I remember making my first batch of cold process soap back in November 2002. I wanted to make something for my friends for Christmas that year, and after looking for ideas on the internet, I stumbled upon Kathy Miller’s website. I read everything I could about how the process worked and what to expect before jumping in. There was no YouTube, nor Facebook; soapmaking blogs had not yet begun. My only visual references were the few photos on Kathy’s site. I wondered what trace looked like in real life. I had no idea, but I figured I would know when I saw it.

I went ahead and bought all the supplies I needed for my first batch of soap – except for a stick blender and a scale. I used Kathy’s recipe that calculated ingredients by volume – which included an entire 12-ounce can of lye. It was a huge recipe, and I used the full water amount and a spoon to stir it.

You might be able to imagine how the rest of this story played out. I stirred for HOURS, until I couldn’t stand it any longer and thought it looked like soap was starting to form in my pot. I added my fragrance and poured it in the mold. The next day it was completely set up, so I dumped it out of the mold to cut it. Much to my horror, it completely crumbled like wet sand! Not just the edges…the entire batch of soap!

So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I went back to Kathy Miller’s site – specifically the troubleshooting section! I came to the conclusion that the soap really hadn’t reached trace and the only way to fix it was to put it all back in the pot and stick it in the oven to hot process it. This turned out to be a good thing, since my goal was to give this soap to my friends for Christmas and it was now the end of November.

I dumped all the soap back in my stainless steel pot and put it in the oven at around 200 degrees. I let it melt down for an hour or so, stirred it, and let it melt some more. Remember, this was nearly 6 pounds of soap, so it took a few hours, but eventually I could tell it was starting to come together like it should. I dumped it back in the mold and when I cut it the next day, the texture was perfect!

I learned some very important lessons from that first batch of soap. First and foremost, I learned the importance of using a stick blender! I also learned that the soapmaking process is extremely forgiving. Each new soap is an adventure for me. In all my years of soapmaking, I’ve only had to trash two batches – and both times it was because I had forgotten one of the base oils and either the batch was too large to rebatch or I wasn’t sure how much extra oil was needed.

It took me a long time to start experimenting with fancy soap designs. Here are some of the progressions you can see in my soapmaking techniques over the years:

One of the main reasons I’ve seen my skills grow lately is the Soap Challenge Club! Every month I have to tackle a new technique and be able to create a video tutorial and written instructions for it. The members of the Club are super supportive and really inspire me and each other to create some really beautiful work. Sometimes I can get it right the first try, but there have been many times it takes at least three tries to get the soap to look the way I want it to. Most recently, that was the Spinning Swirl! I couldn’t get the batter to stay fluid enough to spin by the time I got it all layered in the mold. Once it worked, it turned out beautifully though!

Amy’s gorgeous spin swirl cold process soap.

I have to say I’m jealous of those of you just getting started now with all the resources you have available, including this wonderful blog! You can actually see soapmaking videos on YouTube that show you what trace looks like and how to create some stunning swirls.  Maybe you’re still in those beginning stages when the world of soapmaking seems intimidating. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be! Yes, you need to respect the lye. Outside of that – have fun! Most importantly, don’t get overwhelmed by all the fancy looking soaps you see on Facebook or YouTube. Start with something basic so you can get a feel for the process, and then go from there. You’re always welcome to join us in the Challenge Club if you need some fresh ideas!

Past techniques featured in the Challenge Club include (top left, clockwise) the petal technique, embeds, peacock swirl and the drop swirl technique. 

The best advice I can give is to keep a journal with good notes of your process so you can learn what affects the outcome of your soap. What was your recipe? What temperature were the oils and lye solution when you combined them? How long did you stick-blend the soap? Did you add the fragrance to your oils before adding the lye solution or at trace?  What did you use to pre-mix your colorants with? Did you insulate your soap? How long did you have to wait to cut it? How long did it take to cure? Once you know the variables, you can change them up (one at a time, preferably) to see how it affects the results.

Making soap is one of the most rewarding things I’ve learned to do. I love planning out how a fragrance should look with a certain color palette or swirl technique. There’s something magical about watching the oils and lye solution come together to make soap that never gets old. Cutting into a fresh batch of soap to see what’s inside is like Christmas morning! Not every batch turns out exactly how I envision it, and that’s ok too. There’s always the next batch! Always.

Find Great Cakes Soapworks
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Soap Challenge Club Info and Registration
Tutorials from past Challenge Clubs
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Big thanks to my amazing and always-patient husband for letting me leave him with the two toddlers, living out of suitcases in a friend’s guest room. He is a trooper and a strong support for me and our family.

The conference was incredible. Having now experienced the Kenna-run Central Soapers Workshop series, I am hoping that someone takes up the mantle (yes, this was technically the last year). I was especially impressed with the pre-workshop soaping bootcamp for new soapers. This helps everyone because it cuts down on confusion during the (mostly) advanced soapmaking sessions. The goody bag was super generous with many vendors providing generous samples of product. Bramble Berry provided an exclusive mini soapmaking kit that makes a recipe from my upcoming book (due Spring 2016).

It was also nice that the sessions were smaller and more intimate. It ensured that everyone who wanted to learn how to make more intricate designs in their soap had plenty of time to ask questions and could get up to see the actual soapmaking process. There were two tracks; a business track and a soapmaking track. Both tracks had superstars of the industry – it was virtually impossible to pick one. I spoke in both tracks. For soapmaking, my talk was all about using alternative liquids in soapmaking. I also did a live demonstration of two types of soaps. In the business track, I spoke about the Six Steps to Social Media Success.

Some of the highlights and takeaways from the conference speakers:

Lela Barker of Lucky Break Consulting – Lela gave two talks at CSW – The Seven Deadly Wholesale Sins and one on GMP (cleverly titled, “You down with GMP? You know me”). I attended the GMP session and had two big takeaways:  It is possible. You absolutely can (and should) be GMP compliant for the peace of mind it gives. In addition, it’s a huge selling point if not only for the confidence it gives you. This was a great opportunity to learn from Lela about GMP, in person. Her style and delivery is always on point and she is an engageing speaker. Can’t make it to a class she’s speaking at in person? Do the next best thing. Take her self-guided class! Bramble Berry sells Lela’s GMP class here. It will literally cut your process of becoming GMP compliant by 90%. You’ll still have to do the work but the roadmap is laid out perfectly for you with this class.

Amy Warden from Great Cakes Soapworks taught swirling, swirling and swirling! She demonstrated a drop swirl, a hanger swirl, a in-the-pot swirl and a Taiwan swirl.  She did an amazing Gradiant soap as well. She said: “I blended Bramble Berry Lavender 40/42 with some Litsea (also yours) and it smelled like Fruit Loops according to the front row of the class.    Still smells rather divine! ”

She had these Gradiant Soap Tips (from the soap below!) to share with Soap Queen readers:

It’s a gradient soap.  If you want the colors to bleed, use labcolors.  I used red and blue for this one.  The red is on the bottom and the blue morphed to purple on the top.  If you want more distinct layers, use pigments or micas.  You can make a really pretty ombre soap with one color and titanium dioxide.  Divide your soap evenly into your two colors and pour a layer of one of them into the mold.  Add some of the second soap to the first one for the next layer, and so on.  To get even layers like the one I did on the bottom, cover the mold while you prepare for your next layer to help it set up.  When you are ready to pour another layer, be sure to drizzle a little bit of soap on top first.  If it breaks through, it’s not set up enough yet.  If it sits on top, you can carefully pour the next layer, but be sure to pour over a spatula to help deflect the soap from pushing through the layer beneath.  I had to rush a couple of the layers so I could finish before the class was over!

Anne-Marie Faiola from Bramble Berry – I demonstrated a beer soap and a soleseife bar (brine soap bar) live – as well as gave a basic overview on how to use purees, teas, and alcohols in your soap. Both live demonstration batches turned out beautifully (thankfully; it would be awkward if they hadn’t!) and were raffled off to CSW attendees.

I also gave a talk on social media. If I had to sum it up, it would be this: doing the right thing produces tangible results. What I mean by that is that if you’re blogging to connect with your customers, eventually Google will pick up your content and help spread it far and wide to even more people. Financial results from social media come after you do the right things (meaty content, connection, consistency and authenticity).

Social media needs to be connection. If it’s not about you being authentic, telling your whole story, and connecting, then you won’t get meaningful long term results with social media. I wrote about social media here if you’d like to learn more about what I spoke on.

Donna Maria of Indie Business Network – dM is a fabulous speaker; full of energy, verve and passion. As always, her  talks are planned out well and executed with an authenticity that can’t be faked.  Donna Maria said that everyone that is self-employed, even if you’re running a single-person shop, is a leader. Her thoughts on what leadership is? “The act of serving others from a place of integrity.” Here is a link to learn more about her talk, including the slides. And, a plug from the Soap Queen: You can join IBN for $175 per year and get way way more in value than $175. Additionally, IBN has affordable insurance options for handcrafted soap and toiletry makers.

Kayla Fioravanti, Author and Aromatherapist– Kayla (the one in the purple, closest to the camera, in the above photo) has been in the handcrafted industry for literally, decades. Since selling her supply business a few years ago, she has been working on diversifying income streams, including becoming an expert on publishing and writing. Here are some notes from her “Crafting Compelling Copy” talk:

Here is an exercise to help you write compelling copy for your brand.

1. Research your target customer. Know them inside and out. Learn what hashtags they use to talk about companies like yours and what keywords they would use to search for you on Google. You can do this free on Google Keyword Planner.

2. Set some quiet time aside and then write as if there was no FDA or FTC. Write what your your company story would be if there were no limitations. Start there and then tame it back. Don’t write tame – write wild. The number one piece of advice I give aspiring writers is to write without editing. Writing and editing are two completely different actions. The same is true when you sit down to write compelling copy for your brand.The secret to great writing is to just write – without censorship, without editing, and without holding back. Pour your passion onto the page. Be authentic – the you inside your mind – not the you that censors themselves to be polite, have proper etiquette, follow the rules and such. In the written word be the real you on paper. After you write uncensored you can work out the FDA and FTC compliance and the SEO details.

To see an example of Kayla’s uncensored writing read Puffy & Blue: The Chronicles of Nine Lives Together . To learn more about writing read Kayla’s book How to Self-Publish: The Author-preneur’s Guide to Publishing

I was sad to miss most of the soapmaking track (including the above awesome soap made by Amy Warden) because I was mostly in the business track, but was thrilled that there were many networking and friendmaking opportunities in between classes. It was a joy to meet so many soapers that I only had seen on social media and I hope our paths cross again soon. Thanks Kenna and all the CSW volunteers. It was a great conference!

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Last year I came up with the idea to host weekly Soap Challenges on my blog, featuring a new technique that soapmakers could learn together, and then post their work. We’ve had a lot of fun with these, but recently I started wondering how I could kick it up a notch. That’s when I came up with the idea for a Soap Challenge Club.

The vision for the Soap Challenge Club is to create a Members Only space where soapmakers from all over the world can come together to be challenged to learn a new technique. Best of all, members will vote to determine the winner of the challenge each month – and that winner will receive a significant prize from a soap supply vendor!!

The First Challenge

Starting today, you can register for the first Soap Challenge Club. The technique for this month is the recently featured Peacock Swirl:

The prize for this month’s challenge is an 18-bar Birchwood Mold from Bramble  Berry with the new silicone liner!! **If you’ve already got this mold, you can opt to receive a Bramble Berry gift certificate of equal value. 

Requirements to participate:

1. Register and pay a small fee of $5.95 to gain access to the private area where the technique will be laid out via instructional video and written instructions.

2. Create a soap using the technique of the month.

Requirements to be eligible to win the challenge:

1. Document the making and final reveal of your soap with photos and/or video! Create a blog post (preferred!), video on YouTube, or post a photo on a Facebook business page featuring your challenge soap entry.

2. Post the link to your challenge soap entry to the link-up while it is open! (Not sure what a link-up is? Check out this one!)

Deadlines (all will occur at 2:00pm CST):

June 3, 2013 – Registration to participate will CLOSE

June 10, 2013 – The private link-up will OPEN

June 12, 2013 – The link-up will CLOSE, and members-only voting will begin

June 14, 2013 – Voting will CLOSE, winner will be contacted!

Once registered, you will receive a username and password as well as the link to access the password-protected post containing the video and written instructions to create a peacock swirl soap. Usernames and passwords will be generated manually, so please be patient with me, as I will get your information to you as soon as possible! Are you ready and excited for some seriously fun soaping time??

Please note that Bramble Berry is not running this challenge – nor are they judging the entries. They were simply kind enough to help me broadcast the news on the Soap Queen blog.

The post Announcing Soap Challenge Club! appeared first on Soap Queen.