donna4909

I love this wax. I use it exclusively for my containers. I've had no problems wicking, but all my jars are straight sided, so it's a bit simpler. I use LX wicks as well, and they work great IMO. It has the soy type burn to it. It burns down first, and then the meltpool spreads outward. And after burning, the tops are still smooth! It doesn't turn lumpy and cauliflower looking like pure soy or soy/veg blends.

Thanks top! I went ahead and used 5% since I was too impatient to wait... but tonight was a disaster anyway. First I forgot to add the UA, so I remelted. Then I ended up splashing myself with hot wax. I ruined one of my work shirts... :embarasse But I just finished repouring. Hopefully this is not a complete disaster. Ugh, what a night!

Getting ready to try my 1343 wax, but need to know the FO load. I am adding 2% universal additive. How high can I go with the FO? I'm guessing maybe 5%?

The swirls in this batch remind me of a cloudy sky. Scented Sea Blossom from ICS, and colored with select shades.

Ok, I finally got the batch unmolded and cut. I have good news and bad news. *lol* Good news is: it has an exceptional lather and lovely scent Bad news is: it looks like diseased intestines or something equally gross So I think I'll be making this my main recipe. And if I ever do HP again, it'll be solid colors instead of trying to swirl.

Beautiful! I love that soft pink swirl. And I know what you mean about the old man's cologne smell. Indonesian Teak is like that for me. It kinda smells like an older man's aftershave with some baby powder tossed in.

CPOP is soap made in the nomal cold process way, but after you get it in the mold, you place in the oven for an hour or so to help with the gel. CPHP is crockpot hot process. It's basically what it sounds like. You cook the soap in a crockpot. Edited becuase I cannot spell tonight.

After my first 2 horrible soap making experiences with CPHP, I put up the crockpot and vowed never to touch it again. Or so I had planned... After several succesful batches of CPOP under my belt, I got to thinking that maybe those HP disasters were just a combination of newbie mistakes and crappy molds. So I drug the crockpot back out, and made a batch tonight. I didn't overcook this batch, so it was more fluid when I mixed the color and got it into the mold. All looked well, so I'm very hopeful. But I'm sooooo anxious for it to cool off so I can see how it looks! It's scented triple berry from ICS, and it should be pink and white swirled. What a complicated recipe I came up with for this one. It has: veggie shortening, pko, coconut, babassu, cocoa butter, canola, olive, and castor oils. I hope I'm not tempting the fates with having so many ingredients... Cross your fingers for me guys... and keep those soap gremlins on a leash!

I use select shades from Tradewinds, and they are quite wonderful. Here's a couple of soaps made with them. I love the vibrant colors that you can achieve. http://scentedoasis.com/iedit/3_Watermelon.jpg http://scentedoasis.com/iedit/4_StormWatch.jpg

Oops, already listed.

I'm considering going back to the world of pillars, but only if I can find a 2-in-1 wax that can make both rustics and creamy candles. I thought I could just add some UA to 1343 and that would work, but I read that it doesn't make the transition into creamy very well. :undecided Is there any other wax that can easily be both rustic and creamy (with additives)?

What size would you guys suggest as a starting point for a 3" rustic pillar made from IGI 1343?

I recently switched from lard to Crisco, and my bars are still nice and firm. However, I do discount water. In the Sooz calculator, I set the "Water as % of Oils" to 28.

For small plastic scoops: http://mystifyyoursenses.com/ Click on the "Specials" button, then scroll to the bottom of the page. They're pretty cheap too. $0.49 if you buy more than 50.

Me too... I don't think I'll like it, but haven't put it in wax yet, so we'll see. It smells kinda like maple, spice, and some floral mixed.

For me, it's anything sweet. I pretty much stick to ICS, and my favorites are: Cinnamon Buns Orange Chiffon Cake (OMG, so drool worthy... I'd eat it if I could) Lemon Meringue Blueberries N Cream

Caprol Micro Express: http://www.lotioncrafter.com/store/Caprol-Micro-Express-CME-pr-16192.html AquaEm: http://theherbarie.com/AquaEm-pr-74.html

To me, LLC smells like a lemon cream cookie. Does anyone know how the Greenleaf version of LLC is going?

Same here! Every soap I make has lard in it. It's great stuff! I live in redneck heaven, so people don't mind lard in their soap around here. They actually like it, because "that's what Granny used to make soap with". But emu oil... I just can't do it. I refuse to buy or use it.

CBL-141 (if I pick it up an hour away) Paraffin pillar blend $1.10 per pound CBL-125 (if I pick it up an hour away) Paraffin container blend $1.21 per pound Greenleaf 70/30 Blend (shipped UPS) Soy container blend $1.56 per pound

I've been wanting to get some of those molds forever. Finally got my mom talked into buying me a couple for my birthday next week. I can't wait! The linerless feature is the whole reason I want them. Lining molds sucks! *lol* Also, with these molds, there will be no ugly end pieces from where the freezer paper is folded. And going by the Summer Bee Meadow calculator (it can resize a recipe to fit the dimension of your mold), a 3 5/8" x 9" x 2 1/4" mold will hold 43.15 ounces of wet soap, so 2 lbs and 11.15 oz Here's the link to that calculator: http://www.summerbeemeadow.com/SitePages/MakingBarSoapsIndex.html

Well that's a shame. I have this FO and was thinking of soaping it, so thanks for sharing! I guess now I know not to use it. I bet LLC would make a great lemon pie if you made it layered like you did this one.

I'm not a coffee fan, but to me it looks like an Oreo Blizzard from DQ... Mmmmm!

Now where did that come from? I think you are reading to much into it, and being a bit defensive. She said "I'm thinking they might be interested in neck coolers, particularly the ones who do farm work." She never said that mexicans only do farm work. To me, it's just marketing sense. It's like stopping by a restaurant and thinking "I bet that dishwasher might be interested in some lotion, since she has her hands in dish water all day long." I don't find that line of thinking offensive at all, and I do wash a lot of dishes at work, and I do use lotion. If I didn't make my own, I'd be glad if someone took the initiative to make a helpful product available to me.

Thanks guys! You made me blush with all your compliments! I actually debated on the color for this one. I started to make it layered to symbolize a thunderstorm/tornado (dark blue, dark purple, and dark grey) but decided to do the swirl cause it was easier. *lol*