When I tell someone I spent a few hours masterbatching over the weekend, the usual response is “What?” and a funny look. Masterbatching is not a dirty word. It’s messy and takes a few hours. It requires heavy lifting, containers and an electronic scale.
Running a business means I’m constantly looking for ways to be more efficient. For me, the hardest part of soap making is weighing out the oils and butters. I need to drag my oil cart over to my stainless steel table, open all the boxes and buckets, and weigh out the proper amount of oils and butters needed to make a batch of soap. Weighing oils and butters is time consuming and incredibly messy. Clean up takes Forever! Weighing out 25-30 batches at the same time means I’m only doing the cart-dragging, bucket-opening and cleaning up once instead of 25-30 times.
All the containers I masterbatch my recipe in are the same. They look the same and more importantly, they weigh the same. I know what each step of the process should weigh and can immediately tell if I forgot to add an oil. Each batch is labeled and dated.
There is a feeling of satisfaction I can only compare to freezer cooking. You know when you spend the day making chili, ziti, stew, and a few other recipes for your freezer? You open the freezer door, stand back and admire your work, knowing all you need to do is pull out a dinner in the morning and pop it into the over when you get home from work. For a soap maker, looking at 30 batches of soap in containers feels pretty much the same.
In fact, I loved the feeling so much I started masterbatching my scent blends. No more mixing blends for each batch of soap, I just pour from my own bottles.
This week I’m grateful for my stocked soap pantry. It makes my life easier when I can open a container and start soaping.
What are you grateful for this week?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela