SoapMaker–The best soap making software around.

In 2007 I started making soap and I soon realised that it was a real pain working out the lye content and oil percentages every time I wanted a new recipe. I am pretty sure you all know what I am talking about.
If you are not a lover of Math's then this may lead you to break out into a cold sweat. I do like Math's but I like to save time more. So I did a little internet research and came across an AMAZING tool – SoapMaker.  My business was just starting out AND the programme was in dollars!! The cold sweat was back. What to do? I emailed the contact address and asked if there was a payment plan option not really expecting a reply. Boy was I surpried when an email came back with a link to download – FREE. Please note the options available now are a lite version for $49.00 or Pro version at $99.00.Ever since then I have done everything in my power to download every beta test they have and test the heck out of it.
I recently realised that I communicate with this faceless person (Crawford Woodman) and it would be nice to know more about the man behind SoapMaker. You can see the basic information on his about page.
I have decided to write this post of my own accord and have no affiliation with SoapMaker, other than using it to run my soap business.
SoapMaker was created By Crawford Woodman as an aid for his wife, Diane’s, soap making business. She was very involved in the initial programme creation and always had the best soap with many repeat clients.
Where about in the States are you? State is good enough. (boy am I on the wrong foot already I know you Americans and Canadians love getting mixed up!! – OOPS):
We live in Canada, in Perth, Ontario. It's a small town with a heritage flavour - lots of lovely stone buildings built after the Rideau Canal was finished in the early 1800's.
If you don't know where it is, like me, Google it. Wow is it pretty.
Do you have any children?
We have 3 - two daughters and a son. All are grown up and married. We have 4 grandchildren.
I see that Jason Bowles was/ is your programmer for SM. Does he still work on SM? If so is it a full time undertaking?
Jason was only involved in the early days. I wrote version 3 myself.
Version 3 is the latest update and it is AWESOME
Do you have any programming background? What was/ is your profession before SM took over your life?
I worked for Nortel for 30 years, first as a programmer and then as a manager.
I also had to Google Nortel. Nortel was a multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer founded in Montreal, Quebec in .
Do you employ other people to work on SM?
Nope - just me.
If you started SM from scratch what would you change or do differently? If anything?
I would use a platform that could easily be ported to different operating systems like Macs and Android. But I'm stuck with Windows. There are over 100,000 lines of code and it would take a complete re-write to do that now.
Is there a vision for SM? I.e. is there some sort of plan or does it just grow depending on what users ask for and what is feasible?
I'm 73 and don't really have the energy for major adventures anymore. But I enjoy hearing from users and trying to make the program as useful as possible. Our son is studying computer programming - maybe he'll want to undertake some major changes.
How do you decide what feature makes it into an update? I.e. Do you have to have a minimum no of people ask for it?
I don't really have a set algorithm. I guess it's a combination of how many people ask for a feature and how feasible it is to build it within the overall structure of the user interface and the database. And often if I notice something that seems a bit awkward while I'm testing, I'll decide to change it.
Does your wife have any input about new features and how useful they will be?
Diane used to. In fact SoapMaker was originally created for her soap-making business.  But she retired from soap-making a few years ago so now she hasn't kept up with the program. But she's supportive - doesn't complain when I spend hundreds of hours on a new update.
Do you know how many users you have? You can see a list of some of them here
I have almost 8000 registered SM3 users, and one of my resellers sells CDs which do not always get registered so there could be more. I don't know how many are still active -it seems people get into the business for a few years but then drop out later. There are also still people with the old version 2 SoapMaker - I still get the occasional upgrade purchase.
For all you die hard SoapMaker users there is a Facebook group that is a great help if you are stuck. My advice, though, is to use the programme as much as possible to get the most benefit from it . This programme will save you so much time – I could not survive without it.
Thanks Crawford, you and SM rock.

Feedspot Top 100–we made it.

I was recently contacted by Anuj Agarwal to say that we had been included in the Feedspot Top 100 Soapmaking blogs.

“My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Riverlea Soap has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Soap Making Blogs  on the web.

http://blog.feedspot.com/soap_making_blog/

I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of  Top 100 Soap Making Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!”

I have to admit that I had not heard of Feedspot so I had to Google it…

Feedspot is a News and Blog Reader used by over one million users Globally.Its a place where users can read all their favorite website in one place. We are Based in U.S.

We have considered following factors to rank the blog.

· Search Engine ranking

· Social media influence

· Social media buzz

· Alexa Ranking

· Post frequency

· Quality score by our editorial team

 

Thanks guys what an honour.

Custom Soap For Style Engine

A client of mine, Kim Clark, approached me and asked if I could make her some customer soaps. Kim is brimming with ideas and is so creative. She came up with the colours and fragrances and I did the rest.

#Riverlea Soap

Making of The “Rose Cutter” Tutorial By Rose D Ericson part 2

This is part 2 of making the Rose Cutter by Rose D Ericson.
You can see part 1 here
Measure across the end (front of the photograph). This is 6cm (½ inch) material. This is the hinge plate. The end of the cutter takes all the pressure of cutting so you have to re-enforce it.


We are ready to add the hardware. My goal in making this cutter was to use anything I could find from the hardware store.

Let's add the wire (there will be another post on how to work with the wire as it is quite an art)
Now we will build the base, measure across both ways. You want the size of the cutter without the handles. This one is 14x16, yours may be different if your bar size differs to mine. Cut a 19mm (¾ inch) piece of plywood this size for the base

Now attach the hinge to the back. It should look like this (below)


Next you need a piece of 12mm (½ inch) stock that is 10.2cm ( 4 inches) wide. Remember we drilled the holes for the eye bolts at ½ inch, here is where this is important, this piece should be 25mm (1 inch) shorter than the inside of the cutter. Here is where you will build your soap pad, where the soap rests. Now remember how thick you are cutting your soap subtract 6mm (¼ of an inch.) You will need to cut, or purchase strips of wood this size. Example if my soap is 1 inch then I need ¾ inch strips, if my soap is 2cm then I would need strips 1.4cm ( I think) cut your strips to 11.5cm ( 4 ½ inches.) You will need 13 of them. Using a spacer ¼ inch thickness create the pad. It should look like this.

Now attach the strips to the pad. Try to make them flush and even on one side. For times sake I used a pinner (nail gun) but the first one I did for Riverlea I screwed down I did one like that so you could see. Use a 6cm (¼ inch) spacer to make them accurate .
Now take 12 cm (½ inch) stock that is 6.5cm (2 ½ inches) wide and make this the same length as your soap pad. Draw a ½ inch line across the bottom. Line up the wood to the back of the pad where you made it flush. Now Mark with a pencil, where the strings will go. It should look like this. (Below)

Straighten up your lines and drill a 6mm (¼ inch) hole at the ½ inch Mark where the lines meet.

I used a scroll saw (jig saw) to remove the wood I just followed the line till I got to the hole I had drilled. You could use a coping saw, a band saw, a dovetail saw, as long as you were careful it will work. Take your time, be accurate.

Now attach to the soap pad. Close the cutter and centre the pad so it is square. Open the cutter and use a tape measure/ set square to ensure you are square. Clamp the upright to the base. Now run a long screw into each corner.
There you have it a completed cutter. If this soap pad/ base looks too hard there are a couple of alternatives that you could try... see below
Make the pad and the back at the same time. This is what I did for my first one for Riverlea.

Or if you want to go even easier instead of a back just use L brackets, (also known as corner brackets or shelf brackets - below)


Here is what it looks like with brackets. The silly part is it works great. I made some soap and did a test, this method works just as good as the wood one I made. Its sole purpose is to keep the soap from sliding while you cut and it works really well and is easy.
 
Perfectly cut, even bars. I LOVE this cutter. Thanks Rose for a very concise tutorial.

As promised here is the information on how to tie the strings 

#Riverlea Soap

Making of The “Rose Cutter” Tutorial By Rose D Ericson

This is a tutorial that Rose Ericson has very kindly put together to show you how she made the Rose Cutter which she very kindly gave me to test cutting my soap. You can see it in action here. I have split this into two episodes as it was quite long. Sorry to make you wait until next week for the next episode.

List of Materials

1 piano hinge

24 3/16 eye bolts

.20 wire for cutter (this is easy to find, will expound on this in tutorial)

24 3/16 washers

12 wing nuts

12 hex nuts

4 meters ( 14 ft ) of 19mm x 38mm (1x2) ( must be hardwood )

1/16 drill bit

13/64 drill bit

Counter sink

This soap cutter is the result of an unlikely collaboration between a soap maker in South Africa and a wood worker in the United States. Together we were able to create a cutter that works quite well.

As you can see this cutter is a square within a square. Very easy, let's get started. First we will cut the pieces for the inner square you will need 2 short ones and 2 long ones.

The short ones are 23cm (9 inches) Cut 2 of these.

The long ones are a little tricky. Everyone cuts soap at a different thickness. We will map out the cutting wire pattern and find the length.

Tape 2 pieces of copy paper together length wise. Draw a straight line across the bottom. Now make a mark on the far left side. This will be the end of the board. Now, measure 5 cm (2 inches), make a mark, this is your first cutting wire. If you cut your soap 2 cm continue to measure every 2 cm, until you get 12 marks. If your soap is 2.5 cm continue to mark every 2.5 cm till you get 12 marks.(you get the idea) Then at the end measure out another 5cm (2 inches) it should look like this (below). Measure from the first to the last mark this is the length of your long piece. Cut 3 of these. (Yes 3 of them ) This is also your wire map, (DO NOT THROW THIS PAPER OUT YOU WILL NEED IT) !!!

Now let's dry fit what we have together. It should look like this

Next we will take the wire map we have created and transfer the wire positions to the wood. Draw a 12.6mm (1/2 inch) line length wise down the both long pieces. Transfer the dots (from the wire map ) so that both long pieces are identical. It should look like this.

Mark the dots with an awl or a nail to get ready to drill the holes and pre- drill where we will put the screws. It should look like this, remember to put the pencil lines to the inside. This will ensure the greatest accuracy especially if you are drilling by hand.

Now measure the inside of the cutter and cut 2 more pieces. These are the braces. Take your drill, pre-drill the sides, counter sink and screw them into place.

Add your screws and we are ready for the next step. Now we will make the second box. Cut 2, one half inch thick pieces of hardwood to 46 cm( 18 inches) Now mark a line at 11.5 cm (4 1/2 inches) on both pieces. You will also need to cut 4 pieces at 10cm (4 inches.) These will become the handles. Here is what it should look like. Before you attach the sides make sure to glue the handle up first. It should look like this.

You can be simple and just cut a 90 degree straight cut or you can……Cut a 45 degree angle on it. Both ways are perfectly fine you pick.

Glue the ends up and let them dry a little before you attach them. So take a break. Time for tea!

 

 

When the ends are ready go ahead and attach them to the sides of the cutter. Line up the sides with the line you drew at 11.5 cm (4 ½ inches.) This will leave you enough room to tune the strings.

Remember at the beginning of the tutorial when I told you to cut 3 pieces of wood the same length as the wire map. Here is where you will use it. Attach it to the end it will fit perfectly.

Until next week. Start cutting our wood in the mean time.

#Riverlea Soap

African Bee Products

I have a client who has just started her business – African bee Trading. I am proud to be part of her little venture and happy to make her products for her. She has an amazing eye for detail and quality. She also has amazing energy.

Well done Lisa.

See her website here with all the lovely goodies on it.

 

Riverlea Soap

 

Can you make soap without Lye?

Technorati Tags: Riverlea Soap,handmade soap,Lye

Seems like a simple question, but a lot of people ask it. The simple answer is no. Without lye, there is no soap. Soap, by definition, is the result of a chemical reaction between fatty acids from animal or vegetable oils and lye (Sodium Hydroxide and water) called saponification. Glycerine is a by-product of this reaction. Thus, most handmade soap is about 75% soap and 25% glycerine. There is no lye remaining in a properly made soap.

So why do you see products that act like soap without any lye in them? These are detergents. They are made with surfactants which lower the surface tension of water, essentially making it ‘wetter’ so that it is less likely to stick to itself and more likely to interact with oil and grease. Most shower gels, and even so-called “soaps” you buy at the store are made with surfactants that dry out your skin.
If you are looking to make soap without lye as a fun project, you might consider using a melt-and-pour soap base from your local craft supply store. They are usually a combination of soap and surfactants.


Riverlea Soap

Planning for 2011

I have never been much of a planner in that I never actually sat down and made a written plan for anything. I just had an idea in my mind and I went about getting things done, but there are a number of problems with this way of working:
You can easily forget what you had in mind.
You can change the goal posts as you go from day to day.
You never get anything done.

As Riverlea Soap grows and takes more of my time I realise I cannot carry on aimlessly getting things done at my own pace. I need a PLAN. So for the first time ever Linda and I drew up a plan for 2011. I do have to say a big THANK YOU to Anne Marie for all her entries here, here, here, here, and here that helped make this so much easier for us.
It is amazing the weight off my shoulders knowing that the year at a glance is laid out with the monthly ideas in place and now I can go about doing a weekly plan so that every night when I go to bed I know what I will be doing tomorrow. YAY.

How much does your data mean to you?????

Sorry for my long absence. I recently had an awful experience - my hard drive crashed and I lost all my data. EVERYTHING! I lost my data, my mind, more data, my sense of humour, even more data and then the plot. (My husband is not lost.) And through all this I have not had one drink - no I am not an alcoholic but I wish I was. It might not have been such a bad experience. Maybe I would have found my data in triplicate. All is not well in the land of my hard drive as they attempt to find the data firstly, then rebuild the drive and finally recover the data. It seems that they are unable to find spares. Who would have thought?!!!!! How many defunct machines are there in the world sitting in a dump?? I would have thought far too many but they do not seem to be able to find spares for me. Sock heaven and hard drive spare heaven are in the same place! If you know where that is please let me know. Thanks.