NatWest Bring it 2020 has provided £50 of match funding
Rather Lather-Natural Handmade Soap-Zero plastic
Farsley, England, United Kingdom
Aim
I make & sell handmade natural soap bars in my kitchen, I want to set up a soap workshop in my garage to increase production and sales.
A bit about me..
I’m a full time working single mum of 2 children, like many mums in my situation it’s hard work at times! But even though things are hectic, I’ve always felt it was important to give them nourishing homemade food as much as possible and very aware of the rubbish you see in the food we buy, this is sort of how my soap journey started too.
My children both have eczema and I found the products for their skin were so harsh, even the prescribed products, looking at the ingredients in them I couldn’t believe what was marketed as ‘zero’ etc actually still had harsh chemicals in, so I decided to try to make my own soap from scratch and I made my first batch of basic soap bars! This is now all my children and I use, it not only doesn’t irritate their skin but nourishes and leaves it feeling lovely and soft and their skin is so much better than it was.
Next steps!
I gave lots of soaps to friends to try, they loved them and wanted to buy some, I experimented with different flavours, shampoo bars and shaving bars selling more to friends who loved them and now I’m selling at fairs and from my website, I have regular customers and started exploring more soap types.
Plastic free!
Whilst we converted to soaps, I couldn’t believe the amount of plastic we didn’t have in the bathroom anymore and hearing much more about the impact on the environment with single use plastics in the media, it felt really good that after a bar was finished, there was no waste at all. I sourced a designer and researched packaging that would work for the soap that’s plastic free and recyclable and have now got a solution which fits the vital information on the labels, protecting the soap and can be recycled (plus it looks good too!) So my soaps are plastic free and help reduce plastic waste as well as being better for your skin and hair.
Next steps
I am looking to grow my natural soap business to a level where it becomes my full time working role.
I want to expand further and meet the growing demand for my products and also develop the product range. The curing time is 4 weeks for the soaps and I am struggling for space and an area away from family to make the soaps (you can’t make soap around children or pets!) The money raised will be invested to make a basic soap workspace area in my garage to keep separate to the cooking area. This will enable me to be more efficient as to when I can make the soaps and a place to store them all. I’ll also be using the money to cover the cost of certificates for my new soaps, I’ve several ideas for new products which include a larger vegan range, as well as shampoo bars for dogs!
This project successfully funded on 30th April 2020