PhoenixFyre

I saw a DIY candle video just the other day. The instructor in the video said, "If anyone tells you there are rules in candle making, just tell them to go away." Couldn't believe it. I was so upset, I couldn't even finish watching it.

I'm with Moonstar and Trappeur on Bonfire Bliss. Got it to try out because so many people raved about it, and all I smelled was sweet. Became sweeter when I put it in wax. Not what I was hoping for.

I suspected as much and the article I read supported this idea as well, stating that a 50% lye solution is the absolute max water discount one should take. For kicks I recalculated the water amounts I've used, and the % of oil numbers I've used so far worked out to around a 27 to 28% lye solution, which the article called a mild water discount. I've stayed pretty much at that end of the spectrum through all my batches, so I'll play with a 40% lye solution just to see the difference. Thanks, TallTayl!

Thank you so much, @Candybee. Everything you said makes perfect sense and is exactly what I thought. And thanks also for clarifying about curing. I know I said that the water amount would affect curing, but in my brain I was thinking of the amount of water that would end up evaporating from the bars. Thanks so much for catching that. I definitely will continue to experiment with different water amounts to see what happens; I just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong.

Thanks, Sponie! I love your PPO comment...same thing had gone through my head when reading the article. Thanks for the reassurance.

Hoping for some clarification from you soaping superheroes. Is it wrong to formulate a soap recipe with the water calculated as a percentage of the oils? I thought this was okay to do (it's what I've been doing so far), but during some research tonight I found an article that left me feeling like it was a huge no-no and that I would be damned for doing it (okay, not really...but it did leave me feeling confused). The way I have understood it, the water amount doesn't affect the lye and saponification. As long as the lye has been calculated according to the SAP values of the acids in the recipe, then the acids will saponify, and the water basically affects trace and curing time (in very simplified terms), right? The article actually said as much, too, but it then went on to say that calculating the water as a percentage of the oils is bad because if you use the same percentage for your recipes, then the curing times for the soaps will different. My thought process on that was: 1. using water as a % of oils doesn't mean I have to use the same percentage with EVERY recipe, and 2. if I know things about the oils/butters I'm using, like that olive oil is a slower tracer, then I can adjust the water % accordingly. Same with accelerating FOs or complicated designs...I can adjust the water depending on what I'm doing. Even if one were using a set ratio of a lye:water solution, wouldn't you still adjust it for something like an accelerating FO or a single-oil soap that can benefit from less water? The article also insinuated that using water as a % of oils would mean you can't masterbatch your lye water. But you still can, right? If you just masterbatch a 50/50 solution and then add in the rest of the water (or other liquid) you need at the time you're making the soap, then that should be okay, right? Guess I'm just feeling a little nervous that I've completely misunderstood everything about soap making that I thought I knew. Any help you all can give to clear this up for me is appreciated!

At first I thought you meant rated R for red.....until I took another look at the soap. ROTFL! Now THAT's talent! You dirty girl.

They came out fantastic! Any of the vinyl print left behind or were you able to get it all off?

I'm dead tired, Barbara, but you're making me want to get in my kitchen and make some soap!!! Such happy colors swirling about. You rock!

Gorgeous! Lovely colors and swirls. Can't believe I have yet to try Black Raspberry Vanilla. Hope to see the cut pics soon!

So very, very pretty! If I'm not making soap, I love looking at it. Love yours!

Lol! That was my latest experience with a cherry FO. That's another scent I can't find. The last one I got was Black Cherry Bomb from Natures Garden. I got it because a YouTube soaper whom I love did a video making soap with it and mentioned how great it smelled and how her whole work area smelled of cherries. The description on it is that it's a tart black cherry. Sounded good. Poured it in wax. First time I lit the candle, everyone in my house immediately said it smelled like cough syrup. Ugh.

Adding to my list to try. Thanks for the suggestion! SC -- Sweet Cakes, right?

I'm with Candybee. Don't think I'll ever give up on finding a scent if it's something I really want. I hear you, though, on strawberry. Haven't found one yet that I love.

Since I only do this as a hobby, everything I make is for me to burn. I do treat each candle like a tester, though, and take notes on them all...just in case some day down the line I decide to sell. I love trying out mixtures of FOs and experimenting with scents, but I always clean my nose palate every now and then by going back to a few of my favorites. I just added a new favorite to my list....made a mixture of White Tea & Ginger, Tonic, and London Fog.

Yep, a higher temp glue stick for my glue gun and making sure I cover the whole underside surface of the wick tab with the glue just in case.

I'll be curious to see what you discover when you burn one all the way down, Glassfishy. I've had a few testers that didn't extinguish themselves either, even when the wax level had gone below the wick tab's neck. My problem turned out to be that as the wax level got lower, the heat of the melted wax was melting the glue I had used to secure my wicks to the jar. It wasn't enough to make the wick tab completely detach, but it was enough that the melted wax was seeping under the wick tab and fueling the wick from underneath...causing it to continue to burn even when the wax was almost completely gone. It was actually another member of this board that helped me figure it out, and I was thankful he did! Hopefully your test burn will help you see what's happening, and we're all here to help as much as we can.

Thank you so much! Time may heal all wounds, but making soaps and candles is pretty healing as well, lol. As for the marbled look of the lighter soap, in my case it was done on accident! To loosely quote Mrs. Gump, "Life is like a loaf of soap -- you never know what you're gonna get." Okay -- that didn't have the same ring to it, but you get the point. I was actually hoping the lighter colored soap would turn out more like the blue-based one, but the batter got thick quickly. The blue lines are from the same blue mica, just one portion tinted with TD. The best I could do was plop the two colors of blue batter onto the white batter and attempt to somewhat swirl them in the bowl...but it was so thick that the colors just sort of glopped into the mold when I poured it, hence the lined/marbled look that you see. It actually looks pretty neat in person and is a nice contrast to the bolder blue-based one.

Ever since Peak closed their Colorado warehouse, I've been trying suppliers I hadn't considered before. I just got a sample of Aztec's Coconut Lime Verbena and Blackberry Sage, and both of them performed just as great as Peak's. I put the Coconut Lime Verbena in wax and used Blackberry Sage for CP soap. The CLV from Aztec threw just as strongly as Peak's, and the Blackberry Sage has the same strength of sage that I enjoyed so much from Peak's (others I've tried were all sweet and no sage). I've tried the CLV from Natures Garden, but it didn't seem to have the same strength as Peak's or Aztec's. I tried Indigo Fragrance's Salty Mariner, and it was pretty close to Peak's Ocean...at least, I thought it was...but it's been a while since I've used either.

Yes! That was what was exciting about this. I have only read about slowly adding the lye to frozen milk in a bowl sitting in an ice bath, but you have now taught me another way to do it. Love it!

Just beautiful, Candybee! I've been wanting to try making soap with milk instead of water, but I've been nervous about the whole aspect of scorching the milk. This may give me the boost I need to go ahead and try it, scorching be darned!

And here I thought you were just showing off your beautiful self and your beautiful horse with the beautiful background! Can I come live with you???? Oh, to wake up to all those trees every day...so awesome. I love the jars! The round ones are so cute, and I dig the taller one...kind of reminds me of an old-fashioned milk bottle. Can't wait to see you put some wax in those!

Planet, moon...still beautiful! Actually, I remember now you saying it was going to be a moon, lol. My bad. I'll go to the corner now with my dunce cap. Ha!

Just lov-er-ly. I keep pressing my nose to the screen, but it's no use. Can't smell them.