As we have been writing more and more on our blog we wonder if anyone else is curious what sort of companies use scales in their work. To be perfectly clear every business uses scales to some degree. This way they can create uniform goods and reliable services for their customers. But those that use them the most are possibly companies in the food, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries. There are hundreds, however that you may not expect. Soap makers and herbalists also use scales everyday. Here are a few scales they may use and how they use them.
When making soap the ingredients of lye, fat (usually vegetable oils), and additives must be exact. Otherwise, the soap may be harmful to use or can be ineffective in cleaning. Handmade bar soap can be incredibly beneficial for the skin but must be measured precisely for safety. There are also several standards for measurements involving packaging and shipping.
Bench scales are often used in larger scale soap making companies that sell over 10,000 bars annually. Their batches are usually much larger than homemade soap maker’s batches and need to be more precise to create a reliable and useful bar of soap. Batches are usually measured out in two separate containers, lye and fats. The fats are often melted and mixed in a large 50 or 100-gallon drum and then transferred into barrels to await soap making. When the soap maker is ready to make soap, they often use the bench scale again to measure the lye precisely and then mix it in another container with warm water. The lye must then cool to room temperature before it can be mixed with the fat and additives and poured into molds.
When a soap making business purchases lye, fats, and additives they must be weighed to assure accuracy and product consistency. Many soap making companies have drum or barrel scales to measure the raw materials before use. When they have fat and lye delivered each drum of fat is weighed and then bags of lye are weighed. This way when they are divided in batches there is less chance of waste.
Herbalists also use bench scales to measure carrier oils, dry and fresh herbs, and a plethora of other raw materials to create their own herbal products such as salve, lotion, and tinctures. These also must be weighed out before and after packaging to make sure each customer receives a precise amount of the product. This way the herbalist can offer a reliable product and the customer can take reliable dosages if it is a tincture, capsules or elixirs.
These scales are used so the herbalist can offer raw materials (such as lavender flowers and beeswax) for customers to use to make their own salves and elixirs, but they can do so at a fair and sustainable price point.
