FAQ

FAQs

We hope you find the below useful, but as always, if we haven’t answered your question please don’t hesitate to get in touch, either by phone or WhatsApp on 07359454161 or by email: info@thesoapshop.net – we will be more than happy to help!

I am a party planner, can I sell your products?

The simple answer is yes, as we offer our products at wholesale prices they are perfect for you to purchase to sell at soap parties, or along side other goods you may sell in this way.

Are your products suitable for babies or children?

Our products are not suitable for babies, and are only suitable for children over the age of 3 years old.

We do offer a Baby range; including Boo Boo Balm, Deep Sleep Baby Bath and Massage Oil and Organic Baby Soap which are safe for use on babies and we hold special, specific certifications to manufacture these products using Essential Oils, especially for babies.

Do you make your products yourselves?

Yes, we make all our products by hand, in our Bedfordshire workshop.

Are your products really Hand Made? Do you use any machinery?

All our products are genuinely made by hand.

However, we have recently employed Brian the bottling machine and Gertrude the hand-whisk to enable faster production of bottled products. Although our mixing, measuring and pouring is still completed by hand.

Are your products tested on animals?

We are strictly against animal testing and we do not use any animal derived ingredients. All of our products are approved by Cruelty Free International and The Vegetarian Society.

“The Soap Shop Ltd is proud to be a cruelty free company. All of our products are certified as not tested on animals under the Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny programme, the international gold standard for products that are free from animal testing. We adhere to a fixed cut-off date policy and proactively monitor our suppliers to ensure that our products continue to adhere to the Leaping Bunny criteria. Our supplier monitoring system is also open to independent audit. For more information about the Leaping Bunny and Cruelty Free International, please visit http://crueltyfreeinternational.org/”

Can we come to see your products?

Unfortunately not, our premises are restricted for health, safety and insurance purposes, only insured members of staff are allowed in to the workshop, you may however purchase a sample box from our online shop.

Can you make me my own custom products?

Yes, we are able to produce custom products. Please contact us with your requirements at info@thesoapshop.net to discuss.

Can I use your website images?

Of course! We allow customers that have placed orders with us to use our images. Once ordered, you may right click and save images directly from our website or social media.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not grant permission to ANYONE to use our images without our prior agreed consent. This is a very serious matter as all of our images are protected by copyright law. Our images and text belong to us. Without placing an order, you are NOT entitled to use any part of our website for any purpose, including your own financial gain. We have no hesitation in taking legal action against people that are using our images without our consent. (Apart from that bit, we really are a lovely bunch!)

Do you do mixed packs of any products?

Apart from what is actually listed on our website we do not offer any alternative or mixed packs of products. We make all products in set batch sizes. We cannot alter these batch sizes as our mixtures and recipes would simply not work, which means there are very rarely any products ‘left over’ or ‘spare’ and those that are we use in our sample boxes.

My soap seems to have formed a ‘wet’ layer! Help!

This is a common problem with glycerin based soap that is left in any type of slightly damp environment. If the soap has a high glycerin content, as ours does, it will attract moisture from any environment it is stored in. Even sitting a bar near an open window for 10 minutes when it has been raining will cause the bars to get a ‘wet’ layer on them. Sadly, this cannot be avoided in certain situations. We can advise that by keeping the environment warm, or by putting the soap away, when not on display to sell, in an airtight box will help to stop the problem. Alternatively, you could cut and wrap each bar in cellophane.

I have had soap in the past that has cracked and changed shape over time, and lost it’s scent – does your soap do this?

Absolutely not! Our soap is made from extremely high quality ingredients. Our soap does not crack, shrink, or change shape at all! The scent will naturally fade the longer the bars are left unused, however the scent will not completely deteriorate. In addition, all soap is best not left displayed or stored in direct sunlight.

Will your Bath Bombs stain people’s baths?

Never. We use fully approved, safe cosmetic colourants at safe levels in all of our bath products. They will never stain anyone’s bath!

Can I sell your products online?

We are happy for you to sell any product you order from us on your own website, or other online platforms. 

Are your products suitable for sensitive skin?

We do manufacture some products that are free from artificial colours, perfumes and essential oils, these products would normally be considered safe for sensitive skin. Our standard products, in our experience, are very well tolerated by people with sensitive skin, however everyone is different and it is impossible to say whether products are suitable for everyone due to allergies.

Can I purchase your products for fundraising activities?

Yes, we sell to charities, schools, colleges, community groups, university study projects and many more organisations. We are always happy to provide products for you to sell on to make a profit. If you need any advice on pricing or displays please don’t hesitate to contact us, we will be glad to help.

I am new to selling soap, can you offer me any advice?

We are more than happy to assist you if you feel you need any help or advice regarding selling handmade soap, bath and body products. From pricing, gift wrapping, location and displays we have lots of experience and can offer a wealth of advice. Please email us on info@thesoapshop.net , one of our friendly team will be pleased to help you!

Do you supply retail stands or point of sale material?

Some of our customers prefer to display our products the way they want to, on their existing shelving to fit in with the design of their shop. If you need any help with displaying products in your shop please do not hesitate to email on info@thesoapshop.net , one of our friendly team will be pleased to help you!

How do I cut a soap loaf?

We recommend that you use a large kitchen knife to cut a soap loaf, it is just like cutting cheese!

To get an equal amount of uniform bars from our soap loaves we recommend that you use a ruler to mark out 2.5cm spaces along the top of the loaf. Simply line up your knife and cut downwards, as straight as you can. Using this formula, you will get 10 good sized bars out of one loaf, with each bar weighing around 115g.

Some of our soap loaves will be harder to cut than others, our dead sea soap loaf is a good example of this, as the layer of sea salt on the top of the loaf is quite tough some extra force is needed!

Some of our soap loaves are more liable to split than others. If you do encounter any of our loaves splitting, please contact us straight away.

Are your products suitable for Vegans?

Yes, all of our products have always been suitable for Vegans. In 2018 we took steps to become approved by The Vegetarian Society to join their Vegan brands and we are pleased to announce that as from March 2018 we are a Vegan approved company. 

Is your packaging recyclable?

We have had a lot of questions about this recently, which is great! The public really are becoming more aware of plastics and the environment.

All of our shrink wrap is both recyclable and biodegradable
All of our plastic tubs and bottles are made from PET and both are easily recycled through normal household recycling bins
The oils are in amber glass which is also recycled through normal household recycling glass bins
The bags we wrap our soap in when we send them to you are also recyclable, and our packing chips are biodegradable too.

We are really trying to look into ways that we can cut our plastic use further, but it is quite difficult when dealing with cosmetic products sometimes! We’d love to package our shower gel into cardboard tubs (like milk cartons!) but we know this would lead to problems in transit because they would be likely to get squashed 🙁 But our brains are whirring and working all the time.

Do you offer white-label or can you label products for me?

Yes, please contact us on info@thesoapshop.net with your requirements.

Do your soaps contain Palm Oil?

Our soap loaves do currently contain Palm Oil derivatives, these are sourced using an RSPO programme.

We do a range of solid shampoo bars which are Palm Oil free.

Do you ship outside the UK?

It is with regret that we have taken the decision, due to conditions required post Brexit to focus on the UK cosmetics market only.

This ensures we have extra capacity to serve our UK customers more quickly.

*UK excludes Northern Ireland, due to their requirement for cosmetic products to be listed on the EU CPNP which we are no longer a member of.

Please note, we are unable to accept any liability for orders placed with the intention of resale in the EU whether purchased and sent directly to the EU or via a carrier to their final destination. Our decision to not trade in Europe is not based on shipping or tax reasons but due legality of our registration with the EU CPNP post Brexit.

Do you provide samples?

Yes, please visit the sample box in our online store.

Do you have a paper catalogue which you can send to me?

No, unfortunately we do not offer catalogues of any kind because we update our range regularly and they would become out of date quickly.

How long will my order take?

We aim to dispatch all orders as quickly as we can and we advise our lead times at the top of our homepage on the banner. We state these timescales as we work to a queuing system, on a first come first serve basis. We always work to get your order out as quickly as we possibly can.

We will always update the front page of our website at busier times of year, like Christmas, to inform you of longer lead times!

Why can’t you send my order out the next day and do you have products ‘in stock’ ready to send?

We hand make each individual product that is ordered. You will never receive a product from us that has been sitting on a shelf for months. Our products are as fresh as can be when you receive them, and we believe this is better for you and your customers!

Where possible we will always try to dispatch your order as quickly as we can.

I need some products quickly, is there anything you can do?

Sometimes we can fit in small orders around what we are already making. For instance, if you wanted to order 3 Soap Loaves and needed them quickly, we would ask that you contact us with your requirements and we will see if we can fit them in around our current schedule. There is no guarantee that we will be able to fit a small order in, so please always check with us first before placing an order online.

Can you supply pre-cut, wrapped and labelled soap?

At present this is not a service we offer.

I want to wrap my soap myself, what is the best way to cut it and how should I wrap it?

You can wrap our soap in many ways. The best option, in our opinion, is to leave our lovely soaps visible to your customers and only cut and wrap them when sold. Waxed paper is a great option and can provide a nice ‘rustic’ look. Tissue paper is not suitable to wrap our soap in, as the soap will stick to the tissue paper, ending up moist and sticky! You can also use a variety of cellophane, etc which is widely available and suitable for our soap.

A large kitchen knife will cut the soap very easily! Cutting soap is like cutting cheese, all you need is a steady hand, a ruler and a straight eye!

Do you have a minimum order quantity?

No, we do not have a minimum order quantity, we only specify that you order in the set batch numbers as detailed on our website. We want as many people as possible to try our lovely stuff, and if that means you only want to order one soap loaf to try, then so be it!

Do you supply your products labelled or unlabelled?

All our products are supplied unlabelled, they will come without any labels at all, ready for you to add your own.

We will of course, provide you with all the information you need to create your own labels.

We will soon be launching labelling as an option for our products, this will be a generic non-branded label.

Do you supply ingredient information with each product?

Yes, the ingredients and other relevant information is available on each product listing.

What do I need to display when selling the products?

You need to state, by trading standards law, the Weight, Price, and full Ingredients list at ‘point of sale’ – this means either on the product itself, or by the side of each product you are selling if it is not labelled.

You will receive information with your order containing the Batch Numbers for each product you order. Batch Numbers are important, as if there is ever a problem with a product, we need to be able to trace it back to a specific batch of ingredients, so we can then notify our supplier, and any investigations needed can be carried out. Batch numbers can be written on Labels, and if you select ‘labelled’ with any of our potted or bottled products they will come with a batch number on them. That said, in the 10 years we have been in business we have never had to trace a problem back using batch numbers, but there is always a first time for everything, so please keep a record of your batch numbers.

Are you certified and insured to make the products you sell?

Yes, we are. We hold cosmetic product safety reports for every single recipe we make. We use an independent, qualified chemist in skin preparations to test and certify all of our recipes as safe for use on human skin. Because of the in-depth certifications we hold, we have all the relevant insurance needed to sell products in the UK.

We are proud to say that we follow strict hygiene rules and good manufacturing procedures.

Do you give discounts on first orders, large orders or start up businesses?

No, we do not give discounts on first orders or to start up businesses. Our prices really are as competitive as they can be, therefore we cannot offer any discounts on any orders.

How do I place an order with you?

Just take a look around our website and add your chosen products to the shopping cart. When you are finished click ‘checkout’ to be taken to the payment section, where there are a variety of payment options.

Are your products 100% Natural or Organic?

All of our products contain lots of wonderful natural ingredients, however some of our products do contain some non – natural ingredients.

We do make a range of 100% natural products. This is where all the ingredients of the particular product are 100% Natural. No artificial perfumes or colourants are used in these products.

What are your perfumes made from and are they natural?

Our perfumes are manufactured specifically for us, in the UK.  You can be safe in the knowledge that our perfumes are of an extremely high quality and are gentle on the skin. They have been carefully blended and produced with a low allergen content in mind. We hold full MSDS (material safety data sheets) on all of our fragrances and ingredients.

They have some natural components, however they are not 100% natural. Where the product is 100% natural, the scent will come from a blend of natural essential oils.

Do you use Parabens?

No, all of our products are Paraben free.

Some of my order is damaged when I have unpacked my box, what should I do?

We ask that you carefully check everything when you receive your parcel. If there are any damages, please take a photograph of the packaging, the damaged products in the packaging and the outside
of the box and forward them to us on info@thesoapshop.net with the subject line of ‘Damaged delivery – and then your business or surname’. We insure all of our parcels at no extra cost to you, so if on the rare occasion that there are any damages, we need photographic proof to pursue a claim with our courier. All claims of damages must be reported to us within 48 hours for the claim to be considered. Without photographic proof, we will not be able to refund any damages to you.

Will you sell to me on an ‘account’ or ‘credit’ basis?

We do not offer orders on a credit or account basis. We ask that all orders are paid for in full before we start to manufacture your order.

What payment methods do you accept?

We can accept payment via Credit and Debit cards through our website, handled by Shopify as our chosen payment gateway partner.

You may also pay for your order via PayPal.
We can also accept direct Bank Transfers.

If you wish to pay by bank transfer, or via the telephone please register your details and we will then authorise your account for invoice payments.

How do I store the products that I have ordered?

We recommend that you store all products in a cool, dry place and out of direct sunlight. We suggest that you keep the products in the original packaging that we send them to you in when not displayed for sale.

What is the shelf life of your products?

This information can be found on each product listing.

Do your Soaps and Shower Gels contain SLS?

Our soap and shower gels do not contain SLS or SLES.

Do you offer free delivery?

We offer free delivery on orders of £250.00 ex. VAT and above to England, Scotland and Wales Mainland addresses.

Some Scottish addresses are deemed by our courier (DPD) to require a higher delivery charge and in these cases we are unable to provide free delivery and we will amend any orders to include a delivery charge if this applies and contact you. If you believe you fall into this category when you register please select Highlands & Islands as your location.

Are you VAT registered and do your prices include VAT?

As of November 2nd 2013 The Soap Shop Ltd is registered for VAT. The prices displayed do not include VAT, this will be added at the prevailing rate during the checkout.