Recovering from a Soaping Slump

Recovering from a soaping slump

by Sue Kurowski 

I never thought it could happen to me.  In my five plus years as a member of soaping boards, the occasional message about a soaping slump, a dearth of ideas, a lack of desire to soap (!) just seemed a terrible aberration.  After all, we’re Soapnuts, aren’t we?  We talk about our obsessions and fascinations and our maxxed credit cards. Where is the love? 

It did happen to me…and it could still happen to you.  When it does, I have some tips and tricks that finally helped me through.  

First, try to walk yourself through the “why” of not wishing to soap.  Are you merely short an ingredient that you always use?  Or is it possible you are overwhelmed by the “need to make” list, which takes the luster from the “want to make” list?  Are you invigorated by a large order with special demands, or does it make you sit in the corner and bite your nails until the last possible soapy moment?

In my case, it was a classic battle between the need-to-makes and the want-to-makes.  Bottles, bins, and buckets are lined up and ready for action.  Colorants and fragrances are fully stocked.  Molds are all clean and in their appointed places – and I have a list of 12 restocks that really must be made within the next 10 days.  But over there, in the corner of the workbench, is a brand new bottle of fragrance oil, and a mesmerizing little packet of mica…and don’t you know the molds are lined/plugged/cleaned and ready to go?  And there’s this tantalizing potential blend, done in a double swirl, simply dancing and waving its arms in the corner of my mind….  What to do?

This is what worked for me, and it might give you some ideas, too.

1. Decide to eliminate two (or more!) of the restocks from the lineup.  If you’re tired of making it, chances are it isn’t one of your better sellers.  Most of us are invigorated by demand and encouragement.

2. Reverse the order of the restocks.  Again, chances are those at the top of the list are those that you’ve done the most (or have put off the most).  Start at the   bottom of the list, and make the less needed soaps first.  If you’re like me, you keep putting off the same ones, and it’s been a while since your customers have seen them.

3. Make smaller batches of the restocks.  Sometimes the prospect of “all those bars to trim & label” is the real culprit for foot dragging.

4. Consider some rearrangement of your supplies.  Sometimes, just handling the ingredients triggers the desire to put them to use.  Consolidate oils into smaller containers, make sure all the zip locks are closed on your herbs, put your fragrance bottles in an order that makes sense to you.  Take your favorite recipe to a different lye calculator, and see if there’s any difference between what you’ve always done, and what this new calculator suggests.  While you are at it, tweak just one ingredient, just to see what happens.

5. Give yourself permission to play.  If you simply can’t get that old spark back until you make the tantalizer, then DO IT!  Creating something new can stimulate the urge to just keep going.  Or, make something decadent, just for yourself – make yourself a special treat.

Sometimes, playing with the ingredients is all it takes for me to get going – I find myself wondering what would happen if I made one change, and it gets me started again.  Some of the very simple changes I’ve made that have triggered a new approach include:

• Divide a batch into two or three parts.  Scent and color each part differently, and then swirl together in a flat mold.
  

• Scoop out a small portion of one batch and add an exotic ingredient to just that portion, and add back to the batch in the form of marbling or swirling. (Example:  moor mud, dead sea mud, black soap, liquid silk, rhassoul clay or clay chunks.)
  

• Try to achieve a tortured top on a batch.  Go for textural interest in the form of lumps, bumps, and peaks.  If you have a batch that accelerates, keep the top of the mold ragged, and cut into chunks with a rocky appearance rather than perfect bars.
  

• Ask a friend or mature child to join you with your fragrances and let them create a new blend.  I was astounded by a friend who wanted to just play in the fragrances…using just a few drops at a time, she came up with a blend that was very exotic and sensual, using primarily tomato leaf, lavender breeze and tart berry FOs with just a touch of musk.  I never would have thought to put them together, but her freedom from preconceived notions was very liberating for me.

I firmly believe that the joy we take in our products, the pleasure and love we put into the creation, shows in the end result.  If soaping has become a forced march, take a sabbatical.  You won’t sell any less – the lack of desire shows in the soap somehow, and makes it less appealing.