elle110

Don't mean to steal the thread but quick ??? about dendretic, I use it but was told it eleviated clumping, didn't know if helped with scent. How much ppo salts do you add? Michelle

Just went to our super wal-mart and it is already gone there, completely wiped out. I have a 3 day show this weekend, hope I can sneak away tomorrow and find some to stock up on. And yes, I am bummed about having to buy onlline and pay shipping. I am going to try some local plumbers and pool supplies etc. I will let you know if I find some trade type of people that have it and willing to sell. Michelle

Bunny, Will you send me that recipe for the Bootllicious butter? Thanks Michelle

ditto on the cyclo, works great as room/linen/body spray and my customers love it. The easy is out of this world and it takes scent nicely. Plus most FO blend nicely so you can use a clear bottle. HTH Michelle

thanks a ton Sara

I got this this off another website and tweeked it a little (some of the EOs) but it has been a very good seller and a lot of repeat buyers Caster Oil 3.5 oz Coconut Oil 18 oz vegetable shortening 6.5 oz olive oil 13.5 oz Palm Oil 14.5 oz 8 oz lye 21 oz water I added some jojoba at trace, this is optional You can add the EO you like, I used sweet orange, lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree and peppermint, Citronella is a very good one for bug repelling. Michelle

I have been using the type of base that comes concentrated and you add your own distilled water and additives but since reading some of the post regarding these bases not always being preserved correctly I want to switch bases. Currently, I make a large batch, add FO and my addtives and then transfer to jugs with pumps and then I can bottle as I sell them. Any ideas on how I can do this with a base I purchase already made? Can I transfer some of the base to my mixer and FO etc and then transfer to my dispensing jugs? Or any other ideas? It just seems there would be a small profit on pre-made bases compared to the multibase Michelle

OK, I have never rebatched anything so I need all the help I can get here. The first one I have is a rose soap, it completely cured, what would I do if I wanted to make a completely new soap with it, of course, it will still be rose? Do I melt down in crockpot with liquid, do I add more FO? etc The 2nd is a soap that is 2 wks old, I asked about it previously on the board because when I added the FO to this one it started curdling. After unmolding it had fragrance pockets and still does in a lot of area, although they are not as soft as they were in the beginning. Do I shred this one and melt, do I add liquid etc? TIA Michelle

19. elle110

what do you mean it has to much coconut in it? Are you saying it has to much because it seems to be drying? Or because of the smell? If you bought it from a reputable seller and you are unhappy with the product I would try to return it, that happened to me when I first started, I started with M&P and the first bases I bought had a terrible smell, FO and EO would not even combat the odor, so I called the supplier and told them I was very unhappy with the base and why and they let me send it back. Michelle

gorgeous, what did you use for color?

I researched, in the past, about how they get the Emu Oil and yes, they get it like they get lard, by rendering, which I would guess is the same way they get the alligator oil

Yep, no more than 1 T per LB, but some oils you need to use less, and EO alot less, and ditto on the all natural glycerin bases, they are softer and alot more slippery especially in humid areas. If using a M&P base that is not all natural you may have left them out in the air to long before unmolding and wrapping and the humidity go to them Michelle

I think someone said you could get it from pool supplie store, can't remember, what about plumbing supply or hardware store. I get it at Walmart

by the way what is sooz

Bunny I am doing CP Michelle

Ok looking at your instructions to build a recipe makes sense to me. Now I am hung-on how to check a recipe I currently am using to see what the percentages are Here it is: Coconut Oil 16oz Veg. Shortening 42oz Olive Oil 27 oz Palm Oil 11oz and then I either superfat with shea, olive or mango butter at trace 2oz I have had a lot of success wth this recipe but is there any revision I should make to make it better? etc Michelle

I have only had trouble with whipped butters that had a lot of vanilla in them so I now use low profile jars for my butters. I do not line the lotion bar tins or seal them with anything and have not had any problems with them but I don make sure I use the ones like WSP I think they are the better of the ones I have tried. Michelle

do you mean lotion bars in tubes? Why couldn't you use eucalyptus and peppermint EO, they are great for tired achy muscles, I make that blend in lotion bars and bath salts and they are my best-sellers at shows. They smell great. Michelle

IMO, the push-up tubes do not sell as well. I honestly don't know why, they are really more convenient. All the shows I do their is always at least 1 other soaper who has the push-ups and they are lucky to sell a dozen of them. I, on the other hand, sell at least several hundred. Also, I did alot of research on ebay before I started selling in that venue and the people doing the tubes never sold their lotion bars whereas there were always people buying the bars. I sell a lot of them on ebay as well, and have tons of repeat business. But, you have to try what works for you. Here is the recipe I use: This makes 3 1oz bars but, I of course make a lot larger batches: 1 oz beeswax 1/2 oz shea butter 1/2 oz cocoa butter 1 oz of your favorite oil such as sweet almond, safflower etc 1 1/2 tsp. FO or less if the fragrance is strong, if using EO use alot less, but you will have to experiment Then for color I use jojoba spheres, they melt into the lotion bars and make a great color, it only takes a little of color for this batch, but you have to add to your liking, I melt the beeswax, butters, oil and jojoba spheres together in microwave, then take out add the fo once they have cooled just a bit, but not to much as not to start solidifying. I put my muffin tin on scale and zero out, then weight 1 oz into each tin, let cool and put in 2 oz tins from WSP (I use the regular size muffiin tins) Hope this helps, I get my spheres at Natures Garden, they have a sampler pack of colors that is great and you can mix colors to make new ones Michelle

What are you using for colorant? Do you mind sharing the recipe so I can see what might be holding you up? What size bars are you making? Are you using EO or FO? I make mine in muffin tins and they come out perfectly butttttt when I first started making them I ran into tons of problems and one of them was the colorant, when I started using the jojoba spheres they got tons better, and then I had to deal with the beeswax, if you do not have enough beeswax in your recipe you will have a very soft bar that does not want to give, even if you put in the fridge. Another culprit can be using EO, you really have to adjust the amount of EO in the bars or they stay to soft. You cannot use much EO at all. So your recipe my be great but just need a few tweaks if you want to be able to make bars instead of tubes. My lotion bars sell like crazy at shows and on my website, they are one of my most popular items, and people say they love the ones in the bar form. I don't know what I would do without them. Michelle

I put mine in tins and have never had that problem, I actually just went and got one of my personal ones that I had from Christmas and it still looks great and smells awesome. I do not wrap them in anything or cure them. I just make them and plop them right in the tin once they are solid. It could be the shea butter crystalizing or becoming gritty (that is if you are using shea), I have had that problem with shea butter in lip balms in the past. What are you using to color them, I use jojoba spheres and have had no problem with cloudiness. Hopes this helps Michelle

Thanks for all the suggestions, at least I was headed in the right direction with my thinking this time. kinda scary. I will try some of these and post results. Michelle

I am curious, when I am at outdoor shows most of them do not have the best restroom accomidations and most certainly do not have sinks, soap etc. Does anyone have a recipe for a hand sanitizer or I was wondering couldn't I take Aloe Gel and add alcohol and FO if I wanted it and have something similar to what is sold on the market. Thanks Michelle

I have had some customers ask me if I use organicly grown products in my soap, some people do want to know this and it is very important to them. Only people who purchase their ingredients that are specifically organically grown usually put organic soap on their labels, and since the lye is gone it would not be usually listed. Most consumers who buy natural soaps, I have found, have a basic understanding of the process of making soap so they are not necessarily concerned about the lye used in the soap but if they want organic they want to know if the plants/herbs/butters etc were grown that way. Some suppliers sell organic butters, oils etc just for that reason. I don't think people who put that on their lables are being deceptive if that is what they are using I feel like a just ran in a circle LOL but anyway that is my 2 cents worth Michelle