To bevel or not to bevel…
Have you ever bought yourself a bar of handmade soap, and the first few times you use it, it’s a bit sharp and slightly unpleasant to use? Me too! When I started making my own soap, it was one of the things I absolutely wanted to avoid. Little did I know bevelling would come to be the bane of my existence!
That’s probably a slight exaggeration, to be honest…but in fairness I have spent four out of the last seven days locked in my studio madly bevelling 1000 bars of soap in preparation for Wagin Woolorama - my biggest market of the year (which is now less than two weeks away!). So I’m not feeling too kindly towards the process right at this moment.
What is bevelling, you ask? Basically, it’s changing a square edge to a sloping one. All I do to achieve that on a bar of soap is to run a vegetable peeler over all 12 edges. (You can see the difference in the photo - before bevelling on the left, after on the right.) Simple, yes? Absolutley…and when I was only making a few dozen bars of soap a month, it was a quick and easy job. Now that I’m making in excess of 500 bars a month, it’s become a gargantuan task!
Given how tedious and time consuming it is, not all soap makers do it. And I can see the appeal of not bothering, particularly during the summer months. I don’t use the air-conditioning in my studio because we have evaporative cooling, and it makes the soap sweat, so it can get rather uncomfortable in there at times!
However, I started making my own soap because I wanted something that was pleasant to use in the shower. I worked hard to find a combination of oils and butters that felt good on the skin. I experimented with fragrances, and colours, and techniques, all with the aim of making not just good soap, but great soap. What’s the point in going to all that effort, to then leave a sharp edge on the soap that makes it unpleasant to use, and takes two or three showers to wear away? I just can’t bring myself to do it!
So, bevelling is here to stay. I owe it to the soap, and to you, to make the effort. And honestly, it’s not all that bad really…I plant myself at my workbench, get my podcast going (I’m currently listening to “The Lady Vanishes”…highly recommended!), and before long, it’s done!
My aunt had a motto when I was a teenager: ”DIN”, she would say…Do It Now! That sounds like a plan…for more than just beveling….I’ll let you know how it goes!!
Stay bubbly!
Lynda
