handmade

When to jump from a hobby into a business

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Honed at the kitchen table

I have always had a passion for crafting and making things. Am I any good, could I take my hobbies and turn my talents and hobby into a business, well this is something I have been thinking about for a while.

I get a lot of satisfaction when I create something, I like the excitement of the design and planning stage, I like the execution and making the product, be it handmade soap, an apron, a needle felted toy or a bit of pyrography on a locally sourced piece of wood.  I like sharing my knowledge with other people and hope they get a spark of my enthusiasm to switch of from everyday stresses and physically make something instead of clicking the order now button on Amazon Prime.

I have spent many years in project management roles in retail and the NHS, and given the current retirement age I could be working for as many years into the future – but is this the life I want?

I have been reading a few books of late that are making me question what do I want to do and the question is When  To Jump. – This is a great read – I even bought a real book!

Talent into Turnover

So I know that I will not earn as much in the crafting world and in the beginning I would be making a loss but the question is can I begin to earn enough to live on and would the experience still be an enjoyable one and not turn my love of crafting into a chore will it still be a hobby and not just a business?

The boring administration

Turning a hobby into a business also requires a lot of initial administration , setting up a company, building a website (my sister led me through this torture and I drank a lot of wine – thank you), all the social media required, finding time to make products and then sell them. At one point last year I thought ‘ you are crazy’ and then I thought you would be crazy not to try.

Planning The Jump

So having had some time to reflect, I have devised a cunning plan with sisters and brothers in tow. I have set myself a goal for turning my hobbies into a full time business over the next few years so the question is not will I jump but when.

So have you turned your hobbies into a business – drop me line and let me know. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milky Tales – Goat Style

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Goats Milk Soap

The benefits of drinking goats milk are very widely publicised but have you tried it in soap? As I mentioned in my January post I wanted to experiment with some new products this year and an opportunity arose to try Goats milk soap again.

A lot of people love goats milk soaps and have had success when using it to relieve symptoms of problematic and sensitive skin.

Goats milk is a beautiful creamy shade of white – sounds like something on a paint chart!

What shall we make?

So the next part of the journey was to decide which base oils to use, everybody has favourites and preferences when it comes to the choice of hard and soft oils. Should I go Palm oil free?. Should I include extra butter to give the soap a creamy moisturizing finish? So after a lot of deliberation the base recipe would be made up of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, and Shea butter.

Which scents to choose – fragrance or essential oils?

Not a difficult choice here – I went for essential oils, the difficult part was the selection and combinations. Weeks later and I came up with my choice, my husband has never smelt so good as he had all the oils on his socks!

A few favourites, Lavender, Lime and Patchouli but also a few different touches with Vanilla, Vettiver and Fennel. I also tried some different combinations of additives settling on turmeric for it healing properties and activated charcoal for its cleansing power.

Into the Workshop

So once I had settled on my new recipes I sent these off to be checked by a chartered chemist and get the legal cosmetic safety assessment which is required to sell soap in the EU.

So with certificate in hand it was down to the workshop and a week later I had produced the first batch of each soap.

The soaps are now having their obligatory 6 week cure so watch this space for a picture when they wake up.

 

 

 

Shall we Gel?

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Shall we gel?

This is a question that each soap maker has a choice over. So what is the gel phase when making soap you ask and why do we get so excited or exercised by it?

Each batch of soap made with the same set of ingredients will have a slight difference in the appearance depending on the gel phase

Gel Phasing

I make cold processed soap and the gel phase is the reference to the saponification process when the soap gets to a certain temperature and becomes gelatinous, this can occur up to 170 degrees ( not a good idea to put your fingers in the soap at this stage to see if it really is hot!).

Gelling is a common occurrence when making soap. If I have gelled my soap then in the first few weeks of pouring the batch it will become quite hard as it evaporates the water. If I did not gel the soap it will take a little longer to harden and will also develop a slight translucent appearance.

In this age of appearance it is down to personal choice as to gel or not as it does not have any effect on the quality of the fully cured bar of soap.

How Do I Gel?

So if I want to gel my soap I insulate it soon after pouring, this entails placing it in a cardboard box and then covering it in some old towels and left in a warm draught free area for 24hrs. Now what do you class as a warm room I hear you ask? This is personal to you and the environment you live in – however too hot and the soap can ‘volcano’ or tunnel or just explode ( only happened once with some Honey & Oat soap) so watch your temperatures.

If I don’t want to gel my soap then I soap at colder temperature and then place the soap in the freezer or cold area immediately after pouring, I also leave it uncovered except for a top cover to prevent soda ash ( story for another day).

When to gel?

Up to a few months ago I have always preferred to gel with 2 exceptions.

If I am making Honey & Oat soap I do not gel – the sugars in the honey already add heat and I like the paler colour when it is not gelled.

I have also just started to make goats milk soap: gel phase and milk soap are not friends. Any type of milk soaps are best soaped cold (very cold), or else you run the risk of scorching the milk proteins and sugars. From  first hand experience this  results in a brownish soap that doesn’t smell great!

Also from personal experience I can confirm that it can result in a huge soapy fudge like mess as milk soaps are already prone to getting too hot. I was still able to use the goats milk soap it was just a darker colour thank I had aimed for.

So the question to gel or not is a bit like the marmite question – do you love it or hate it?

To gel or not to gel – that is the question.