If you have a query prior to placing an order then you can always drop us a line or give us a call, our number is 01617646109.  Here are some of our most frequently asked questions...

1.   Do you make your products yourselves? 

Yes!  We do, we make all of our soap, bath bombs and other bath products ourselves at our workshop in Lancashire.  We hand make all of our products freshly to order.  We do also supply a range of products that we don't make such as the packaging and ribbon that we sell, we have sought out what we feel are fantastic suppliers of these products. 

2.   Is there a minimum Order?

We do have a small minimum order in place as we are a wholesale website (B2B - business to business) and therefore all of our products are sold at trade prices and are subject to VAT, our minimum order is just £75 (plus VAT) so you can try a range of the products without having to spend hundreds of pounds.   If you want to buy less than £75 then you can visit our retail website www.ramsbottomsoapco.co.uk 

3.   Do you offer carriage paid (Free Postage)? or Can I collect my Order?

Yes we do, on all UK mainland orders over the sum of just £200 plus vat we will pay all of your postage charges so if your order is approaching the £200 limit you may want to consider adding in an extra item and saving on postage costs.  For orders below the £200 limit we charge a courier fee which is very competitive.  At present we do not offer a carriage paid service to Northern or Southern Ireland or the E.U.

You are able to collect your order once it has been made from our workshop in Bury.  You will need to bring along photo ID in the name of the person who paid for the order.  We will call you once your order is being packaged to arrange a convenient time for delivery.

4.   How long will it take for my order to arrive?

Our usual order turn around is 10 working days for preparing your item (this is an estimate only, we can not give guaranteed timescales as different products have different setting times etc and at busier times such as Christmas these times will be longer - please check our home page for the current turnaround times as these do vary at different times during the year), once prepared your order will be packaged and dispatched, however if you desperately need your order quickly such as if you have a special event coming up please contact us and we will always try and accommodate your needs, in busier times such as Christmas orders may take a little longer.  

After your order is created for you (check home page for up to date turnaround times) then You have two courier options, a standard courier service which takes on average 3-5 working days (this is an estimate only) and an express delivery service which takes 1-2 working days.  If you need your goods in a hurry we would urge you to opt to use the express delivery service.  If a mobile number is provided when placing your order we can request that the courier texts you en route to inform you that your delivery is due.  We would not recommend that you wait in for deliveries unless you receive an update that your delivery is en route with your driver from your courier company.

5.   How do I store my soaps and bath bombs?

It is our advice to keep products wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place, if you have ordered a soap to be delivered whole and unsliced, when you do choose to slice the soap yourself we would recommend that you wrap the same as soon as it has been sliced.  You can read a copy of our soap and bathbomb storing and slicing guide here.  If you leave a soap loaf unwrapped it will start to absorb moisture from the air around it and can get little droplets on the soap, we always recomend that you keep your soap wrapped.  

6.   How do I best slice the soap loaf?

We do offer a slicing and wrapping service on all of our soaps which is very nominally charged, when adding a loaf or soap bakery cake to your basket you will be asked if you wish to receive it sliced or unsliced.  Should you wish to slice the soap yourself then we will supply the loaf/cake etc whole, we recommend that you allow the soap to reach ambient room temperature before slicing.  We would recommend that you use a strong smooth non serrated knife.  We can't accept any responsibility where soaps split when being sliced by the customer, we would always recommentd that you have us slice your soaps as we have the proper equipment to do so.  In our experience a soap is far more likely to split with a kitchen knife than a soap slicer.  Once the soap has been sliced it should be wrapped immediately.  Find our soap and bathbomb slicing and storing guide here.

Slicing a Soap Loaf

When slicing a loaf slice it in accordance with the slice guide lines imprinted into the top of the loaf.  Place your knife into the groove and push down firmly and smoothly cutting in one slice.  We recommend that you keep your soap loaf wrapped until you are ready to slice it, once sliced wrap each individual slice as soon as possible.  We recommend that the best way of wrapping your soap is to use our cello wrap as we do, you can now purchase our cello wrap in handy cut to size rolls here.

Slicing a Soap Bakery Cake

We would recommend that you choose to receive your bakery cake sliced as they are the most difficult soaps to slice.  If you do decide to slice the cake yourself then follow these tips for the best results.  When slicing a bakery cake we find it best to slice the cake in half first and then divide it into your chosen number of slices.  You will need to use a large non-serrated knife, a smooth, straight blade is far less likely to split your layers, a serrated knife we find "sticks" within layers far more.  It is best to place the knifer of the top of the cake and carefully and slowly press down to slice through all three layers without stopping.  The oat layer is the hardest layer to cut.  It is important to keep your cake wrapped until you are ready to slice, thereafter wrap each slice as soon as possible. If you do find that the fruit on the top layer of the cake move a little then you can simply press these back into the white layer, again this is less likely to happen when using the correct straight edge soap knife.

7.   Can I sell your products online?

We are happy for you to sell our products online whether that be via your own website or by other online means, we can supply you with images for this purpose, simply drop us a line when placing your order and we will make sure that they are all emailed back to you.  We do not provide images until an order has been placed as we do not provide them to non-customers, unless by prior agreement to bloggers etc.  If you are ordering a new product or if you have requested that we create a product in a new fragrance we will be able to provide you with an image prior to you receiving your goods, all new products are photographed for our website and we are always happy to provide copies to our customers for use on their websites, social media or in advertising etc. If you require images please email or complete our contact us page with the details of which images you require.  We request that you do not share our images without our prior permission.

8.   I am a party planner, can I buy your products?

The simple answer is yes, we offer our customers the opportunity to buy our products at Trade price which you can sell via soap parties, or to supplement your existing party business,  We also supply to schools, charities etc where products can be purchased wholesale and re-sold giving an income to the fundraiser.  If you would like any tips on pricing or selling contact us with your query and we will try and help.

9.   I would like to try making my own products, do you sell the ingredients?

We now sell a range of products to allow you to make your own soaps and bath bombs, we sell a range of sizes for beginners, crafters through to other traders, you can choose from a kilo through to huge buckets of soap, if you require any tips or help, feel free to contact us and we will try and offer help with any queries we can help with.  Remember if you are going to sell your products then you will need to ensure that you comply with all legal requirements to do so.  You can view our range of melt and pour soap bases here.

10.  Do you supply retail stands and/or point of sale?

We do from time to time get asked by retailers about supplying shelving and display stands, after much consideration we don't currently provide them as we haven't found that there was high demand for the same. When customers use their existing shelving they can personalise their displays so much more.  Examples of our products on retail display are shown below courtesy of our retailers. We can offer help and tips with displaying products, we are only ever a phone call or an email away if you have any specific questions.  With regards to point of sale we supply personalised ribbon which you can have printed to read The Soap House or your own business name, we have found this a popular extra at point of sale with customers.  You can find our range of ribbons here.  We are currently exploring additional packaging which we hope to be supplying soon, sign up for our newsletter to be kept up to date.

 

 

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11.  Why should I choose to buy from The Soap House?

My goodness where do we start... well with The Soap House you can firstly rest assured that you are buying from a Soap Company who has Safety Assessments in place on all of our products to ensure that you are buying products which are safe to sell to your customers!  All of our products are made in the strictest hygiene conditions in accordance with our safety assessments and good manufacture practice guidelines.  Our body products are all made by ourselves, they are handmade to a fantastic quality and are made using only cosmetic grade ingredients.  All of that aside we are a friendly, family owned company who are always happy to help, if you have any queries or if we can offer any advice or tips we are always happy to help, don't ever hesitate to get in touch with us, if you are new to selling soaps it can be tricky working our pricing or displays and we are happy to help customers with working out their mark up.

 

12.   Do you offer a bespoke order service?

In addition to the items in our shop we also offer a bespoke order service, this means that should you require a fragrance or design which you can not find on our website, if you contact us we can generally source it for you, we will then put together a suitable design for you, deciding on colours that compliment your fragrance and then we will contact you to confirm a final design and confirm any amendments as to cost, if you are looking to order a new fragrance please contact us before proceeding with your order so that we can advise you as to how long it will take for us to source the fragrance if it is one that we don't already hold stock of and also if you require a different shaped soap we may possibly have to source a mould.... basically we can provide almost any fragrance you may wish to think of along with any colour combination (this service is particularly popular with wedding favour customers).  Once we have completed the order we will take photographs to be added to our website as in most cases we will continue stocking any fragrance that has been bought in, if you would like a copy of the image to add to your own website then we are always happy to provide images to our customers.  We have all images on our site protected to stop non-customers from copying our images or content, but once you have placed an order we are always happy to email to you both images and product descriptions for you to include on your website or social media etc.

 

13.   How can I Pay for my order?

We currently take payments via card or paypal through our website, you may also choose to make payment by post (cheque) or by bank transfer, however please not that your order will not be processed until your payment has cleared.  Once your cheque has cleared then your order will be processed within 3-5 working days.  When paying by bank transfer your order will be processed as soon as your transfer is received.  To pay by post or by bank transfer please select pay by post/bank option and then you will find our bank transfer and postal payment information.

 

14.  Do you sell seasonal/festive products such as Christmas and Valentines?

We have a Christmas section added to the shop on our website, you can find it here.  We have a range of soap loaves, soap bakery cakes and bathbombs for you to choose from, team them with our jute bags and you have added value to your sales!  Our order books are planned to close on the 21 December for Christmas Orders.  You can still place orders after this date but they will not be delivered in time for the Christmas holidays, our workshop re-opens on the 28 December and orders will be dealt with and dispatched thereafter.  We will post updates as to our order cut off dates and delivery estimates in our blog.

 

15.   Can I place my order in person and pay at your workshop?

You are more than welcome to come and place your order in person, we can manually process your order and you can pay at the workshop.  If you call prior to coming we can ensure that a member of our office staff is available to see you.  Our number is 01617646109.

 

16.   Samples - Do you sent out samples?

We are constantly contacted and asked for samples from people who have their own business or who are looking to start selling soaps and bath products, what we offer is that if there is a product that you wish to try then if you order it from our retail site www.ramsbottomsoapco.co.uk  to try and then you go on to order it subsequently wholesale on this site we will credit the wholesale order with the cost of your retail order - try before you buy, you can order a single soap slice over on the retail site and if you decide to sell it wholesale we will credit you the slice to your account.  If you have any questions regarding this please fee free to contact us.

 

17.   I am confused what is SLS and what does it mean that my soaps are SLS Free?

In a nutshell SLS is considered to be slightly harsh upon the skin, in different quanities/strength to that in cosmetic cleaners SLS is used to clean heavily soiled items such as engines, in our soaps we use an SLS free base as it is believed to be gentler, we choose to use SLES as a replacement which is considered to be milder on the skin.  SLS is known in it's full title as Sodium Laureth Sulphate, SLES you will see on our product labels and is called Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. SLES is considered to be milder.

18.   Are any of your products tested on animals?

No is the quick answer to that question, the E.U. banned any cosmetic product being tested on animals back in 2009.  When we launch a new soap or bathbomb we happily test it on our willing friends and family!  

19.   Is your soap base suitable for vegetarians and vegans?

Yes our soap bases are both suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Our SLS free translucent and opaque are both suitable for vegans/vegetarians, our bath bombs and other bath/body products are also suitable for vegans, we have two bath bombs the chocolate orange and the vanilla bath bombs which have sugar strand decorations which may contain a trace of milk, we do offer the option of having these without the decoration if you prefer the vegan friendly option.

20.  Who is Ramsbottom Soap Co?

Ramsbottom Soap co is our trading name which we retail our products under, we have a website where we sell all of our goods to the public at retail cost rather than at the trade prices offered on this website.  The reason that we use a different trading style is for your discretion as a stockist of your supplier's information.  You can view our retail prices over on our retail website, visit www.ramsbottomsoapco.co.uk 

 

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If you have any questions which have not been answered please feel free to contact us.