I did not think I would make Christmas soaps this year. I had not signed up for any craft fairs and that is usually what pushes me to do them. Then I got invited to participate in a small post thanksgiving show. It would be at the host’s home, so I accepted as it seemed it would be low key and small. Though there was nothing low key about the house, it was very-very nice.
I made more of these gingerbread houses soaps for that show. Earlier in the fall, a potential buyer had reached out through Etsy, to ask if I had any stamps to go along with the scrapers. I said I didn’t, but that I could work on some, so here we are.
They came really handy, as instead of making the wreaths out of soap dough, I could just stamp them; which was a time saver.
Here is a link to the video of the making, in shorts version:
Here is a link to the listing:
I had redesigned the scrapers anyway, because they did not work well on someone’s soap mold. And she wanted to have the adjuster levels go lower. Did she tell me this? Did she reach out to give me feedback or ask if a modification was possible? No. She just left a review with that and other comments. If I remember correctly she left 3 stars, which in a 5 star system is neutral, not bad. It could negatively impact sales of that listing though.
Well, I reached out because I do not want anyone to have a bad experience with something I designed and 3d printed myself. I just needed to know her mold height, to redo it, or to know if she wanted to return it for a refund. Did she reply? No. So I messaged again, no reply.
I had to email her directly, something Etsy discourages (they prefer that conversations stay in the platform). She did reply to my first email, but did not give me the height of her mold. After a while, I took a guess, did some changes and sent her a new set. By then I felt it was time to reply to her review in Etsy, which I knew would prevent her from changing it in the future, but I had no hopes she would do that. At that point, as I have learned from Starla Moore, the goal is to let other buyers know that I have tried my best to right a wrong and give her good customer service.
And since I make soap, allow me to get on a soap box for a minute. Why is it that when we have a bad experience with a product, we leave a bad review first, instead of trying to work it out with the seller? or before giving them a chance to correct the issue?
I have noticed we do this with people who provide services too, we stop calling them to come (if a lawn person, for example) or find another hair dresser, or provider of that service. Is it that we rather not have the direct confrontation? Or why?
I am not saying people should not be free to share their experience with a product or service, but then, why only share the negative ones? Statistically, we mostly leave reviews when the experience is negative, and if it was positive, we keep it to ourselves. So, when I am tempted to leave a bad review, I need to remind myself of this, to reach out first and to also leave a positive review elsewhere to keep it balanced. May I encourage you to do the same?
Happy Christmas!!
Soap Recipe
Water + Lye
9.60 oz Water
6.40 oz 99.20% Purity NaOH
Oils
11.04 oz Coconut Oil, 76 deg
3.22 oz Ricinus Oil (Castor Oil)
5.06 oz Karite Butter (Shea)
12.42 oz Tallow, Beef
9.09 oz Rice Bran Oil
5.18 oz Olive Oil – All Grades
Mold:
The most similar mold I have found to what I have: Tall and Skinny From Nurture
Fragrance:
- Pumpkin pie spice from Lone Star candle for the door and house.
- For door: 0.40 oz, which I added to 8 oz of soap batter.
- For house: 1.90 oz which I added to 38 oz of soap batter
- For roof: Spice fragrance formulator from WSP, but I would suggest a non discoloring spice or sweet scent. I used 0.80 oz for 16 oz of soap batter
- Vanilla Stabilizer at 1:1 ratio if your fragrance discolors
Colorants
- for 8 oz of soap: 1/2 tsp WSP Chocolate Brown Mica or black pearl mica.
- for 38 oz of soap: 2 tsp carrot powder + 1 tsp cocoa powder + 1 tsp walnut powder
- for 16 oz of soap: 1 tsp Winter white
Equipment
Safety Equipment:
Respirator (I use this when mixing the lye, I mix the lye in the window sill, window opened, with a pedestal fan blowing the fumes away, better yet, freeze your distilled water prior) I also try to wear long sleeves, pants and closed shoes. In my personal experience, most of my near misses (when I feel my skin itching or a slight burning sensation), or when I come contact with the soap batter, have happened when I am wiping down the containers, when I am almost done.
Facial Shield (I use either a facial shield or the goggles below)
Soaps by Glenda 