers to measure the temperatures of your oils and lye/water mixture before combining them.

Most soaps, if left unscented, will have an “oily/ lye” odor, so it’s best to add essential oils to your batch of soap at about one tablespoon per pound. The essential oils, because of their molecular structure, act as “aromatherapy” when hot water releases their fragrance.

So you will, of course, need to find some reliable local or online suppliers to provide you with what you need for your business, and don’t be afraid to approach them about discounts on your volume purchases.

You’ll also need to decide about your bookkeeping and order-taking systems, and incorporation choices. You’ll need a marketing plan, and at least at the start, will have to spend as much time publicizing your soaps as you do making them. You’ll have to familiarize yourself with the tax and insurance consequences of owning a home-based business, so you will very likely have to talk to an attorney at some point.

But if you have tried, and loved, making your own soap, have gotten positive feedback from friends, and have the time and financial resources to devote to turning your passion for soap making into a full-time business, in the not too distant future you and your natural soaps might be “cleaning up!”



JOSEPH