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Regina Filange

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Posts posted by Regina Filange

    Crackled, Marbled Pillars

    in Old Style Candle Gallery

    Posted

    Very Cool!

    I took a 3 inch ball candle that I had (was to be mottled, but didn't turn out right) and fixed it using the Crackle Method!

    Now it's beatiful! It's so smooth, shiney and crackled. I love it! Now I know what to do when I screw up one of my pillars..... CRACKLE IT!

    Funny.... I always thought these required yet another type of wax (that I wasn't willing to buy).

    Thanks so much for bringing these to my attention, and to Donita for her wonderful tutorials!

    As a matter of fact, that will be my signature...

    JUST CRACKLE IT!

    Substitutes for loaf molds?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I wanting to make a loaf of soap and try CP for the first time (I've only done CrockPot HP so far). But I'm noticing the very high prices of all the nice loaf molds out there.

    Do you guys have any brilliant ideas of other things I can use to make a 2 or 3 pound loaf and is the same size as your typical loaf mold? If so, what do you use to line your item/is it hard to remove from the makeshift mold?

    I have a crinkle slicer and really would like to make some nice thick slices.

    Any info or ideas would be great!

    TIA!

    Olive oil prices...holy crap!

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    Pomace is just a lower grade of olive oil. The first pressing yields extra virgin olive oil. Then the second is a grade lower. After all those pressings, then they use solvents to extract the remaining oil, which is pomace grade. It's not necessarily bad for soaping, but it wouldn't be my first choice of olive oil for cooking with. :)

    That's my understanding from the research I've done; however, my memory may be a bit rusty...I ain't getting any younger, yunno. LOL :laugh2:

    Yeah, I bought this for my soap making only.

    Thinking of making this today... sound ok?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I think your recipe looks lovely. You have lots of linoleic and oleic, which will make a conditioning bar. The numbers look good. There are two things to consider: 1) do you really need sodium lactate (I think you'll have a nice, hard bar without it, and 2) make the recipe and let it cure. If you still have dry, flakey (and especially itchy) skin, then take out the coconut oil altogether and just use pko. Some people are allergic to co and it won't matter how low you go, you will still feel it.

    If this is your first time making soap, stick with full water. If not, I'd reduce the water a bit. Multiply your lye amount by 2 and use that amount of water. So for this recipe, use 8.86 oz. of water. That way, you'll have less of a cure time. Make sure you use a tried and true fo (check out the reviews here or on "the scent review" (latherings).

    This will be my 2nd time doing Crock pot hot process. The first time I used much more lard and no coconut or Palm. The soap is "ok" but a little slimy when using it. I want more lather. The reason I'm using Sodium Lactate is because it was recommended since the first batch of soap hardened so quickly, that I didn't have time to get it into the molds. The bars come out rather chunky looking, and I wanted a more professional looking bar. I don't know if the Coconut will cause a problem for me, as I haven't used it yet. But I did read another post that said too much of either (coco or palm) can make you dry and ichy. I'll just have to try and see. I wanted to use coco cuz it will help with the lather (so I've read). I think I do want to stick with full water just because I'm hoping it will make the soap smoother and give me a little more time to mold (along with the help of the sodium lactate). I'll be sure to check out the scent review and see what it says. Right now I'm thinking about Peaks' Cool Citrus Basil. I will be waiting until tomorrow to get started.

    Thanks for your time and info!

    Thinking of making this today... sound ok?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I was thinking of making this today, but wanted to run it by the soap pros first!

    I'll be doing it the CPHP way.

    Recipe:

    Soft Oils-

    4 oz. Sweet Almond Oil

    4 oz. Apricot Kernal Oil

    4 oz. Olive Oil

    4 oz. Safflower Oil

    Hard Oils-

    5 oz. Palm Kernal Oil

    5 oz. Lard

    4 oz. Coconut Oil

    2 oz. Shea Butter

    Lye Solution-

    12 oz. Distilled Water

    4.43 oz. Lye

    2 oz. Sodium Lactate (will mix with Lye Solution)

    At trace add:

    2 oz. FO (Not sure what kind yet)

    Colorant

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Is there anything you see that should be changed? I'm really looking to make a nice cleansing bar of soap that won't dry out my skin. I've got really dry skin as it is and would like the make soap that is really moisturizing and will help my dry flaky skin.

    I tried to create a recipe that keeps the Coconut Oil under 15% and the Palm Kernal Oil under 20% so it won't be drying (as read in another post).

    Am I using too much Shea Butter? If so... what should I replace it with, more Lard?

    Thanks so much for any help you can provide! :D

    ~RF~

    What did I do wrong?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I ran your recipe through a soap calc, and you had plenty of water.

    IMO I think the salt is the problem. I know it works great in CP, have not tried it in HP, but it would make sense to me that the salt would make the soap very stiff after cooking; since it is "ready to use" after cooking. I hope that makes sense!

    I make the majority of my soaps HP and use Sodium Lactate to keep soap somewhat fluid after cooking. It keeps it very workable during molding and makes for a nice firm bar afterwards.

    Where are you getting your Sodium Lactate? How much do you use? When is it added to the recipe? Can vegetable glycerine but use in it's place?

    Sorry for all the questions, but can't seem to find much info on it or where to buy it, unless it's out of the country.

    Thanks!

    CP tutorial

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I went to

    <<<<< B&B CP but the tutorial instructions aren't there :angry2: is it me or did it disappear??

    No, they are not there. I tried looking yesterday too. Just the one page, but no tutorial using Peaks Rose Bouquet as it says.

    I did the HP today and it turned out terrible. I wish someone could help me with what I did wrong? I explained it all in another post.

    What did I do wrong?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I made my first batch of CPHP soap today. It didn't turn out the way I expected.

    I followed the instructions by Shannon here at the CandleTech site. It can be found here: http://www.candletech.com/hpsoap/ .

    For some reason my batch seems to skip some of the steps. I blended until I reached trace, then let sit for 10 mins. I checked it and it was just like the tutorial said. It would be too thick to stir, to cover and come back in 10 mins. At this point is was "supposed" to start separating and I was to stir it back in, then it would turn to applesauce consistancy. To keep stirring and eventually it would look like mashed potatoes. Well this never happened. It never separated and never had to be stirred back in. It went straight to the mashed potato consistancy! I removed from heat added FO and took some to add the color and stirred it back in. It was harding faster than I could fill my molds! With as dry as it seemed to be, my guess is not enough water? But I'm very new to this, so I have no idea!

    What did I do wrong?

    Here was the recipe I used. Should I have used more water? According to the lye calculator I used, I was correct on all my weights. I did use a digital scale to weigh everything. Do you see something wrong with this recipe?

    4oz. Sweet Almond Oil

    8oz. Olive Oil

    4oz. Safflower Oil > I added some Titainium Oxide to oils to whiten

    15oz. Lard

    1oz. Shea Butter

    4.08oz. Lye

    12oz. Distilled Water

    2oz. Lavender FO

    Several drops of purple soap safe color to swirl in.

    Once I had the Lye/Water solution, I did add 1TB Salt and 1TB Sugar. I read that salt makes a harder soap and sugar adds more lather.

    What did I do wrong? :confused:

    HELP!

    Red Devil Lye Drain Cleaner?

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    Is this the same Lye we need to make our own soap?

    Aren't there any store chains that carry lye? I want to make my first batch of HP soap and don't want to pay the shipping for lye to purchase online. Besides.. I'm anxious and don't want to wait.

    I called hardware store and they said they had lye drain cleaner, but I wasn't sure if that was the same or not? It sure sounds harsh! It's hard to believe we use this to make something we are about to rub all over ourselves!

    Does anyone know if this is the same, or a store chain that carries it? I only need a small amount to make ONE batch of soap for starters.

    Can anyone help?

    TIA

    ~RF~

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