Soap press?

[jonsie]

It looks like a product that lets you load it with soap shavings and after applying pressure you'll get a whole bar of soap. Seems like a good way to minimize waste, but wouldn't the bar just fall apart in the shower after one use?

Has anyone ever tried one of these, and if so, had any good results with it?

http://www.magnamail.com.au/Product_Detail.aspx?par=0&Cat=11&Prod=1201

[lsg]

I just save my soap scraps and rebatch in an old crockpot.

[inherowndominion]

You can just put your soap shavings directly back into a batch of unscented soap. I've done that, it looks REALLY cool too, especially if you kind of roll the shavings into tubes...

[LuminousBoutique]

i make my srcaps into laundry soap or re-use them in batches.. if I have enough of one kind, rebatch. I think thats more marketed to our customers who dont want to waste slivers of soap

[Kitn]

that is kind of cool. I use my scraps for laundry.

[MissMori]

I'm a tightwad and proud of it. I'd go so far as to claim it's genetic... I'm 1/2 Scottish. However, have you ever calculated what that tiny sliver of scrap cost to make? Are we talking a fraction of a penny?

Cost of soap press + shipping = centuries before you come out ahead.

[jonsie]

Y'all must think I'm nuts, and I don't blame you! But I'm actually tossing around an idea in my head that goes beyond saving those few slivers of soap.

And my feelings won't be hurt if you shoot it down as I'm gonna test it out anyway at home. But I really do appreciate your input on this.

Don't laugh, but I am imaging a setup at a Farmer's Market or Craft Show where a customer can build their own soap on the spot, much like picking out what they want in their smoothie or in an ice cream sundae.

Different base soaps would be available already fully cured, but have been shredded into soft flakes, and offered much like different ice cream flavors. Some examples would be coconut oil soap flakes, palm kernel oil soap flakes, maybe some basic soaps superfatted with shea, or cocoa butter, or whatever. Each fully cured and shredded.

So if a customer is opposed to using anything with palm in it, they simply choose other base oils. If they have a severe peanut allergy, then they can avoid the nut soaps.

Then there would be the additives, like finely ground oatmeal, pumice, loofa, poppy seeds, whatever.

Fragrances could be offered, as well as colors.

The customer would pick out the soaps and additives to complete a bar, choose the scent and color, and the employee would stir together, bind with a mist of witchhazel or vodka, lol (I learned about that here), and then press into a bar shape. The bar would be sold to the customer with a simple label wrapped around the bar stating any special instructions.

Although that may sound labor-intensive at the time of the market, it saves a great deal of time and materials by not having to fuss over molds, planing, packaging, imperfections, etc.

Seriously, I know I'm crazy. But I'm having a hard time shaking this idea out of my head.

Please be gentle!

[Wessex]

Totally off topic here, but I remembered what my grandmother used to do way back in the 70's. She would save her slivers, putting them in a jar with water, and when she had enough, use it in a pump dispenser as handsoap. OMG, she made her own softsoap! Could have made a fortune, LOL.

Cheers and sorry for the hijack.

Steve

[jonsie]

Totally off topic here, but I remembered what my grandmother used to do way back in the 70's. She would save her slivers, putting them in a jar with water, and when she had enough, use it in a pump dispenser as handsoap. OMG, she made her own softsoap! Could have made a fortune, LOL.

Cheers and sorry for the hijack.

Steve

Not off topic, since my original premise was to use the slivers Sounds like your grandmother was ahead of her time!

[NaturallyTru]

Well I thought it was a neat gadget. It would fit in well at the eco-shop I sell at. But then I love gadgets.

Trudi

[jonsie]

Well I thought it was a neat gadget. It would fit in well at the eco-shop I sell at. But then I love gadgets.

Trudi

I absolutely love gadgets and use any excuse to get something new. I almost bought the item I linked above but the idea of paying more for shipping than the cost of the item completely turned me off. I think I would have had to pay $8. And without hearing any feedback from y'all, I'm even more hesitant.

HOWEVER... I got to thinking and remembered my potato ricer, which I believe would do an even better job of compressing the slivers and shavings than the above item. For those unfamiliar with a potato ricer, it looks like this:

To begin, I shredded a nice, hard bar of unscented and cured CP I made from CO, Olive Oil, and Palm Oil at 33% each.

I lined the bottom of the ricer hopper with waxed paper and the barrel insert helped hold it in place. I also lined the plunger with waxed paper and secured it with a rubber band. I filled the hopper with about 4 oz of shredded soap that I had mixed with a few drops of FO and misted with vodka (vodka is easier to find in my house than witch hazel, lol). I applied as much pressure as I could and removed the soap.

It certainly looks interesting! Kind of like the way rice looks in a sushi roll. It is definitely soft. If I handed it to a customer they would probably put a few dings in it before they got it home. I washed my hands with it immediately after popping it out and it didn't fall apart. I dropped it to the floor and it didn't crumble... just put a nice bevel on one edge, hehe. I took a shower with it and it didn't fall apart in the shower. So I'm leaving it in the shower to be subjected to our typical shower use.

I'm curious to see how well the FO holds up. For the 4 oz of soap, I used about 1.1 g of FO suited for soap and the smell is fair. I'm guessing the scent might dissipate faster than FO incorporated at trace. But I'm also thinking this is a way to use problem FOs and EOs that would normally cause things like seizing or discoloration. I'll have to make a few more bars and keep testing.

So at least my first try wasn't a total disaster.

Edited January 18, 2011 by jonsie

[LuminousBoutique]

I dont think its a bad idea in theory Jonsie The ricer does look like a better tool for it though. I plan to have a soap making station when I get my B&M store, with a similar idea. Milled soap that customers can customize, make a pound batch... I think it would be fun!

[jonsie]

I dont think its a bad idea in theory Jonsie The ricer does look like a better tool for it though. I plan to have a soap making station when I get my B&M store, with a similar idea. Milled soap that customers can customize, make a pound batch... I think it would be fun!

Thank you Luminous! I appreciate that.

And what is a B&M store? I've seen pictures of your products and displays and I can only imagine you will do fabulously with whatever you pursue. Good luck!

I also thought I'd come back here and give some updates and photos.

The pressed bar of shredded soap has held up very well in the shower so I have been pleased with that. No falling apart, even now that it is only 1/2 an ounce now, and flat as a pancake. Very flexible, but not crumbling apart.

The fragrance has held up nicely and I am pleased with that too.

Other bars that I made and left out to dry still seem soft. I can press down on them with my thumb and leave an obvious indention. So that bothers me.

The shredded bar seems to get used up faster than a solid bar, but since I haven't done any kind of ROC on any of my soaps, that's a hard one to confirm right now.

Here are some pictures I took of a pressed bar made from shreds from three different bars.

Top bar is Oatmeal, Honey, and Goat's Milk (ungelled), middle bar is Oatmeal, Honey, and Goat's Milk (gelled), and bottom is a basic CO, palm oil, and OO bar at 33% each.

These are the soaps shredded with a cheese grater. Looks like coconut to me! It's about 1.3 oz of each type of soap.

Here it is pressed together, having been spritzed with a little vodka to bind it together. I must admit, it isn't all that pretty. Reminds me of the old Gainsburgers for dogs I'm imagining you could get prettier results with other colors. And I didn't add FO to this one since it had such a wonderful scent already from the oatmeal and honey.

Alright, so I just wanted to take this full circle and document my results. To summarize:

• Very easy to do
  
• Tools used are common kitchen items
  
• Allows you to create a custom soap on the spot, with no need to cure (assuming the shreds come from fully cured soap)
  
• Allows you to use FOs, EOs, additives like lavender buds that might not normally work with rough processes like CP
  
• Pressed bar of soap stays a bit soft, might be impractical as a gift
  
• Holds up well in the shower and won't crumble
  
• Appearance may not be appealing, again not likely a good gift, but I'm terrible with dressing up soap!
  

Happy soaping!

Susan

[deena]

They all look lovely Susan

[LuminousBoutique]

B&M- brick and mortar, aka a real storefront Its a dream!!

Those are cool! I like the rustic look of them. I wonder if a better tool could be developed that could press down even harder, like an adaption tool? I have a wine bottle capper I bought to use for a bath bomb press but never did.. its basically a giant can crusher, lol.. but it can compress things very tightly, which might be ideal for something like this.. would be alot of work to create the "cup" and "depresser" though, likely something you'd need a machine shop for and so= expensive!

I love the idea though, and I think people would like it at a market too. How cool to get to create their own soap bars! Good luck with it, I think you should do it! I can just see it.. maybe 10-15 different colors/kids of soap shreds! Its something kids could do too, safely, no heat or lye involved.

[LuminousBoutique]

man did what I say make any sense? but something like this.... http://www.soapequipment.com/bathbomb/ but larger, so it could handle a 4-5oz bar of soap?

[jonsie]

B&M- brick and mortar, aka a real storefront Its a dream!!

Ahhh, that makes sense! You have the creativity and the discipline to pull it off. I hope it all falls in place for you quickly and easily!

Those are cool! I like the rustic look of them. I wonder if a better tool could be developed that could press down even harder, like an adaption tool? I have a wine bottle capper I bought to use for a bath bomb press but never did.. its basically a giant can crusher, lol.. but it can compress things very tightly, which might be ideal for something like this.. would be alot of work to create the "cup" and "depresser" though, likely something you'd need a machine shop for and so= expensive!

I love the idea though, and I think people would like it at a market too. How cool to get to create their own soap bars! Good luck with it, I think you should do it! I can just see it.. maybe 10-15 different colors/kids of soap shreds! Its something kids could do too, safely, no heat or lye involved.

I definitely like how it could be a kid's craft project since there is no lye or heat involved. I could easily see this being a soap project for my daughter's Kindergarten class for Mother's Day.

Yup, the ricer won't cut it for long term use. If I were to do this more often and do set-ups for markets, something like the bath bomb press you linked would do well. Although all those attachments are nice, I can't bring myself to pay that much money, lol. I've noticed things on Amazon like this arbor press ($89):

At 34 lbs, I can't say it is portable but it should get the job done. As for making your own cup and depresser, I'd have fun playing around with that. Maybe using a combo of pvc pipe, and something like silicone caulking or even JB Weld could work. But, yeah, for long-term use it may be necessary to invest in a quality casting, even one with your logo to emboss the soap.

man did what I say make any sense? but something like this.... http://www.soapequipment.com/bathbomb/ but larger, so it could handle a 4-5oz bar of soap?

It make perfect sense to me!

Thanks for the feedback!

Susan

[ruin]

I wish I've read this earlier. I love the idea of pressing shredded soap, and have been looking for the ideal tool for a LONG time...

What I want is to combine dried herb like lavender or violet into soap without changing the color. I tried it this afternoon with a acrylic tube and I found it's difficult to press tight enough

Now I think potato ricer should be my perfect solution for now. (Arbor press looks more professional, but I don't know how to modify it to become a soap press.) Thank you so much for sharing.

[jonsie]

Ruin, you just made my day And your soap is gorgeous! Where did you get your acrylic rectangle and plunger? I assume you are making a whole loaf at a time? Or are you making one bar at a time?

I haven't done much more with this idea since I last posted in this thread, but I've spotted a juicer with a manual lever that I think would be a better option than a potato ricer. I haven't worked out how to incorporate a soap mold with it, but I do like how it is inexpensive and attractive.

http://amzn.com/B0018MU3SS

[ruin]

Susan, glad you like it. :smiley2: And believe it or not? I thought about the juicer, too.

The acrylic tube is actually a soap mold I purchased from local (Taiwan) family factory. I used it to press one bar at a time.

But I've break that bar and press it again with potato ricer. It turns out lovely so the potato ricer has become my favorite. <3

I guess I'll keep thinking the possibility of modifying the juicer or the arbor press from time to time. And now I know who to share those idea with. It's great.