Question for you "soapers"

[Whitestar]

I work for a non profit Veterinary clinic & shelter, as with any non profit, we are always short on money & looking for new ideas on how to raise funds. We participate in our Marketdays at our courthouse square once a month, all vendors are required to offer only handmade items. Frankly we do it more for the exposure to let people know about our services ( low cost spay neuter & non emergency vet care along with adoption of "pound" cats & dogs we rescue from the gas chamber). Because we have to sell handmade items to participate in the booth, one of the board members makes pet cut outs & bandanas, sales are slow so we have been talking about coming up with something new to offer. These soap conversations look like they are a load of fun, I am crafty myself & use to make candles. We could offer some of those specialized ones you have been showing off & perhaps some dog cat inserts like I have seen with horses. Can you share with me a source for materials, & about how much each bar costs to make? Do you have to be worried about any type of regulations so buyers dont come back to sue if they get a rash? Would love to hear anything you care to share, it might help save the lives of puppies & kittens! Would love to get a recipe for any pet related items that can be used to bathe or keep fleas away.

Debbie

Freeman Fritts Veterinary Clinic & Shelter

www.freemanfritts.com

 

[twister]

I work for a non profit Veterinary clinic & shelter, as with any non profit, we are always short on money & looking for new ideas on how to raise funds. We participate in our Marketdays at our courthouse square once a month, all vendors are required to offer only handmade items. Frankly we do it more for the exposure to let people know about our services ( low cost spay neuter & non emergency vet care along with adoption of "pound" cats & dogs we rescue from the gas chamber). Because we have to sell handmade items to participate in the booth, one of the board members makes pet cut outs & bandanas, sales are slow so we have been talking about coming up with something new to offer. These soap conversations look like they are a load of fun, I am crafty myself & use to make candles. We could offer some of those specialized ones you have been showing off & perhaps some dog cat inserts like I have seen with horses. Can you share with me a source for materials, & about how much each bar costs to make? Do you have to be worried about any type of regulations so buyers dont come back to sue if they get a rash? Would love to hear anything you care to share, it might help save the lives of puppies & kittens! Would love to get a recipe for any pet related items that can be used to bathe or keep fleas away.

Debbie

Freeman Fritts Veterinary Clinic & Shelter

www.freemanfritts.com

Would love to help you Debbie but I am a very new "soaper" and I bought my supplies at Michaels which is I think more expensive then Brambleberry in the US. You could go their web site to check out their prices, a couple of the other soapers on the forum have bought stuff from them, I haven't calculated how much a bar it costs me but I have spent a lot on soap, moulds, scent and colours. The moulds of course are reusable and the scents and colours last a long time. The main cost is the actual soap. I think that might be cheaper in the US than it is in Canada, Anyway I am sure some of the more experienced soapers will have more to say :bgrin Good Luck with your fundraising Yvonne

 

[Sterling]

Hi Debbie...I am pretty new to this craft as well..but I think you would enjoy it very much if you started!

: Here's what I have found out so far...and I've been doing the melt and pour.

Michael's and AC Moore carry soap supplies, but I found that Bramble Berry's is way cheaper on the soap base. A 2 lb. block will cost about $9.00 at the craft stores I just mentioned and at Bramble Berry's a 10 lb. base will cost me $25.00. The scents at Bramble Berry's are so very "real" . It's almost like having the identical item right there in your fragrance bottle. It may get a little pricey depending on what you buy and all...but once you have everything you should be set to go. It's definitely a craft to invest in if you want to get started.

I saw on a few sights when I did a search that they do have dog and cat soap recipes that is very mild and good for the skin and coat. I know I keep reiterating this site, but I just recieved my order from Bramble Berry's http://www.brambleberry.com/index.html and it's pretty much a one stop shopping store for all your soaping needs. Their prices were very reasonable, they have so much to choose from and my order was shipped to me in a blink of an eye. The gals even called me when they had a few order related questions....I was given links to track my package and they were very good about sending me my purchase order on line. They were pretty much on top of everything...I am a satisfied customer so far.

Good luck with soaping.....let us see the little critter items you end up making!

 

[Danielle_E.]

I work for a non profit Veterinary clinic & shelter, as with any non profit, we are always short on money & looking for new ideas on how to raise funds. We participate in our Marketdays at our courthouse square once a month, all vendors are required to offer only handmade items. Frankly we do it more for the exposure to let people know about our services ( low cost spay neuter & non emergency vet care along with adoption of "pound" cats & dogs we rescue from the gas chamber). Because we have to sell handmade items to participate in the booth, one of the board members makes pet cut outs & bandanas, sales are slow so we have been talking about coming up with something new to offer. These soap conversations look like they are a load of fun, I am crafty myself & use to make candles. We could offer some of those specialized ones you have been showing off & perhaps some dog cat inserts like I have seen with horses. Can you share with me a source for materials, & about how much each bar costs to make? Do you have to be worried about any type of regulations so buyers dont come back to sue if they get a rash? Would love to hear anything you care to share, it might help save the lives of puppies & kittens! Would love to get a recipe for any pet related items that can be used to bathe or keep fleas away.

Debbie

Freeman Fritts Veterinary Clinic & Shelter

www.freemanfritts.com

As already mentioned you are better to purchase the M&P (melt and pour) blocks from a soapmaking site than buying it at a craft store, first because because of the higher cost at a craft store and second because the ones at the soapmaking supply stores are in my honest opinion better as far as ingredients. Now i can't speak for M&P soaps because I make my soaps from total scratch, meaning I use various vegetable oils such as soya oil, avocado oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, etc. etc. I do NOT use any kind of nut oil such as peanut, walnut, etc, in case someone is allergic, I don't take that chance. But all the ingredients that go into a CP (cold process soap - from scratch) doesn't have ANY ingredient that should cause any kind of allegic reaction UNLESS the person has a food allergy to the oils I mentioned above. My soaps are all labelled with the ingredients as they should be. Now depending on what is used to scent the soap, that is where I could see someone perhaps get a rash. Let's say someone is allergic to Lilacs or oranges, well it goes without saying they shouldn't buy a soap made with the essential oils of this flower or fruit. You must put all ingredients on your labels. Not to put down soaps bought in stores but there is a much much more higher chance of someone having a reaction to that kind of soap because of the "chemicals" that they use in them. Also the soaps that are mass produced have the glycerine removed, most if not all, because the big companies take that glycerine and make other products with it and glycerine is a major ingredient in soaps, it's a GOOD THING and they take it out because they want to make more profit by extracting that glycerine and putting it in a second product and selling it. Okay, off my soap stool, lol. You must also, whether you make M&P or CP soap, ensure you use cosmetic grade or FDA approved colorants. Some people like to go totally natural and will use infused oils with teas to give color, or herbs, etc but you can purchase the "approved" colors from soapmaking/cosmetic comapnies that offer products to make soaps. I suggested earlier to someone in another thread to use a child's wax crayon which is another option. These ARE safe to use, they are colored wax and not toxic in any way shape or form.

I will find you a couple of ideas/recipe geared specifically for use on dogs and cats. Things that come to mind would be a spray that you can use on dogs/cats that is all natural and that repels fleas/ticks, etc. Let me dig a few things up for you. You could also make what we call "smelly jellies", google that and you will see what I mean, they are airfreshners and sell well for those wanting a fundraiser but without huge investment, a little of the product goes a long way and with Christmas coming you make some with christmas scents that you would buy fromt he soap supplying places.

 

[Danielle_E.]

Okay here is one idea. I have done a quick search on this. You could do a melt and pour soap for dogs adding the following ingredients

Emu Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil, Aloe Vera Oil

Basically the type of melt and pour soap I would use on my dog would be the opaque (white) glycerine soap base and I would add the above ingredients to the batch.

The above ingredients would help in any dog with "itching" problems but would also help dogs that have dry skin and would also help against tick/fleas. If you wanted to make one specifically for ticks/fleas I would probably add a bit of "citronella" essential oil to the mix as well. Now the $20,000 $ question is how much to put in your melt and pour base and that would also depend on the size of the batch you are making. The only concern with the above ingredients is you would not use this on a dog that is pregnant or lactating because of the tea tree oil.

 

[Kathy2m]

Check ebay for molds they have quite a few and price is right.

 

[Whitestar]

Thanks everyone it is a great start! Do you use a mold to make the brick type soaps that I see listed?

Do any of your do candles too? Have you tried the waxed dipped bears or other stuffed animals. I have seen them for sale & have wanted one, they are dipped in highly scented wax & used as air freshners. I have access to stuffed dogs & cats that I could try this one. I noticed on the site

www.wicks-wax-scents.com that they spray thier bears & not dip them. Any ideas on how to spray wax?

I thought of a couple more questions, is it possible to reuse candles, I have a ton of scented Christmas candles I burned one day for a party last year. Can I melt them down add more scent if needed & use them to make more candles or even the bears? Also for candle & soap folks, how do these hold up in the heat? Our booth is outdoors in the texas heat, under cover but still very hot at times.

Debbie