Can some one tell me how to make soap and bath salts?

Question

I was thinking about selling them on the side if they weren't expensive to make? Is it worth the time and effort? I am clueless so any info would help. Thanks.

Answer 1

When it comes to bath salts these are basically the ingredients: sea salt, epsom salt, and some fragrances/essential oils. Some additional ingredients include dye/color and dendritic salt.

Always bear caution when handling essential oils. The dendritic salts will make the scent of your bath salts last longer.

http://www.sfbsc.com/bath_salt_recipes

Answer 2

The best way to learn about making soaps and bath salts is to search the web and read a lot of instructions and recipes.  Then start out by trying some and using them yourself.  

Melt and Pour soaps are super easy and quick.  You can add embeds to them, layer them with different colors, add different scents, etc.  They will set up in 2 or 3 hours and can be sold immediately.  But remember, if you're doing this at craft fairs, keep them out of the direct sun!  They will melt and sometimes the color will fade!

Cold Process Soaps are more complicated and take much longer.  Most experienced soap makers let their soap cure for at least 6 weeks, to let the lye cure.  I personally let mine cure for 8 weeks, to ensure that the customer has a good quality bar of soap.  You need to really, really, read up on this kind of soap making as the lye is VERY caustic and can cause chemical burns, damage your eyes, etc. if you come in contact with it.

Bath salts are very simple to make and you can be creative with them since you can use different kinds of salt, different kinds of herbs for additives, and create very cute packaging for a very cheap price.  Most bath salts have a base of epson salts and you just go from there.

Another thing you could add to your line is bath bombs.  They're simple to make also and most of the ingredients are common in any household.  The base for these is baking soda.

I personally sell a mixture of the above items, sometimes adding a votive candle to the mixture.  Lots of times I will package a soap, a bath bomb, and a candle together.  To make them really eye catching, maybe bundle them in some tulle with a bow.  Your packaging is half the battle, if it LOOKS pretty, they'll buy it.

None of the supplies for these items is very expensive.  The main cost here will be your oil for your cold process soap if you use olive oil.  And generally when buying melt and pour (glycerine) soap base, you get it cheaper the bigger quantity you buy.  And some of your scents can get a little pricey if you use essential oils.  My advice is to make small batches at first so you can experiement and find what you like best.  Don't run out and buy a lot of stuff for these projects, take it slow to find your niche in this market.

I sell a lot of the cold process soap because your profit margin is bigger here.  Most recipes make a large batch, so you get more bars at a time, I generally make about 35 to 40 bars per batch, with a profit of approximately $2.25 per bar.

Good Luck!!

Answer 3

Cold Process - natural soaps are not extremely expensive to make, they do take time and precautions must be taken when using lye. It take 4 weeks cure time before you can sell them, Melt and Pour soaps are less expensive to make, but are a harder sell in some areas,  I've noticed that those selling hand made (CP) sell better than the M&P although you can get quite creative with the MP soaps and once they harden in a couple hours they are usable, sellable. As for bath salts, they are really simple to make, and would make a great addition to your soaps. I've not seen any one selling bath salts in my area, so can't give any idea as to  how well they sell.

I have success selling CP's  and hand made lotions at local craft fairs.