Starting this past weekend, a few of the Hust Roosters began what appears to be a long and arduous journey. We made our first soap.
It turns out that making soap is a pretty simple process. It still took us four attempts to get it right (it is amazing how many problems are actually very simple, yet befuddle us nonetheless), but now that we have it, I am darn near certain that we will not repeat any of our mistakes.
In case you’re wondering or trying to make your own soap, our biggest holdup was that we tried to make our own lye. That does not work well. You still get something caustic, but it doesn’t make soap and is not as exact as the stuff you can buy.
But we did eventually succeed, and like I said, it is an easy process. We now have to wait a couple of weeks for our first batch to finish curing, but we are excited to try it and see how we did and what we can improve.
Here is where the real work begins. For anybody who wants to sell soap, all those who do it successfully say that the first step is to come up with your own great recipe. The qualities of the soap vary greatly depending on what oils and fats you put into it. You also put in different things to give it appealing colors and smells. So now I have what I call the soap log. It is a journal saying how much of every ingredient we put into the batch, along with all comments and notes on how we like it or don’t like it.
For the next few months, we will be trying different formulas to find the perfect recipe(s) for our future business. Everything I have read says that this can be a profitable enterprise, but that it takes work. Oddly enough, I am really excited to do that work, to keep trying to create great products and see people enjoy them. I am already plotting out a couple of batches to make this weekend.
Now, if you have read this far, I have a proposition that could start us out on a mutually beneficial relationship. My proposition is this: let us know, either by contacting us through this website’s contact us page, a comment below, a comment on facebook, or by some other means if you would like to try a bar from one of our test batches. Also let us know if you have any allergies, just so we can be sure we don’t put something in it that could be harmful to you. In return, we would want you to give us information to put in the soap log. How did you like the soap? Too oily? Not enough lather? Any information is helpful and will be noted with the utmost care.
The hunt has begun, and we will not be satisfied until we can lather with the best of them.