The Minimal Equipment I Use to Run a Lean, Efficient Formulary

One of the easiest ways for a refill or maker business to overspend is on equipment.

It’s tempting to assume that a more “professional” formulary needs more machines, more specialty tools, and more dedicated gear. In reality, excess equipment often adds friction: more setup, more cleanup, more storage, and more money tied up in tools that don’t actually improve margins.

Lean formularies prioritize flow, flexibility, and ease of cleaning over scale-for-scale’s sake.

Every formulary is different, and needs vary depending on what you make. That said, these are the core tools I personally use and rely on to keep my production space efficient, minimalist, and adaptable. This isn’t aspirational gear. It’s what actually earns its keep.

How to Think About Equipment in a Lean Formulary

Lean equipment decisions aren’t about buying the “best” or most industrial version of something. They’re about choosing tools that support your current batch sizes, clean easily, store efficiently, and can be repurposed as your product mix evolves.

Some of the most valuable tools in a formulary are simple, durable, thrifted, and sometimes handmade. The goal isn’t to look impressive. The goal is to work reliably without creating extra work for yourself.

The Core Equipment I Use (and Why)

My setup supports soap, lotion, cleaners, powders, infusions, and refill products without locking me into a single production model.

At the heart of the formulary are flexible, multi-use tools: stainless steel pots in a few key sizes, immersion blenders (standard and industrial, depending on batch size), a standing mixer sized for the space, an induction cooktop, accurate scales, glass beakers, and basic filling tools like funnels, pipettes, and pitchers.

Organization and storage matter just as much as production. Bulk bins for dry ingredients, clearly labeled scoops, stacking drawers for caps and closures, heavy-duty shelving, and wardrobe-style cabinets with sliding doors keep materials accessible without cluttering work surfaces.

Cleaning and safety are non-negotiable. Dish bins, good foaming dish soap, chain maille scrubbers, a steam cleaner, and a workable sink setup make it possible to reset the space quickly between batches. Magnetic wall sheets protect surfaces near formulary tables and double as write-on planning space. Even small choices here dramatically affect day-to-day efficiency.

There are also a handful of specialty tools that earn their place: jelly strainers for herbal infusions, infrared thermometers, pH meters, spice grinders, and stainless scoops and whisks sized for real production volumes. None of these are flashy, but all of them reduce friction.

I link many of these items through Amazon for convenience, but if you have the time and bandwidth to do so, sourcing local and secondhand is even better. 

Why This List Is Intentionally Short

What you won’t see here is a long list of expensive, single-use machinery.

That’s intentional.

If a tool doesn’t clearly reduce labor, improve margins, or meaningfully increase consistency, it’s usually not the right next purchase. Many businesses buy equipment hoping it will fix deeper issues around pricing, batch planning, or workflow. It rarely does.

Which brings me to the exception.

When Expensive, Specialized Equipment Does Make Sense

I do own a commercial bath bomb machine. It was very expensive, takes up real space, and is absolutely not something I’d recommend buying early.  But I did dream of owning one for about a decade before I finally bought it!

The only reason it made sense is that I already had overwhelming demand for Johnny Drops. During COVID, there was a bizarre but very real surge in orders—everyone suddenly became deeply invested in their toilets. Number two became number one. Toilets were trending. It was a whole thing.

At that point, demand wasn’t the question. Labor was the bottleneck. There was no realistic way to fill orders by hand without burning out or turning customers away. The machine didn’t create demand. It allowed me to meet demand that already existed. Without the demand in place first, there's no way I could have justified that expense.  I finally got my shiny sportscar bath bomb machine!

This is exactly the kind of decision where you have to trust numbers more than gut instinct. But those gut instinct desires for the shiny new tools are really powerful! If you’re considering a high-cost, single-purpose machine, the real question shouldn't be “Will this help me grow?” It’s “Does this solve a real (current) constraint I am struggling with in my business right now?”

I walk through how to evaluate that in more detail in the post on the New Equipment Payoff Calculator, which helps you compare labor, margins, and payback before you spend the money.

How This Fits Into the Lean Refillery System

Equipment decisions shouldn’t happen in isolation. Before investing in new tools, it helps to understand your baseline profitability and constraints. That’s what the Lean Refillery Profit Simulator is for. Once you know where your bottlenecks actually are, the New Equipment Payoff Calculator helps you test whether a purchase improves the system as a whole or just adds complexity.

Inside Module 5 of The Lean Refillery Course, I go deeper. The full spreadsheet looks at equipment, service capacity, production flow, and how to adapt a minimalist setup to your specific space and product mix.

A Final Thought

A lean formulary isn’t about owning fewer tools for the sake of it. It’s about owning the right tools—tools that work hard, clean easily, and leave you with enough time and margin to keep going.

Minimal doesn’t mean bare-bones. It means intentional.