Introduction

First and foremost, thank you very much for purchasing and downloading the e-book, “Soap Making Reloaded: How to Make a Soap from Scratch Quickly & Safely: A Simple Guide for Beginners & Beyond.”

This book provides readers with an overview of the process of soap making—from its humble beginnings in the outskirts of Ancient Babylon all the way to putting up a soap making business.

In addition, soap making methods are also discussed here together with a few relatively easy soap recipes. It is hoped that readers will find themselves interested in soap making, and that they will be encouraged to try it out to experience the whole process first-hand.

Again, thank you for downloading this book and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: A Brief Background on Soap and Soap Making

Soap is a cleaning product that is made from natural substances such as castor, olive oil, coconut oil, tallow, and vegetable oil. It is basically a combination of vegetable oil (or animal fat) plus caustic soda, and throughout time it has been used for washing wool in the textile industry, for curing skin diseases and other skin breakouts, and for dyeing hair. Today, soap has managed to integrate itself into our culture and our daily lives, and it has become a primary means of keeping oneself clean and hygienic. The soap as we know it now is a product of numerous modifications and improvements over the course of centuries.

To fully appreciate the soap making process, it is important to first know about its humble beginnings. This chapter will talk about the history of soap in brief, and it will also give you an overview of the most common types of soap.

The History of Soap

Soap is perhaps one of the most used skin-care products all over the world, and it has actually been around much longer than we would have thought. In fact, the very first evidence of soap-like material has been dated to have existed at around 2800 B.C. in the outskirts of Ancient Babylon. The Babylonians were the first people to have mastered soap making, and they crafted their soaps from boiled fats and ashes. For at least 5 millennia, soap was utilized for cleaning cotton, wool, and cooking materials as well as for medicinal purposes. It didn’t actually start out as something that was used for bathing or personal hygiene.

In Egypt (1550 B.C.), it was described in the Ebers papyrus how animal and vegetable oils were combined with alkaline salts to create soapy substances. These were used for treating skin sores and diseases. The Ancient Greeks, on the other hand, did not wash with soap. Instead, they used water, clay, sands, pumice, and ashes to wash themselves while they used oil for treating skin ailments. It was in the 2nd century A.D. when Galen, the famous Greek physician, said that washing with soap is highly recommended to prevent skin diseases.

Like the Greeks, the Romans used sand and pumice to clean their bodies. However, soap was also known to be very popular throughout the Roman Empire, as an entire soap factory was found in the Pompeii ruins following Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D. The Ancient Germans and the Gauls used soap to decorate their hair, and their soaps were made from ashes and animal fat.

The Arabs were the first to make soap from vegetable oils, aromatic oils, and lye. In the 7th century A.D., soap was manufactured in places such as Basra, Nablus, and Kufa. Perfumed and colored soaps were made, and these came in both solid and liquid forms. Special soaps for shaving were also produced.

Marseilles (in France) and Savona (in Italy) became the focal points of soap making by 1200 A.D. Soap making became very popular in Spain and Italy where soaps were made with Beech tree ashes and goat fat. At around the same time, the French started producing soap with olive oil. Fragrances eventually became one of the most used ingredients in soaps and thus, manufacture of soaps for bathing, shampooing, and laundry began.

Industrially manufactured soaps became readily available in the late 18th century. This big leap in wide-scale soap making can be attributed to the discoveries of two French chemists, namely Nicholas Leblanc and Michael Chevreul. Leblanc patented a technique for creating soda ash (sodium carbonate) from commonly available salts in 1791, while Chevreul learned the chemical nature and the relationships of glycerine, fatty acids, and fats.

Later on, the Castille region of Spain also became well-known as a soap making center, as they were the first to create hard, white bars of soap made from olive oil. In fact, Castille soaps are still very popular up to this day, with simple recipes available for those who wish to make their first soap.

The commercial soaps that we know today came into being during the First World War. After the war and until the 1930’s, the batch kettle boiling method was used to manufacture soap. Eventually, Procter & Gamble came up with a continuous process that reduced the time for soap production to less than a day. This method is still being used by the big soap companies today.

Types of Soap

Many types of soap are available in the market, each with a different purpose. Soaps can be used for personal hygiene, dishwashing, laundry, pet cleaning, etc. There are hard soaps and soft soaps, and there are also those that fall in between. The hardness of soaps can be attributed to the amount of hardening agents in its recipe, and the main categorization of soaps is according to its usage. The different types of soaps include:

1. Kitchen Soaps

As the name suggests, these soaps are intended for use in the kitchen. They can be further categorized into two types:

•  Cleansers: The main purpose of cleansers is to get rid of solid particles, heavy oil, and hard-to-remove stains. They are usually filled with mild abrasives.

•  Dish detergents: These are made to wash off grease thoroughly and to capture solid particles in its foam. Hand dishwashing detergents tend to produce more foam than machine dishwashing detergents, which allows it to get rid of greasy substances much better.

2. Laundry Soaps

Laundry soaps are made to get rid of solid particles, grease, stains, and other dirt and compounds from clothes. They are formulated to work in almost any condition and water temperature, but they are most effective when used with warm water. Laundry soaps come in powder, liquid, or gel forms.

3. Industrial Soaps

Industrial soaps are formulated especially for car wash and auto centers as well as for production line clean-ups. Since they are made for big tasks, these soaps generally come in large gallon drums that are linked to specialized pressure cleaning systems.

4. Personal Soaps

Personal soaps are made for personal hygiene purposes. There are many kinds of forms and formulations depending on your specific needs. For example, if you wish to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses, you can go for antibacterial soaps. There are also hair and body soaps that can be used for both the hair and the skin.

5. Perfumed Soaps

These are just normal personal soaps with added perfume. Some manufacturers would even provide a different design for these soaps to make their product line more varied. However, the perfume in soaps can actually be a source of skin irritation for people who have allergies.

6. Novelty Soaps

The target market of novelty soaps is the children. These soaps usually come in the form of various kiddie items such as a rubber ducky or soap-on-the-rope. While novelty soaps are really cute and amusing to look at, it can still clean the body as effectively as personal soaps can.

7. Medicated Soaps

Medicated soaps are not very different from personal soaps, but these also have disinfectants and antiseptics.

8. Guest Soaps

Guest soaps are typically small soaps with various forms and shapes. They are usually small and round, and sometimes they have flowers or sea shells for designs. These are the soaps that you usually see in hotel rooms and guest bathrooms.

Soap making has indeed come a long way, and from the ancient times people’s different cleaning needs have led to the production of soaps that have specific purposes. Now that you know of the history of soap and its different types, it’s time to learn the terminologies and the materials that you will need in order to start making your first soap.

Chapter 2: Soap Making Terminology and Materials

Before you try out soap making for the first time, it is essential to learn about the jargon of soap making first. This will give you an easier time understanding what you should be doing during the process, and it will also help you better understand the logic behind the instructions. Perhaps it will take some time before you finally perfect soap making, but in order to be eventually successful, it is necessary to start it out the right way. In this chapter, some of the most common soap making terminologies will be discussed. In addition, you will also learn about soap making equipment, commonly used oils, and the saponification chart.

It is important to note that while various types of soaps were discussed in Chapter 1, this book will entirely be about making personal soaps.

Glossary of Terms

Making your own soap at home can be really fun and exciting especially when you’re very particular with details. When you finally decide to try it for yourself, you will probably encounter words or phrases that you’re not familiar with. Here are the most common terms that you will encounter when you read soap making recipes and instructions:

•  Additives

Additives are optional ingredients. They are not really mandatory in the whole soap making process but they may be added to enhance the soap. Ingredients such as oatmeal may be added for its exfoliating properties, while flower petals may be added for fragrance. These should be added to your soap recipe at a light trace.

•  CP

CP stands for “Cold Processing,” a soap making method. This will be discussed further in Chapter 3.

•  Curing

Curing is the time needed for your soap to just sit in the open for the completion of its saponification process. This allows excess water and moisture to evaporate, creating a harder bar that is milder on the skin and produces better lather.

•  Discount

This means that you will have to reduce the amount of a particular ingredient. Most of the time, lye is discounted to make sure that it will all be used up. Discounting certain ingredients also allows the addition of excess oils and other substances (additives). Usually, discounts are shown by percentage.

•  EO

EO stands for “Essential Oils.” These are usually extracted from plants through distillation or chemical solvents. These oils may be added to the soap recipe to create scented soaps.

•  Flashpoint

Essential oils and fragrance oils have a flashpoint, or the temperature in which they begin to evaporate. Do not add oils when the temperature of the soap is higher than the oils’ flashpoints as it will only make the oils evaporate from the soap immediately. Generally, fragrance oils have higher flashpoints compared to essential oils.

•  Fixed Oils

These oils can withstand high temperatures without evaporating. Some commonly used fixed oils include palm oil, olive oil, and coconut oil.

•  FO

FO stands for “Fragrance Oils,” and they are also known as aromatic oils. These come from the combination of synthetic aromatic chemicals and carrier oils like mineral oils or vegetable oils. Like essential oils, these are added to soap recipes to produce scented soaps.

•  Gel Phase

Gel phase is a phase that occurs in the early stages of the saponification process. In this stage, the soap becomes shiny and translucent, and this usually happens within the next few hours of pouring the soap batter into molds. Not all soap batters undergo this phase.

•  HP

HP stands for “Hot Processing,” another soap making method. This will be further discussed in Chapter 3.

•  SAP Values

SAP value is short for “Saponification Value,” and it is also known as saponification number or SAP number. This is basically the amount of lye or potassium hydroxide that is needed to saponify one gram of a particular fat. Making your own soap means that you need to know the SAP values of the oils that you are planning to use to balance the amounts of oil and lye (or potassium hydroxide). Of course, the SAP values of oils will be different depending on the hydroxide that you will use, so make sure you specify if you need it for a solid (lye) or liquid soap (potassium hydroxide).

•  Saponification

Saponification is a chemical process that occurs when an alkaline base such as lye (sodium hydroxide) or potassium hydroxide reacts with oils and fatty acids. This chemical reaction produces soap.

•  Seize

Seizing is an indication that something went wrong during the soap making process. This happens when the soap’s consistency starts out as a smooth liquid and then becomes very thick and nearly solid like cookie dough. It can be because of the addition of fragrance oils, temperature or ingredient issues, or the problem could be the batter itself.

•  Superfatting

In order to use up all the lye, sometimes you will need to add more oils to the soap. This is what is known as superfatting, and it has two purposes. First, it allows you to have a margin of error in the amount of lye you put in your soap, making sure that all the lye will be saponified. This reduces the dangers of lye burning you. Second, this produces soap that is moisture-rich, as the extra oils serve as skin moisturizers. It is worth noting that many soap recipes would suggest superfatting when a lye discount of 3% to 8% has been applied. Be sure that you don’t put too much oil as it can create a rather unpleasant and greasy soap.

•  Trace

The trace is the beginning stage of saponification. This is the stage when the chemical reactions between lye and oils have started, and they can no longer be separated. The soap batter starts out as thin and creamy, which later on becomes thicker as you stir the mixture. You will know that your soap batter is at this stage when you drip a little liquid soap onto the mixture, and the drizzle lines will stay for a while before it fully melts.

•  Volcano Effect

Volcano effect happens when you pour water to lye as you make lye-water solutions. This is because as water is added to lye, pressure tends to build in the bottom lye layers until it ruptures the upper lye layers, causing the solution to spray up like a volcano. To avoid this, NEVER add water to lye; add lye to water instead.

Equipment and Safety Gears

Learning about the common soap making terminologies is just the first step to creating your own soap. The next thing you have to do is to gather the necessary materials and equipment for your soap making project. Keep in mind that safety should always be your priority, so we will talk about safety precautions first.

  Safety Precautions

Although there are soap recipes out there that don’t include lye in the ingredients, it is more likely for you to encounter recipes which have lye as its main soap component. Lye is a substance that should be handled with care as it is an alkali that is highly corrosive. Make sure that you never leave lye-water solutions unattended, especially in areas where children and pets are usually staying. Also, make sure that you perform soap making in a well-ventilated area with minimal distractions and tripping hazards. As an added safety measure, it is recommended that you always wear the following gear when you make soap:

•  Rubber or Latex Gloves

This is to protect your hands from coming into contact with lye and raw soap. You may choose to wear rubber gloves that go all the way to the elbow for extra protection, or you may also go for thin latex gloves.

•  Safety Goggles

Alkali burns are serious hazards to the eyes, and for this reason you should always wear safety goggles that protect your eyes from all sides. Some people even prefer wearing full-face masks just to reduce the risks of sustaining alkali burns during soap making

•  Long-sleeved Shirts, Pants, and Close-Toed Footwear

Make sure your skin isn’t exposed when you are making soap. This is to guarantee that your body will be well-protected against unexpected splashes of raw soap and lye solutions. Wearing overalls may feel hot and uncomfortable, but it is much better to have less skin exposed around highly corrosive substances.

After preparing your safety gear, it is now time to organize your soap making equipment!

  Soap Making Equipment

This may already seem obvious, but soap making equipment should be exclusively used for soap making. This means that you shouldn’t use a particular material for soap making if you still intend to use it for preparing food in the kitchen. In addition, these materials should also be hand-washed.

•  Pyrex or Non-reactive Containers

Tempered glass, stainless steel, heat-resistant, or polypropylene plastic containers are highly recommended for soap making. Never use aluminum containers because the reaction between lye and aluminum creates a toxic fume.

•  Spatula (Rubber)

This is to ensure that all the soap in your container will be poured into your mold.

•  Stick or Emulsifying Blender

Stirring soap mixtures manually may be a bad idea, but you can count on stick blenders to make the emulsification process of lye and oil more convenient for you.

•  Scale

Most soap recipes have ingredients that indicate measurements in weight instead of in volume. Getting a nice digital scale is advisable, but you can use a cheaper kitchen scale as well.

•  Molds

The most common types of soap molds include plastic molds, silicone molds, and wood molds. It is not advisable to use glass as mold because it is hard to release soap from it.

Plastic: There are plastic molds especially intended for soap making, but you can also use common household materials like Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers as soap molds. If you plan to reuse household plastic materials for this purpose, make sure that they are clean, dry, and free of any food debris before use.

Silicone: Silicone molds are flexible, making it easy for soap makers to release the hardened soap mixtures.

Wood: Wood molds tend to absorb oils quickly in soap mixtures, so always make sure that you use them with lining such as freezer paper or silicone liner. They can be used for cold process and hot process methods.

Oil Classification

When you search for soap making oil charts, you will notice that oils are commonly classified as soft, hard, or brittle, but what exactly does this mean?

•  Soft Oils

Soft oils stay liquid at room temperature. Examples include olive oil, avocado oil, castor oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, etc. Soaps made from these types of oils tend to be softer, but soaps with high amounts of olive oil tend to produce hard soap bars. They are also slower to trace, and as a result, you can try experimenting with its colors.

•  Hard Oils and Brittle Oils

Hard oils are oils that are in solid form at room temperature but can easily be scooped. Examples are lard, tallow, palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and mango butter. Brittle oils, on the other hand, are also solid at room temperature but they need to be chipped before they can be used. Examples are cocoa butter and palm kernel oil.

Generally, soaps made with high percentages of hard or brittle oils are easier to unmold because they usually harden at a quicker rate than soaps made with soft oils. They also require higher temperatures while mixing.

Saponification Chart

A saponification chart (or saponification table) shows you the different SAP values of oils. These values will let you know how much lye or potassium hydroxide you must add to the oils that you will use for your soap. It is important to know the exact amount of hydroxide solution to be added because adding too little or too much both have negative effects. Adding too little will cause the soap to go rancid as it contains extra fat, while adding too much will burn your skin.

To use the chart, you simply have to multiply the SAP values by the amount of oil in grams or ounces. The resulting number will give you the amount of hydroxide solution required to completely saponify that particular oil. For example:

SAP value of almond oil = 0.136

Amount of almond oil in grams = 100 grams

Amount of lye (NaOH) needed = 100 grams x 0.136 = 13.6 grams lye

OR

SAP value of almond oil = 0.136

Amount of almond oil in ounces = 32 oz.

Amount of lye (NaOH) needed = 32 oz. x 0.136 = 4.352 oz. lye

If you wish to use multiple oils for your soap, simply do the aforementioned process for all the oils to know the total amount of hydroxide solution that you must use to make your soap batter. For example:

Sample Saponification Chart

Although this saponification chart is not complete, the oils that are included here are the most commonly used by home soap makers.

Knowing about the different soap making terminologies and materials will ensure that your first soap making venture will be a success. In the next chapter, the various soap making methods will be discussed before we focus on soap making recipes.

Chapter 3: Soap Making Methods

The whole process of soap making is quite complex, but one of the best things about it is that you have total control on the ingredients that you put in your soap. It is completely up to you if you put herbs for texture or if you want to go for a smoother, more natural feel. Use your imagination and creativity to come up with a soap product that you can truly call your own! This chapter will focus on the different soap making methods with an introduction on the benefits of making your own soaps at home.

The Benefits of Making Your Own Soap

Although some people may think that soap making is a time-consuming activity, it actually has a number of health and economical benefits. In fact, using your home-made soap can be better than using your favorite commercial soap because:

•    Most of the commercial soaps out there leave out glycerine in their soap recipes. Glycerine is a substance that draws moisture to the skin, and companies often put this in lotions and moisturizers to sell a different set of products. Because of this, some people may experience skin dryness and irritation with commercial soaps.

•    With home-made soaps, you control what you put in it. You can put certain oils according to your needs and preferences, and you can also go for additives to enhance your soap.

•    High quality soaps tend to be costly, but investing in soap equipment and ingredients and then making soaps by batch can prove to be less expensive in the long run.

•    Home-made soaps are also excellent gifts for your family and friends. If you are thinking of something special to give them, a handmade soap with a personal touch is a great gift idea.

•    When you become adept at soap making, you can eventually make use of those skills to put up a soap business. Soap making as a profitable business will be discussed further in the next chapter.

Soap Making Methods

Making homemade soap can be done in four ways. Of course, each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and they have variations as well.

1. Melt and Pour Method

This method is probably the most straightforward of all the soap making methods, as the instructions involve:

•  Buying a pre-made soap as a base

•  Melting the soap and turning it into a liquid

•  Adding ingredients of your choice

•  Pouring the soap into a mold

•  Designing and decorating the soap (optional)

•  Leaving the soap batter to harden

As this method is quite simple, this is probably the best way for beginners to start out soap making at home. However, you don’t have much control over your ingredients, and the soap product will mostly be based on the soap you bought. It also won’t be as “natural” as the products of the other methods.

2. Cold Process

Cold process method is more complex than the melt-and-pour method because this time, you will have to come up with your own recipes from scratch. The resulting soap will be a product of what is known as the saponification process, and it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete. This method is highly popular among home soap makers, because it allows them to tailor their recipe according to their preferences and needs.

However, the cold process method makes use of a corrosive substance called lye, so you will need to learn how to work safely around it. It also takes a lot longer to complete before you can finally use your soaps.

3. Hot Process

The hot process method is a variation of the cold process method, as this time heat is utilized to facilitate the saponification process. You stir the mixture at various times and the batter is heated at various temperatures to let excess water evaporate. This will make your soap ready for use once the batter cools. Although the waiting time is greatly reduced, soaps made from hot process method can sometimes be difficult to remove from their molds.

4. Soap Rebatching

The soap rebatching method is also called the milled soap method. This method is very similar to melt and pour method but this time, the soap base is your very own soap creation. Basically, you will need to create soap using cold or hot process method first before you can create something from soap rebatching. This is usually done to reuse unsuccessful soap batches or to preserve the healing properties and scents of essential oils.

Instructions for Cold Process

Now that we know about the different soap making methods, let us now focus on the cold process method as this will be the method we’ll use for the test recipe.

1. Set up your safety gear, soap making equipment, and ingredients.

2. Prepare your soap molds and line them up with parchment paper, especially if it is a wooden soap mold.

3. Measure your ingredients; all must be measured using a digital scale. Measure your oils and the amount of lye (or potassium hydroxide) that you will need for them.

4. Note: When making lye-water solutions, pour lye into water to prevent the volcano effect! Make sure your water is no warmer than room temperature.

5. Weigh out your oils and other soap ingredients while your lye solution is cooling.

6. Start mixing your oils and your lye solution and stir it with a stick blender. Check its consistency occasionally and check for trace. When the trace stage is reached, you can now add extra ingredients and stir the mixture until all of them are incorporated well into the soap batter.

7. When everything is mixed, you can now pour the mixture into molds. Use a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to smoothen out the top layers of your soap batter.

8. Cover your mold with quilts or blankets to ensure that your soap is well-insulated. The insulation will ensure that your soap will retain the heat required for it to complete the saponification process. Leave the cover for about 1 to 2 days.

9. After 2 days, you can now uncover your soap mixture and take the soap blocks out of their molds. Cut the block into your desired bar sizes and let them cure and just sit in the open for approximately 4 weeks.

Test Recipe for Beginners: Olive Oil Soap

Using the instructions above, it’s now time to try out making your very first soap! Olive oil soap is a fairly popular soap for beginners, so that is what we’ll be using for your test recipe.

Ingredients

•  17 oz. olive oil

•  7 oz. palm oil

•  10.5 oz. coconut oil

•  1 oz. fragrance oil or essential oil of your choice (optional)

•  Other additives (optional)

•  Lye-water solution (to be measured according to your ingredients)

Don’t worry if your first soap product doesn’t turn out well because everything becomes better with practice. Besides, soap making is not a straightforward and easy process, so you will have to give yourself enough time before you get the hang of it.

Chapter 4: Marketing Your Soap Products

If you want to set up your soap making business, there are a few things that you need to be aware of before you jump right in. The basic of business is all about making profits from your products. However, if this is the only thing that you will keep in mind, chances are that you could acquire more losses than gains. In order to make your business successful and for you to acquire profits, here are a few basic guidelines that you need to know.

1. Find your niche market.

2. Find your ingredients and suppliers.

3. Set your price and profit margin.

4. Advertise.

5. Make full use of your distribution channels

6. Study, study, study!

Finding your Niche Market

Earlier in this book, we discussed that there are many different types or kinds of soap. There are laundry soaps, medication soaps, and novelty soaps among others. Chances are your soap making business will focus on personal soaps or those that are used by individuals for personal hygiene. These may still include novelty soaps and perhaps even perfumed soaps, but let me tell you why focusing on a specific product is essential for your soap making business, and for any business for that matter.

When you started your soap making business, it may have been because you have experienced making soaps for yourself or for others in the past. You may have produced your own personal soaps out of interest and as a hobby, or you may have given some out as gifts for friends and loved ones. It is not uncommon for people to show interest and even fascination if they find out that you are able to produce soaps by yourself. In fact, many small soap making businesses started out because they were motivated by friends and family members who found the concept to be highly interesting.

The problem with this is that your friends may ask you for all kinds of different soaps. They may request for scented ones, for soaps that are in the form of different shapes, or even for soaps that can be used by their pets. If you try to satisfy all of these requests, you may spread yourself too thinly and find that you are actually taking on more costs than profits, exerting more efforts than necessary, and even producing less than desirable products. These are just some of the disadvantages of not being able to find your niche market.

Finding your niche market is all about focusing on a specific group of people for which to produce and sell your products. You have to know your customers as much as you know yourself, and maybe even more if you want to truly be successful in any business. Who are they and what are they like? Are they mostly men, women, and what age group are they in? What is their lifestyle and what are their likes and dislikes?

While this may seem to be too much effort for some people, this will actually help you in developing your product. Establishing your niche market and knowing what they are like will allow you to have a clearer and better focus of how and what your product should be. With regard to your soap making business, you have to know what types of soaps your market will be yearning for regularly. What types of oils should you use? What fragrances should you have? How should the shape and the size be?

Knowing all of these things will help you to develop your product line and to organize your production process. Tasks will be easier to carry out, the essential tools and ingredients will be specified, and even the costs will be minimized. This focus will give you a clearer direction and will also enable you to make improvements in your products. In the end, just by finding your niche market and learning to cater specifically to them, you will be able to produce better soaps that will be just what your customers wanted.

Ingredients and Suppliers

Another benefit that finding your niche market has is that it will allow you to focus on specific ingredients and suppliers as well. Do you want organic products, or are you more concerned about the price? What quality should you look for and just how relevant are these factors for your products? This will help you to decide whether or not you should look for a supplier that focuses on affordable products, or if you should go for one that is focused more on the scent, the smoothness, or any other quality that your product should possess.

Having a supplier will also benefit you in many ways. For one, you will be able to establish a deeper connection because you both know that you will be dealing with each other for a long time. As the supplier, he or she will have to cater to your needs. Your supplier should always be able to provide the ingredients and other items that you need, they should always comply with schedules and other deals that you may have, and your supplier should also be able to give you special perks and discounts. If you buy in bulk, chances are that you will be able to get your ingredients for a lower cost. Extra services may also be provided such as free delivery to your home, or even samples of new products or ones that may be in line with the soaps that you produce.

On top of the discounts and other perks, having a supplier will also allow you to have access to the latest news and updates in their part of the business. Are there new technologies coming out? Will there be new products or enhancements on the old ones? What products are the most marketable and which ones will be easy to use for a business?

Treat your suppliers as your business partners as well, because if they fail you, then you may in turn fail your customers. On the same note, your suppliers can also be used as leverage with which to market your business. Especially if you choose a supplier that is known for quality, or even perhaps for social responsibility, you can certainly promote those as a part of your business. For example, if you are in the market of luxury soaps, then your supplier should also be known for the same reputation. Do they always deliver quality goods? Do they apply innovative systems and procedures in their business to make sure that you get only the best? In the same way that many people value caviar because of the dedication that is put into its production, your customers will value your products more because they know that down to the barest ingredients, they are already getting what they pay for.

Pricing and Profits

Now that you know what type of soaps you should focus on and now that you have a trusted supplier from where to get your ingredients, it should be easy to price your products and to set your profit margins. Let us look at the example of luxury soaps once again.

Your products will be of high quality, with the best fragrances, the most desired smoothness and softness on the skin, and even a unique packaging that will have your customers thinking right away that there is a high value in your products. It will also be expected that your ingredients and tools that were needed to come up with the luxury soaps are also a bit costly as well.

Now, there are actually two ways on how you can put a price on your products. One is the most obvious and what is most commonly used in the world of business, and that is basing your selling price on the cost of your ingredients and your labor, and adding your desired profit margin on that number. Of course, you have to keep in mind that this value should still be within your target market’s buying ability.

This first method of determining the price for a product is preferred by many because it always guarantees that you get profits from what you are doing. That is of course, if you are able to sell your products properly. However, this type of pricing will always be dependent on the cost of your ingredients and therefore, if that value increases, you will either have to reduce your own profit margin or you will have to increase your selling price which may turn off some of your customers.

Another way of pricing your products will be like this. Think of yourself as the customer. How do you see your soap products and what is the actual value that you are able and willing to pay for such a product? Can you push it higher? Up to what amount will I be willing to pay? Again, this brings us back to your niche market and how they will see your product. Also in consideration is their buying power or how much they will be willing and able to pay. This pricing method is not dependent on the cost of material or labor, but it is dependent on the image of your product and the qualities of your niche market. Of course, even if you use this method, you should always see to it that you will still be at a profit and not at a loss.

If you notice the brands that are using this strategy, they are mainly the ones that are considered as luxury items. Most of these branded items, such as Apple products for example, thrive on how they are perceived. They often have higher profit margins as well, but there are also more responsibilities that come hand in hand with such a reputation. For example, your luxury soaps have branded themselves as those special soaps that any person would be happy to receive as a gift. The challenge now is in how you can maintain that branding and image. There should be no room for error, and you should always be on the lookout for the latest advancements and innovations for your product. How can you make it more luxurious? Are there special ingredients that you can further add to your products to make them even more valuable? Should you improve your products’ image and packaging?

Whatever your price level is, you should keep your product worthy of that value. In fact, you should even make your product be valued more. After all, if you give your customers more value for their money, they will definitely keep coming back.

Make Yourself Known

Finally, make yourself be known. Although this may largely seem like advertising for some people, this also actually has a lot to do with developing your product and company image, as well as your brand. Before you advertise yourself, you first have to make it clear as to how you want your customers to perceive you, and what type of brand you want to come across as.

We mentioned earlier that your branding and image are based mainly on your niche market. What is your market looking for, or rather, what type of brand and product are they going to want? Always keep this in mind because this will be the guideline for all of your advertising efforts.

Let us again go back to luxury soaps. Following this product image and branding, you want all of your advertising material to be classy and reflective of how luxurious your product is. For one, comedy or humor should only be subtly used or not at all. What you want is advertising material that makes people look and like what they see. When you develop your advertisements, see to it that the general public will view your product as an item of luxury that they will want, be interested and even amazed at, and of course, as something that they will ultimately want to buy. Your advertisements should convey the message that your product is something that is sophisticated, of high value, and of class.

One of the most concrete ways of how you can effectively use such an image for your products is by making a logo. Again, with luxury products, you know that the logo should not be funny, loud, trying too hard, or plain and bland. What you want is a logo that will stand out as sophisticated, classy, and stylish. Notice here that everything is tied together: from the way that your products are made, including the ingredients and suppliers, to how they should look and in what light the public will see them. Before you even go to the logo, even your brand name and the name of your products should be in line with all of these things.

It is important that you establish your desired brand and image first, and then you can go to the actual advertising and marketing of your products. When you think of advertising your products, think of where these advertisements should be seen, and how. Do you need to put up posters or tarpaulins? Would leaflets be more appropriate? Or could you make use of a mini-magazine to better bring your product and your message across to your market?

Aside from the image of your brand and your product, you also have to keep in mind what your target market is like again. Where will they look? What will make them notice? How will you stand out as something that is desirable to these people? In all of your advertising material, be it videos, websites, notifications, or printed newsletters, your brand image should always be consistent and prevalent.

Advertising will also make use of a lot of creativity and imagination. A question that we posed earlier was, how will your target market notice you? One of the best ways to do so is through the use of graphics. You have your logo, pictures, and images of your products, as well as other elements that should be in line with your overall branding and theme. Having these visual advertisements will make it easier for you to actually market your business.

Another way to advertise your products is through the use of promotions and special offers. If you are selling your products for the first time for example, you should offer a special introductory price. This will lure your customers in, and you will also have an idea on how receptive the market will be to your products. An additional advertising gimmick would be to offer certain perks or even freebies. For your luxury soaps, why not include a sample of other varieties for every product or group of products that your customers buy? Another marketing tactic would be to offer discounts or special prices for when your customers buy more than one product at once.

These are just some of the ways and tips on how you can market and advertise your soap making business. Again, the key is in building an image, and then tying all things up with that image to make your marketing efforts successful.

Distributions Channels

Now we move on to your distribution channels. Simply put, these are the venues or mediums through which you will sell your products. The most common of these are the stores and stalls that you see almost everywhere you go. In today’s world, an emerging or perhaps already developed venue for selling is none other than the World Wide Web, more commonly known as the internet.

There are many factors and considerations that you have to keep in mind when deciding what your distribution channels should be. Two of these, again, are your brand and product image. If you are selling a luxury item, would you allow your products to be sold at a thrift store or at a bargain store? Definitely not.

Other factors that you may be able to control have to do with how your business operates. Are you working on your business by yourself or do you have a team with you? What type of distribution channel will you be able to support? If you decide to set up a stall in the mall for example, would you have the manpower needed for it? More importantly, would you have the budget needed for such an operation? These factors are the ones that you loosely have control over. You can have friends and family help you out, or you can hire an extra hand for your business. If you need to produce a larger number of products, you will just have to make sure that your production line is able to match all of the demand. As for budget issues, you can apply for a business loan or even get sponsors or partners for your business.

External factors, on the other hand, are the ones that you hardly have control over. These include your market, the whole industry, and the environment as well. Your niche market will again help you in choosing what distribution channels you have to make use of. Will your target market be expecting your products to be sold at the mall? Or would they prefer a more exclusive distribution channel such as one where they have to get in touch with you personally? Perhaps they will prefer online shopping as well?

As for the industry, this mainly includes your competitors. Would you want to compete directly with them, or would you rather choose a different distribution tactic? The good thing about setting up a soap making business is the fact that it is still quite a novel idea. There is not much competition yet, so you will have an easier time to stand out and make your business be known.

Your decision on which distribution channel to use should also take into consideration the environment. The environment here is not nature per se, but anything and everything that surrounds your business. For example, how difficult or easy is it to set up an actual store? You would have to think of the legal requirements and fees, the guidelines within the area, and other considerations that will affect your business. If you are going to set up a stall, what location would be ideal for it? Where will your products fit in and where will they be noticed?

In your soap making business, it is more likely that you will be setting up a simple home-based operation first before you actually go into something on a larger scale. In this case, you can employ your family and friends as your distribution channels, reach out to your networks, and reach out to their networks as well. Make use of your online social communities and let the word out as to how interested customers will be able to reach you. One rule in small-scale businesses is to make your products be as accessible as possible. Not only will you be able to reach more people this way, it will also make it more convenient for your customers so that they continue buying from you on a regular basis.

Study, Study, Study!

You may be wondering what this last part of setting up your business is all about. After all, you already have your product, you have developed your image, and you have already established your distribution channels. This should be enough to help you sell your soap products. While that is indeed true, there is a last component of building a business that many entrepreneurs overlook or even take for granted, and that is to do continuous research and development.

Sure, you may already be raking in profits from your soap making business, but you have to always think, what else can I give my customers? This is important because as novel and great as your soap making idea may be, it will eventually plateau and you will reach a point where no new customers will be coming your way. While some people are okay with this because they still get profits anyway, if you want a lasting business and one that will give you a more fulfilled life, you should always make room for improvement.

Research on what the latest developments in your industry are. Are there new technologies for soap making? Have they found an easier way to produce soaps? Are there new ingredients and components that could add value to your products? Always keep in mind that you are out to improve your product, so anything that you incorporate into your business should add value to it.

In some cases, the improvement does not even have to do with the product. It can be about developing a better logo or brand image, or perhaps about improving your distribution channels and your advertisements. You can also improve your personal services as this is a sure way to add value to your business. For example, make yourself accessible at any time by providing a cell phone number or an email address through which your customers can reach you. You can also add a delivery service, as long as you are sure that you are able to do so and within a schedule that you and your client have agreed on. Alternately, you can go for shipping your products, in which case the improvement would be on how far you are able to cater to. Another value-adding service is to make your products available already gift-wrapped. This is for those who want to buy your products as gifts for their friends and loved ones.

Study, study, study! This is essential for any business, and it will be very important for you to improve and add value to your soap making business as well.

Conclusion

Thank you again for downloading this book! Soap making is truly a wonderful pastime, and it is also a good idea for a business venture. I hope this book was able to help you understand the processes involved in making your own soap, and I also wish that it has encouraged you to try making some for yourself and for other people, possibly even make a living out of it.

If you enjoyed this book, please take the time to share your thoughts and post a review on Amazon. It’d be greatly appreciated!

Thank you and good luck!