My Soap Making Time is Up

A reflection on giving up and moving on, part 1

Aug 22, 2025

In case you aren’t subscribed to my newsletter, or you didn’t read the soap making update, I’ve given up promoting anything regarding making soap for now.

However, this isn’t the end!

I still plan on making soap for family and friends, as well as anyone who reaches out and asks. Yes, if you want a batch of soap, just ask and I’ll make it - I’ll create a special listing for you!

But as it stands, I’ve found that I can’t really keep up with how insanely saturated soap making is. I remember back in the early 2000s (when I first picked up the hobby), there was literally NOTHING out there except a handful of websites and vague directions on best practices. I used an old, early 1900s chemistry book to create my first batch, and that’s no joke. A special holler to Miller Soap, the website that taught me so much. FYI, that site has not been updated in a hot minute, and your browser antivirus may block it.

Ultimately, I won’t be making any more soap making videos, or joining any competitions. I’m going to list the soaps that I have on my site as a random pick, and what doesn’t sell, I’ll use or donate.

CLICK HERE to visit the random single soap page. And don’t forget to use the code in the banner below to get free US shipping over $15.

I got an interesting lesson in perceived value during my craft fair back in March. I was selling my soaps anywhere from 2 to 6 bucks a bar, with discounts on multiple bars. Another vendor behind me was selling salt scrub. There was nothing ground breaking about the scrub, just salt and oil, with a few drops of essential oils in a blue jar that probably cost about $2 per unit to make, with the bulk of that cost being the jar itself.

Well, he was selling them for $50 per jar. When he was making sale after sale of these salt scrubs, my table languished with people taking a brief look, smiling, then walking away. I also heard a few passing comments like, “my sister makes soap,” or “I make soap myself,” or “I already have a bunch of soap.” These comments feed into my oversaturation comment above, but also, the salt guy was telling me I needed to charge more per bar to show the value of them.

No.

While I love my soap, and I think it’s better than any of the store bought crap out there, I’m not going to overcharge for it just because of “perceived” value. This is how we end up in financial bubbles, and why capitalism is so demonized. Don’t get me wrong, capitalism is the best way by far, but there are bad players in every system.

Besides, my prices are around industry standards for handmade soap, and now we’re full circle - oversaturation. I don’t want to go on and on about this, since I plan on creating a whole post about when to know it’s time to move on. Just know that in this hobby, I am.