Well, yesterday I poured a log of Lemon Head and a slab of White Tea & Ginger Me. I felt really good about it because, due to the work involved, I normally average just one pour a day. Being able to squeeze two pours in, as well as take care of the family and keep the house clean, is quite an achievement. I should be able to unmold them tonight and send them to the curing rack. I can't tell you how much I wish that I could just unmold and sell. This is the reason that a lot of the handmade soap that you buy is actually just Melt & Pour soap base that people buy, melt down, add scent, color, wrap and sell. They can do that in one day, whereas soap from scratch is a serious exercise in patience. The 4 week cure time is quite difficult for me. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I lack patience. Perhaps that is why the Lord has led me to soaping..... He is teaching me something that I have somehow failed to learn along the way.
The funny thing about making soap from scratch is that the colors you end up with can often be quite different from what you started off with. I look forward to waking up in the mornings so that I can run to my mold, uncover it, and see what colors and textures I have created. It is very exciting because it is very much like Forest Gump had said. "Soap is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Sometimes I am very happy with the results and sometimes I think to myself, "Here is another one for the Misfit Box." In case you are wondering, the Misfit Box is going to consist of all of the miscolored or mishapened soap bars. Although, they will still be wonderful Suds bars, we will offer them at a reduced price, due to the fact that they did not fit our vision for that particular scent.
This is my 3rd attempt at Lemon Head. I have called this soap my nemesis. It isn't that it has misbehaved at all. There has been no ricing or tracing. It is just the color. I have a vision for this bar. I can see it in my head.... I just haven't been able to pull it off. After I get the bars cut, I'll be sure to post pics.
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Its sad to see that you are one of "those" soap makers that think melt and poor is "Just" melt and pour and nothing special.
ReplyDeletePlease don't misunderstand... It is not that melt and pour is "nothing special". I have seen some very crafty and very cool melt and pour soaps. The point that I was making is that melt and pour is melted, poured and ready to sell within 24 hours. While CP soap, made from scratch, is a serious exercise in patience... as it takes 4 weeks to be ready to sell. I made (and sold) melt and pour for years, myself, before making soap from scratch. I am of the opinion that consumers should know that there is a difference. I believe that they should be educated as to the different types of soap that are marketed as "handmade soap". I believe that MP soap should be labeled as such because it does create a different product. That is not to say that there isn't a market for mp soaps... because there is. But, I am of the opinion that soap from scratch does create a superior product. If I didn't believe that, then I wouldn't be spending a month longer to produce a bar. I am sorry if this offends you, but I am speaking the truth from my own personal experience.
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