Part 2 of the Soap Shop Tour…this would not be possible without my dear husband. Last summer he worked hard to get the new work area prepared. He shored up the old garage (the roof and walls sagged like they were smiling), insulated, wired, drywalled, sanded and painted, and then he made tables (all are filled with storage shelves), and the list goes on. I utilize each space in the room, and honestly, I need to move up the walls…space has filled up fast.
The mold and cut table. I line the wooden molds with freezer paper and the batches of molded soap rest on the table for 24 hours. Then I remove the soap log from the mold and cut the soap into bars at this cutter. My husband designed the cut equipment, making the cutter from a piece of stainless steel that he polished. He insisted on making it, not buying it. He did well.
More supply shelves…over the make table…and the much loved microwave!
The make table. I always line with fresh newspaper before I begin working. I keep a large 45 gallon collection bin in the shop. I also cover the base oil area floor with newspaper (a concrete floor is messy). As soon as I finish working, I roll up the newspaper from the work areas and toss in the bin…presto, clean up is done!!
I use stainless steel pots for the oils, and as many stainless steel and restaurant quality utensils as I can. It helps get the job done that much more efficiently.
The weigh area. Each ingredient in a recipe is weighed precisely as it is manufactured. And each piece of mail is weighed here as well.
Buckets and bottles of base oils…used for lotions and soaps.
This is the oil heating area (when not using the microwave). I have a back up camp stove on top as well. To the right is lye/milk cooling for the soap I was preparing to make during the photo session. I keep the lye/milk in an area where splashes do not cause damage (and believe me, I splash). Notice, I keep the lye mixture sitting low enough so that if it were to splash on me, or if it were knocked over (I hope not), minimal injury or damage would occur.
This is my lotion storage area. I do not hold a large stock of lotion products because I prefer to ship them out fresh, or nearly fresh, with a “best used” date of one year from the manufacture date.
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 