SFIC Soap Base – changes

Just when you think things are rolling along smoothly…. LOL

We love SFIC to death around here. Their melt and pour soap bases are excellent quality, affordable, and they offer a large selection of different varieties. They’re pleasant people to deal with, and ship quickly. BUT, we really do wish they’d make up their minds on how they want to package the bases! (vbg)

When we first started offering their products, they shipped them as two-pound shrinkwrapped logs. Then they switched to one-pound shrinkwrapped blocks. The best change yet (in our opinion, anyway) was when they changed to two-pound resealable, microwaveable, reusable, recyclable plastic tubs with snap-on lids.

We found out recently that they are switching yet again, back to one-pound shrinkwrapped blocks. Apparently plastic resin has gone way up in price, so the price of the tubs has, too. They had a choice – increase their wholesale prices slightly, to cover the cost of the labor to shrinkwrap the blocks, or increase them significantly, to cover the higher price of the tubs. They chose to increase their prices as little as possible, a decision which we respect, because it means we won’t have to raise OUR prices very much, either. We will miss the plastic tubs, as they are very handy – but the shrinkwrapped blocks also mean smaller case sizes, which are easier to handle, and are also easier to ship. They take up less room in the box, and also eliminate any chance of the tubs being damaged if UPS drops a 100-lb. box on top of them. LOL

So we apologize for the inconvenience, but while they are changing over, when you order two pounds of base from us, it may come in the form of either one two-pound tub or two one-pound blocks. Once everything is changed over, we will update the website and change the pricing accordingly. We’ll post again here on the blog to let everyone know about the change – we sure don’t want anyone to order their “usual” number of tubs, only to get half as many pounds of soap base as they were expecting to!

Also, just a reminder…. in case you haven’t looked at all of the varieties lately, we now also have the Organic Oil White and Organic Oil Clear in stock. If you are looking to purchase full case quantities (50 lbs.) of cut-ups of any of their bases, please let us know. At this time, we don’t stock them, but would be happy to special order them for you. With our next order, we will be adding the regular White and Clear soap bases to our product line, in response to customer requests. Our goal for 2011 is to have some custom varieties made exclusively for us…. so we also would like to hear your suggestions for what kinds you’d like to see us offer.

Thanks, as always, for your business and support!

Tags: melt and pour, SFIC, soap base

Website issues today

You may experience difficulty in accessing pages with products and the shopping cart today. Our web host is having some technical issues, and as a result, they are moving the database that powers our shopping cart to a different server. While they are moving the database, you may not be able to access some pages, or the pages may load much more slowly than usual.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but it can’t be helped, and moving the site should make the performance much better in the long term. Thanks for your understanding!

Lots of new air freshener shapes!

I am so excited…. we got the first batch in of new air freshener shapes!   Now I’ve got to get them all photographed and up on the website.   (That’s the not-so-exciting part.  LOL)  We’ve actually had a couple of these for a few months because they were created in response to special requests, and we had to have more cut before having sufficient stock to put them in the cart.

Here are the new shapes that are not on the site yet – if you want any of these in 10-packs before they’re up on the site, just call us…. if you’re ordering a 100-pack, you can just include them in your list of what shapes you want and how many in the shopping cart.

Airplane
Baby Bottle
Baseball Cap – and the season just started!
Double Heart
Foot
Frog
Hand
Primitive Heart
Primitive Star
Square (rounded corners like our rectangle – can also be used as a diamond!)
Top Hat (think Uncle Sam, Leprechauns, Pilgrims, Prom, etc.)
Tulip

We also have dies in house for a bunch more shapes that will be released in batches of three or four every few months.  Budget restrictions prevented us from having them all cut at once, and anyway, where’s the fun in that?!?  I also didn’t think there would be a whole lot of interest in, say, acorns in April.   LOL   Here are some of the ones that are coming for summer and fall:

Acorn
Candy Corn
Cat
Dog
Fire Hydrant
Football Helmet
Hat (Ladies’ Red-Hat type!)
Horse’s Head
Ladybug
Lighthouse
Scalloped-Edge Circle
Scalloped-Edge Square
Tree #2 (more rounded and Christmas-y than our current tree, which will be renamed Tree #1)

We take your shape suggestions very seriously, and many (if not most!) of the shapes listed above were developed in response to customer requests.  Sometimes it takes a long time to make them a reality – those of you who’ve been waiting for the cat, the dog, and the horse’s head will know what I’m talking about! – but we don’t want to put out an inferior product, and I know you’ll think they were worth the wait!

Trade show

I got a last-minute invitation to attend a trade show this past week, and things fell into place so I could get away for a day.  YAY!

It was a very interesting show…. and it was really nice to be able to say hello to representatives from two of the fragrance houses we do business with and sniff some of their new offerings.  (And yes, they are sending samples for me to test!  LOL)  Would you believe one of the perfumers saw my name badge and remembered having done some custom formulating for me when we were first getting started selling supplies – 7 or 8 years ago??  I was really impressed that he not only remembered our company, but also exactly what fragrances he had created for me.

I walked the show floor for about 5 hours, at which time I’d visited all of the booths that were on my “must-see” list marked in my show program.   Much as I would have loved to browse a bit more and return to a couple of booths that looked interesting but were jammed with people when I approached them, by that point in time my bad back and bad ankle were protesting the abuse I’d been giving them, so it was time to call it a day.

I have a small rolling suitcase full of brochures, business cards, line cards, etc. to go through, and when we are ready, now have sources for a wide variety of items (many of which are warehoused locally in the Chicago area, so we can pick up orders and save on freight!).  These include, but are not limited to, botanical extracts, pigments and micas, exotic oils and butters, silicone derivatives like cyclomethicone and dimethicone, and additives like exfoliants and herbs.   Let’s just say I won’t have ANY problems at all spending our buying budget for the rest of the year….. LOL

I’m eager to hear from all of you as to what you’d like us to purchase first.  Please add comments to this post and share your “wish list” with us!  We always welcome your feedback, but especially in terms of what you want us to add to our product line.

Update on products from the Synergy

Some of you have e-mailed to ask when these items will be available.   The best way for me to address this is probably on a product-by-product basis, so here goes:

IPM (Isopropyl Myristate) – This should be on the site in the next week or two.  We just need to work out pricing and package sizes (we’ve already found a local source to restock it), and research a bit more to provide you with info on how to use it effectively.

99% Isopropyl Alcohol – This one is  not going to happen.  Not only was the container damaged in transit, but I was told that we cannot ship it by UPS in any significant quantity without hazmat charges, due to it’s flammability, so I am not going to pursue it.

Perfumer’s Base – This was also damaged beyond salvageability in transit.  UPS tells me that we can ship in containers of 32 oz. or less, with multiple containers allowed in the same box, without a hazmat charge.  Sheila did point me to the supplier for this item, so I will be contacting them to find out how much we have to purchase at a time and to get pricing.   I want to bring this in ASAP, but much as I would love to have an unlimited buying budget, we don’t.   (sigh)

Bath Bomb Molds – I was able to find a source to reorder these, so they should be up on the site in the next week or two.

Green Tea and Chamomile Extracts – Sheila shared the company name that they were purchased from, but no other specifics.  Upon looking into it, I found that this company carries many different variations of each botanical extract, in different strengths and different solubilities (oil-soluble vs. water soluble).  So it’s impossible to order the exact same one from them without the specific item number, which I haven’t been able to get from her.  I will probably put these on our clearance page and try to find a reliable local source to carry them on a regular basis.

Exfoliating Beads – Sheila says she purchased these as a closeout, and they were 1) only available in blue and 2) are no longer available.  Again, I’ll take the loss and put them on the clearance page, and do my best to find a source to carry them on a regular basis – I may have already found a source for jojoba spheres, which are an even better alternative!

Fragrance Oils – Sheila told me that they were all purchased as closeouts, and did not share vendor information for them, even though she assured me before I ordered that she would provide the info for anything that I wanted to purchase.  These will probably end up on our clearance page.

Powdered Dead Sea Mud – The vendor info was on a label on the bucket, so we should be able to reorder!   I need to contact them to get pricing and lead time, and then will get it on the website (probably 1-2 weeks).

That should be everything – sorry the news wasn’t better.  I’m especially disappointed about the fragrance oils… the time to tell me that they were all closeouts and NOT available regularly should have been BEFORE I ordered them, not after the fact.   (I asked before placing my order if vendor info would be provided so I could reorder, and was assured in writing that it would be).  I e-mailed several weeks ago to ask her who she purchased them from as closeouts, since many fragrance houses will sell even “closeout” fragrances as a special-order item at a higher price, but never heard back from her.  If I ever do, I will definitely pursue them!

New computer is here!

FINALLY…. I didn’t think we’d ever get it! Dell has a THREE MONTH backlog on computer orders right now (custom-built ones, anyway), so we ordered one from their outlet store and are adding some upgrades to it as soon as we can spare it for a day, to make it as close as possible to the one we’d wanted to have built.  Definitely do NOT order a Dell if you’re in a hurry for it – or even for spare parts, as some of those are also out of stock for who knows how long.

I went shopping over the weekend and picked up an external DVD burner and camera card reader, since those parts are not in stock.  Honestly, it’s dangerous to let me browse in MicroCenter (my favorite “geek” store in the area)…. I can find all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that I would love to have.   LOL

And would you believe, we’ve already had to call for a service technician to come out – one of the USB ports on the front is not working. (sigh)

But we’re caught up now, so if you are expecting an e-mailed invoice from us for an order placed in the past three weeks, check your e-mail inbox – they were sent out earlier this afternoon.  Halleluejah!

Thanks, everyone, for your patience and encouragement during the three weeks we were without a primary computer and were working from a borrowed laptop. We wouldn’t have made it through without it!

Computer crash

As some of you may already know from reading the note on our home page, we experienced the sudden death of our main computer recently. It’s the one that held all of our accounting software, as well as many other important things like our web design program. Luckily, we’re sticklers for doing backups, and the system had a RAID 1 array that saved everything to TWO hard drives (so there’s always a good one with all of the data!).

Parts are hard to come by for computers once their warranty runs out, so we were advised to simply get a new one. The good hard drive from the old computer is being made into an external USB drive, so we can connect it and copy all of our data files and records to the new machine. We built a system to order with Dell yesterday, and it’s supposed to be here on or before March 1st. We’ve been so spoiled during its extended warranty period, because when any problems have happened, Dell is out the next business day to take care of it and we’re back in action within a day or so. This wait already feels like an eternity!

A person really doesn’t realize how much they rely on a computer until it isn’t working, I guess. I’m posting this from a laptop, normally only used to check e-mails when I travel, but now it’s trying valiantly to function as my main computer, which is a HUGE task. I must just have big fingers, because I keep hitting the wrong keys, and I’m usually a very accurate typist. The keyboard is smaller and the keys are closer together – and the backspace and delete keys are in a different place due to the space restrictions. What was automatic before, I now have to think about! And I realllllly miss my big 24″ flat panel monitor – I’m scrolling constantly on this little bitty screen.

We appreciate your patience in bearing with us while we wait eagerly for the new computer to be delivered….. if you call, it may take me longer to look up pricing/inventory for you, and e-mails are being answered via webmail now instead of downloading them to the computer and having the filters sort them for me and weed out the junk mail. We also can’t put invoice copies in outbound packages as usual – we’ll be including a printed copy of the order, and e-mailing the actual invoice once we’re back up and running. I figure it’ll be about a 2 to 3 day project just to get all of the software re-installed (not counting the time spent to locate all of the right discs and installation instructions!), then we’ll get all of the invoices input and e-mailed.

If your computer is working properly as you read this, be sure to thank it and let it know how much you appreciate that!

Update on new products from the Synergy

Well, it looks like we’ll have a delay in getting the 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and Perfumer Base from Synergy. There was damage to the containers in shipment, and they were declared a total loss. Since Sheila doesn’t have any more, I’ll have to wait until I get sourcing info from her and order directly from her vendor.

I HAVE, however, located a LOCAL source for Cyclomethicone! It can also be used to make easy-peasy “dry oil”-type perfume misters. We’ll have to buy in drum quantity (about 500 lbs.), so I’m thinking we’ll probably be running a pre-buy on this in the not-too-distant future. (grin)

Product Packaging

As some of you may know, once before, we tried using a local sheltered workshop for the disabled to do some of our packaging. Unfortunately, they wanted us to sign a contract for a steady amount of work on a weekly basis, and we simply couldn’t do that. The flow of product coming in and going out is definitely not a steady thing here! We didn’t give up on the idea, because we know that the concept works – we just needed to find the right group for us.

We’ve now found another workshop for the developmentally disabled that is eager and willing to take whatever work we can bring to them. They just got started recently, and we’re among their first customers. One of my friends has an adult son who is autistic, and Randy will be among the people working on our products. We had them do a “trial run” recently, to see how it would work, having them package air freshener samples for us to send out in orders and send to gatherings to be included in their goodie bags – and they did a very nice job. In exchange for very reasonable pricing per-piece on packaging and labeling, many of the items they’ll be packaging will now include an extra sticker (or an extra line on the regular label) showing that the item was packaged by InFocus Adult Day Services.

This is a real win-win situation for us … we get more time to spend on expanding the business instead of packaging product, and the workers there make some pocket money. For many of them, there is a great deal of comfort in the structure and routine of working there, and pride in completing their assigned tasks to the best of their abilities. Many care and education programs for the developmentally and physically challenged are facing serious budget cuts due to the state of the economy, and workshops like this help them bring in some much-needed revenue. This move will also allow us to keep our prices the same, even though many of our vendors raised THEIR prices in the past few months.

Several of our customers have gone on to follow our example, locating workshops in their area and having them do some light duty jobs for them, like wicking and labeling candle jars, bagging and labeling wax tarts, and shrinkwrapping and labeling bars of soap. The idea was originally given to me by Casey Kellar (formerly of Rainshadow Labs), who many of you know from the Chicago-Area Soap and Candlemakers’ Conferences. For many years, Rainshadow has kept their local workshop in existence by providing them with a large volume of packaging and labeling work. I thought surely there would be some sort of national association for these workshops, or governmental umbrella that they all operated under, and had hoped to be able to provide a link to help customers find the workshop(s) in their area…. however, that does not seem to be the case. According to directors of several workshops in the Chicago area, you can check your local phone book, or contact your state or county’s social services agency to locate the workshops in your area.

So, don’t be surprised in the coming months to see more of our products sporting the label from the workshop! They’ll be doing things like weighing out and labeling bags of dry goods and filling sample jars with lip balm base at first, and eventually work up to pumping out fragrance oils and base oils into bottles and measuring and cutting 10-yard packs of elastic cording. If the label isn’t exactly straight, or your 10-yard packs of cord aren’t precisely spot-on, please bear in mind that these were packaged with pride by someone who faces many challenges every day, and that with your purchase, you’ve allowed someone to be gainfully employed who otherwise wouldn’t have a job.

Good news and bad news….

The bad news:
I found out recently that one of our fellow suppliers, Sheila Stewart from The Synergy, is closing down her supply business. Some of you may remember Sheila – she was a vendor at the Chicago-Area Soap and Candlemakers’ Conference in the past, and came all the way from Alabama to participate!

Good news part 1:
She’s closing because she is moving to Holland to live near her sister, and sounds very happy to be making the move.

Good news part 2:
She has been working on finding homes for all of her supplies, and was kind enough to e-mail to offer us some of them at closeout prices.  She’s assured me that she will share the source for any products we take off her hands, so we can offer them on a regular basis – so we’ve already placed one order, and we may order more if she still has things left after we take stock of what orders we’ll need to place the rest of the month.

Some of the things we’re purchasing from her to add to our product line include:

            Isopropyl Myristate
            Isopropyl Alcohol 99%
            Perfumer’s Base (I’m really excited about this one!)
            Exfoliating Beads
            Green Tea Extract
            Chamomile Extract
            Bath Bomb Molds (big ones – tennis ball sized!)
            A selection of some of her yummy fragrance oils
            Powdered Dead Sea Mud

We’re sad that she’s closing, but very happy to be able to provide you with some of the wonderful things she’s had in her product line.  I’m hoping to get some of the items that don’t need pictures up on the website in the next few weeks, and will test all of the FO’s before adding them to the site so I can give you first-hand knowledge of how they work in CP soap.  (Sheila says that they all work fine, but some do accelerate trace, so they need to be soaped cool and poured quickly). I already know that they are good and strong, and they are wonderful in toiletries and M&P, though – I’ve been the lucky recipient of a number of soaps and goodies made with her fragrances over the years, and have experienced several of them in products Sheila has made and demonstrated at gatherings.

Gatherings just aren’t going to be quite as much fun without Miss Sheila…….