How to Clean Up Your Handcrafted Soap
It feels good to wash with good soap, and it feels even better to give your beautiful soap to others.
Even if you don’t want to package your hand-made soap, it should look like time was spent on the presentation.
The way you finish your soap bars could be the difference between a rough home-made looking soap and one that looks professional.
What does Professional soap look like?
- Nice even edges. Not sharp, but smooth to the touch.
- When someone is using a smooth edged soap it fits better in their hands and feels soothing.
- As the soap rolls around in the users hands, the scent should be soft and not overwhelming.
Soap is considered by many to be the ultimate luxury item. People are willing to pay a lot for something they know will make them feel pampered.
Finished look for soap
When I began soap making, the finishing techniques were not at the top of my list. My Soap Edges weren’t smooth.
I liked the rustic look and thought it looked really natural.
Over the years I’ve changed my soap style and I do enjoy a nicely finished bar of soap to both look at and use.
How do you smooth edges of soap?
After years of experimentation, I have learned many things about making soaps.
One of them is if you want your edges to be nice and smooth, you have to “finish” your bars by hand.
How do you Bevel soap edges?
Soap edgers or soap bevellers are one of the easiest ways to professionally finish your soap edges.
I had a soap edger made for me. This mechanism sliced off the point of the edges but it was removing too much soap.
After awhile, as I became busier and busier, I collected over 60 kg (over 130 pounds) of soap waste from using this technique.
I switched to a potato peelers and I’ve also tried using beveled soap edge molds. The edges were built into the mold.
Soap finishing technique
This method in the video is by far the easiest and least wasteful way to finish your soap edges.
I accidently discovered it when I went to cut my soap on an edger and because there was oatmeal in the bar it looked like a complete mess.
I tried to clean up the edge with a butter knife then quickly discovered how much less waste I created when the batch was finished.
The edges looked soft and round. The soap was comfortable in my hand and this is the method I still use.
Here’s a Helpful Video to Finish your Soap Edges
As you can see there are a few options when it comes to your soap and how you finish your soap edges. Choose what feels right to you.
What to do with Soap Scraps
There are several things you can do with the soap waste from using a soap edger.
Confetti soap making is one use for the scraps. This is when you add the soap scraps to a fresh batch of soap at the right time. You then get a confetti or chunk soap when you finish making the soap.
This is taught in the Soap Making School Complete Package Course.
Another great way to use the soap scraps is to place them in a bottle with 3 times the amount of hot water as the soap scraps. This soap that you create will be perfect for washing dishes, cleaning the floor or even the bathtub and toilet.
If you allow the soap to melt for a few days after you add the hot water, the soap will melt into the water. This melted soap is also very practical for washing clothes either by hand or in a clothes washer. Just make sure you are using a top load washer and not a front load. It tends to get too sudsy for the front loaders.
If you’re ready to take the leap and learn more about soap making, come join Soap Making School where you’ll learn how to make cold process, hot process and natural liquid soap.
Come check out my facebook page
Happy soaping
Rene
One Comment
This is great advice! I’ll be sure to try this out. I was looking for a way to figure out how to lessen the waste when I finish my soap. I have soap edgers but I always felt that they were taking a little too much off.