Free tools Soap making
Add the cost of the oils, lye, essential or fragrance oil, additives and packaging used in one batch, then divide by the number of bars you cut. Include labour if you want your time paid. Wholesale is commonly set at about twice cost and retail at about twice wholesale. Always run your recipe through a lye calculator for safety; this tool only handles cost.
Cost per bar = (oils + lye + scent + additives + packaging × bars + labour) ÷ bars
For information and estimates only. Makeable's formulas, batch limits and margin calculations are mathematical estimates based on your inputs. They are not certified accounting, financial, pricing or tax advice. You are solely responsible for setting your own wholesale and retail prices, ensuring profitability, and checking cost calculations before committing money.
A 1 kg oil batch at $8/kg, $1.20 lye, 4% essential oil at $90/kg, $2 of additives, 10 bars wrapped at $0.45.
Result. Each bar costs $1.93, so about $3.86 wholesale and $7.72 retail before labour.
Start from cost per bar with labour included, double it for wholesale and check the result against what shops in your area pay. If wholesale does not cover cost plus a fair wage, the fix is usually a cheaper oil blend or a larger batch, not a thinner margin.
Soap ties up oils for weeks while it cures. Makeable tracks what is curing, what is sellable and which oil will run out first, so you know how many bars you can promise a stockist before you pour.
Most cold process bars cost between $1 and $3 in materials and packaging, driven mainly by oil blend and essential oil choice.
No. Use a dedicated saponification (lye) calculator for safety, then enter the lye cost here.
3 to 6% of oil weight is typical, so 30 to 60 g per kg, within the safe usage rates your supplier publishes.
Not the unit cost, but it affects cash flow and how many bars you can sell this month.
Retail at roughly four times material cost is common for handmade soap once labour and fees are counted.
For information and estimates only. Makeable's formulas, batch limits and margin calculations are mathematical estimates based on your inputs. They are not certified accounting, financial, pricing or tax advice. You are solely responsible for setting your own wholesale and retail prices, ensuring profitability, and checking cost calculations before committing money.