Sponiebr

Chicks, cave's, and killer critters is what does it for ya huh Trapp? Rawk on!

There's your suggestion Moonie... Game of Thrones is what you need to be watching. I haven't seen even one episode yet but there's this blond dragon chick called Danny or sommat... so I'm DEFINITELY gonna be watch'n THAT...

Well, DON'T blink or you'll miss it even on Google Earth...

I need the beard oil to keep me from developing corn-flake beardruff (dandruff in a beard which is gross even to me the "Swam-(pop!) thang".

Well, J YOU asked... Lock Sport. AKA: lock picking. No I'm not joking for once. A small set of picks and a really difficult padlock will get more giggles outta my soul than a Rubik's cube. Ok, so you THINK you live in a world where you need too be all certified? You probably DON'T live in that kind of world, but if you did you can make your own picks on the spot. (yes bobby pins work) It's a very useful skill and I also find it to be a highly entertaining and extremely CHEAP hobby I can also do in the dark. MOST States don't require licensure to own or use picks, (assuming you're NOT doing anything WRONG). More info on that here: http://toool.us/laws.html All you need to make wonderful picks is the TOOOL website, a pack or 2 of these: https://www.dollartree.com/Royal-Norfolk-Paring-Knives-4-ct-Packs/p406592/index.pro?cm_mmc=Product+Feeds-_-Google-_-n%2Fa-_-252999&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIutH2uNzx1QIVUjaBCh1s6Ag7EAQYAyABEgJNrfD_BwE a REALLY cheap set of needle files from Walmart. (Like $3.95) You could also just get a decent set off of Amazon or Ebay or direct from the manufacturer. By decent I mean no more than 10 picks and a set of tension wrenches are all you need. I make 90% of my own gear anyway... You'll need a lock of YOUR OWN too... You can get whole boxes of them from Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill for next to nothing. To learn really in depth stuff about the hows and what-for-we-does-it's you can take a look at: Lock-lab.com (Bill's BRILLIANT.) The most FUN thing about lock sport though is listening to and watching people become INSTANTANEOUS experts on both State and International Business Regulation and Criminal law. Oh... and the minutiae of EXACTLY what constitutes an implement of burglary while always summarizing with "You can get into BIG trouble with that... Oh yeah! BIG TROUBLE..." is AHMAZE-BALLS! (Do what I do and just nod and NEVER ask them how many years a sentencing runs, or for a statute, because as they WILL tell you... THAT'S NOT THE POINT! ) Cheers, Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services BONANZA!

I make my own beard "oil" though most would call it really more of a lotion... By most I mean everyone... I mean it has some water in it so that's a lotion... "Some water" , meaning pretty close to MOSTLY water with some ewax and "nourishing oils" in it. Well... sort of... It DOES have mineral oil in it, oh and fragrance OIL which is how I qualify oils! Yeah. BUT... I USED to use some almond oil and some jojoba and, well I don't do that anymore. You'd be surprised at how "nourishing" water is to a beard... <----- no joke. I remember one (or more) of those how-to-be-a-manly-man-of-a-man websites had some suggested mixes... (meh.) Cheers, Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services and sometimes, but not always, a punctuationally challenged sentence or 20...

I'm in Flagler Beach area... Key West is on your bucket list huh? I've never been there either... I'd like to hit the old Dry Tortugas at some point, maybe during like a Hurricane cause Fort Jackson AIN'T going nowhere, and hell that'd be an experience! There's a couple o'm... This one? https://smile.amazon.com/Issey-Miyake-Dissey-Toilette-Fraiche/dp/B017RBL102/ref=sr_1_10_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1503475604&sr=8-10&keywords=leau+dissey+pour+homme I must say... The name is "interesting..." "Issey's man water: Fresh toilette water spray" (Did I translate that correctly!?) Ok... So that's what's do'n it for the ladies these days? OK! I WILL (coughs) try it out... I mean I trust y'all and that's a good thing too cause @Barbara AL Jo-Lo's scent description is (I swear, not even I could come up with a description like this): Fragrance Notes: Vodka mixes beautifully with frozen mint, passion fruit, leather and caviar Hell I'm prob'ly gonna buy this 'cause I mean HELLO!!! J-LO!!!! By the by... A search for "Deseo" on Amazon yields some VERY interesting results...

I think I got some cinnamon sticky bun laying about somewhere... Thanks moonie! I have a dupe of Aqua Di Gio and a dupe of Bleu de Channel I have REAL Burbury Week End for men which is my favorite for the 'spensive stuff. (I bought that a VERY long time ago, almost 15 years now) ) My other stand by's are Adidas: Moves (for drugstore cologne it's pretty darned sophisticated.) Old Spice: Because I'm a MAN!... DAMMIT! Bay rum: (See Old Spice comment) and my personal all-time-just-damned-If-I-can-beat-it-for-noth'n-favorite : Lanman & Murray Florida Water. (Lots of spice and citrus up there which is befitting a Florida Cracker )

SO I went into Ulta yesterday after Church to see if I could find a good price on a chick magnet cologne... Million by Paco Rabanne comes HIGHLY recommended from the ladies... So as I'm poking about I found a bottle of Burbury perfume... No for homme or fer herre just Burbury... So I put a little on a tester strip and did the whole sniff coffee beans and blah blah blah. It was nice with lots of ozone and something a little light and sweet in there... Pikake? I don't know, but I DO know that it reminded me STRONGLY of something... Oh YEAH! Sea Mist by CS. NOT an exact dupe by with a little more ozone and a light sweet floral you'd have it. Just thort I'd share...

OMG! IT'S SUZYK!!!! Good to see ya! Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services...

Ok thanks! It sounds like I'm actually masterbatching as it is. I do up 6-10 portions of fats pre-weighed and mixed, and my lye for each is pre-weighed and in little containers ready to be added to my liquid. The only things I have to weigh out are the SF, and the liquid. All the rest of the ingredients are tblsp or tsps and my FO is done with a 60 ml syringe so I can get x ml of FO fast. And I have to chop up and add the silk to the liquid,but that doesn't take very long. What I don't like about my current method is that I am stuck with a fixed size batch. That kinda sucks because my mold can be set at anything between 0 and 164 cubic inches (even once while I was pouring I expanded it to accept a miscalculation in volume), but I only have 1 mold. I should probably make another one huh? Hmmmmm....

Ok, let me ask something here, because the only reason I've not been masterbatching is because of the palm separating out in my batches. I do premix and batch out my fats but they are individually portioned and weighed per each tub, and the palm (I'm assuming it's the palm) always settles to the bottom. The reason I don't masterbatch my lye is becuase I use 100% aloe vera juice, but I supposed I could still masterbatch that and store it at room temp? I dunno... I mean if I have to weigh out something anyway how does prebatching my lye help with anything? liquid lye seems more dangerous than the dry pearls at least in terms of storage and spill/leak cleanup. Also does AV juice actually do ANYTHING in all y'all's experience or am I just wasting money?

(BAR KEEP! Hiya... Gimme a double of what the lady on the ceiling is having. Oh and send her another round on me.) Geeeze TT get your soap on? Ok, so how long did it take you to make that much soap? I SO wanna be like @TallTayl when I grow up... ETA: You poor thing...

WHAT!?

I'm with TT and Candy on this, I use peppermint EO, BUT... It DEPENDS on what you want out of the peppermint... You can go with the Asian Peppermint M.Asiatica which is rather dull in odor but has A LOT of menthol... M. Arvensis which is the corn mint Candy mentions (mint-shuns?) It's a rather dull and well... Frankly it's just weak, cheap, crap... I mean it'll DO if you can't get any other peppermint, but if you KNOW what peppermint feels, tastes, or smells like it ain't really gonna flush your bowl IYKWIM... Then there's the flat out good old fashioned Mentha Piperita... THAT'S THE GOOD STUFF. I get mine from whoever's got the best price. I've had good luck with NOW! Foods brand off of Amazon... Actually, I'd really have to say that's my favorite brand for M.Piperita EO. I've got a pound of M.Arvensis from Bulk but I haven't used any yet, it smells ok for Japanese Mint... (shrugs) Mountain Rose Herbs supposedly has some good stuff too. I'm all ABOUT the TINGLE!!!

Not for nothing but there ARE some EO's that are safe to ingest... Peppermint is one that comes to mind, but SURE AS HELL you don't want to drop'm straight... I REALLY couldn't imagine doing straight lemoline on my tongue... (I mean DAMN... It MELTS PLASTIC...) Then again certain foods are prepared using lye, but that doesn't mean LYE is safe to EAT... My ex wife gave me some pure oregano oil liquid caps... Said that it would help with my digestive issues... That it would kill off all the yeast I obviously had in my gut from eating bread and drinking beer... (We were engaged at the time) It damned near burnt a hole through my gut. She failed to mention that I had to consume the ENTIRE VOLUME OF LAKE MEAD inside of 1 hour after taking it, JUST to dilute it ENOUGH so as to NOT KILL ME. Then there was the colloidal silver... Take just enough so that your nails START to turn blue. (In retrospect that really should have been a "clue") When I pointed out silver was just TERRIBLE stuff to take into your body, "No... no... It's not... because it's (wait for it)... Coloidal..." Then I told her to look up "Argyria", I never heard of colloidal silver again. It's Young Living.... JP Explains it PERFECTLY here:

Ok... Some quick soapmaker's questions: Do you ever say that you buy FO's from a Chandler's supply? Also does anyone know if FO's have a "base oil" that the EO is blended into or are most FO's like CS or BB just straight EO's? I usually frame it as "I have a bunch of different Professional Candle and Soap making Suppliers that I buy from." This always beget's the shocked look and (I quote) "CANDLE MAKER'S SUPPLY!!??" Yep. "Most soap makers will buy from candle maker's because the FO's are the same for candles and for soaps. SOME FO's can't be used in soap and those types are clearly labeled as 'not skin safe' " I also tell them I sometimes will blend the FO's to create something unique... Which is true, I DO have a couple of scents that I DO blend... I'll never tell what my mix is and I'll never tell if a soap has one of my FO blends my ingredients label clearly states: "fragrance oil blends". If they push the issue I don't have any problem with telling them who my suppliers are, hell I'll give them my soap calc sheet with the method laid out for the soap, they still won't be able to make MY soap in any other quantity than what's on that sheet, (well maybe a experienced soapmaker might be able to figure out what the secret is but I wouldn't withhold that info from an experienced soap maker anyway). You see I thoroughly believe in helping other professionals (yes even my competition) in becoming successful. I don't always get the same in return, but the real point is don't ever forget "You are being watched. You are being judged. Play nice. ALWAYS." The truth of the matter is that if your competitor flourishes you also garner SOME of that business to yourself especially if YOU help them. It gets noticed. Also, people get into talking about buying small batch hand crafted soap and candles and more people start BUYING small batch hand crafted soap. At some point your competitor will not be able to keep up with HANDCRAFTING small batches of soap to meet the demand and if they UPGRADE to bigger batches, then TAG, YOU'RE IT because they aren't making small batched stuff anymore... If they DON'T make bigger batches then TAG you're IT for the overflow. If there's a HUGE hand crafted small batch soap makers presence in your area you're not going to be able to sell around there anyway unless you have something really unique. You see... There really isn't any actual competition in this kind of endeavor, because the product is unique to the maker. It's art... Sponiebr: The Executor of Call-me-Naive-but-don't-call-me-late-for-supper.

Let's see here...How about an eternally dimmed desecrated abyss filled by smoldering oranges, rusts, fetid browns, putrid ochers, charred sienna, umber, and bilious greenish-yellow-grays. A soul ending silence that stills even the inanimate stones from their inexorable march through time evokes malice, unrest, and absolute despair amidst a dense atmosphere thick with sulfurous acrid sooty fumes, swampy miasma, sewage, and biting flies... Here souls are vanquished from the very hope and sight of God, but they SWEAR they're gonna start building a new facility for us soon... I'll believe it when I see it.

Oh hell... I dunno... My local Walmart? Also this reminds me that I need to send my ex a copy with Canto 34 book marked... Sponiebr: QUI HUC INTRASTI OMISSA SPE

Love the Med Fig from CS! I normally cut it 50%/50% with a "Sugar" FO (Pink or brown sugar). THe fig tree is nice as well but I'm with ya on the name, it smells NOTHING like a fig tree! The Fig trees in Florida don't smell ANYTHING like that, to be honest it DEPENDS on WHERE you smell them fig trees at... (PERSONALLY I'd stick to sniffing above oh... say DOG height...) But for a name... You know reading your comment and the rabbit hole and then you mentioned Utah, and my mind went to a desert and then I thought of Umbrella Corp and That made me think of Resident Evil which made me think of Grace Slick... o.O WHAT to CALL THIS!? Go ask Alice... I think she'll know...THAT'S IT! "ASK ALICE" (Dang... I really should go into the business of naming stuff...) Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas, Sundry Services and Magnate of Whaddyacallit... PS: I took BOTH the red pill and the blue pill TOGETHER... I'm doing MUCH better now...

Hey @Terry I mostly agree with @Jcandleattic and @Candybee, 1. Nice looking soaps! 2. absolutely lose the stearic. 3. JC made mention of this about the white bits being possibly overcooked (meaning dehydrated) soap and I usually get this in my soaps when I don't quite get everything off the bottom. 4. Here's where I differ in opinion, I personally don't discount the yogurt from my water content, because really in HP you're going to lose a lot of water from steam and processing and, just for me I don't find it necessary. 5. I hate to say it but I don't use honey in my formulations anymore, well, I DO use it in 1 and only 1 CP soap and it's really more of a gimmick than because I really want it in there. Honey as beautiful and wonderful a substance as it is just SUCKS in soap. White sugar works WAY better in my experience. Beeswax DOES work nicely in soap, but it's got it's own set of problems. Good looking formulation, and because you're using sodium lactate (even if you didn't it'd still be just fine) your bars should turn out after a week or so nice a hard. The softness is likely (as has already been mentioned) due to water still in the soap, BUT something else that I've found is that it COULD be air. My soap floats, and if you put a stick blender or a whisk into that pot after the soap had hit potato or vasoline stage you probably have some incorporated air in there. Floating soap is not a bad thing in my book, but it does wear a little faster, however the SL will mitigate some of that softness. Here's the way I do my HP soaps and I get a nice smooth fluid batter that can be poured and colored and swirled and (oh the fun you will HAVE) I have adapted my method from Valerie Mosher's method which I HIGHLY reccomend you check out. This is her Youtube i normally point folks to: Anyway to recap my technique: 1. I soap at 38-40% water and I only put in about 30-33% water in the initial cook. The rest of the water I split off and the bulk of which I use to dissolve the white sugar (1TBSP PPO) I keep the sugar water well warmed and under plastic wrap so as not to lose any to evaporation. The other part of the water I use in my yogurt and/or clay mix. I do this because I freeze my yogurt into preweighed cubes and they tend to dry out in the freezer. (Another reason I don't discount my water for the yogurt) But even fresh yogurt I add water to and if there is kaolin clay added I only add enough water to make a runny yogurt like consistency... It's also kept sealed up and warm. You'll see a trend here that EVERYTHING is WARM. 2. I let my lye solution cool down a tad mostly because I add silk to my solution and it needs some time to dissolve. 3. I soap at 0% SF and I ADD a SPECIFIC fat (usually OO or CO) at the end of the cook after all of the soap has saponified. USUALLY I SF at 5% and I'll split the superfat across my mica's which are added at the end of the cook. 4. KEEP THE CROCK POT SEALED UP WITH PLASTIC WRAP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. You're gonna have to do hand to hand combat , well spoon/whisk/dough whisk/stirring thingy to soap combat with active volcanoes... It's GONNA HAPPEN so be prepared and be wearing your protective gear. 5. Ok at between >170F <190F I start my soaping I add my lye to the fat and I SB it until light trace. I leave the crockpot on warm at this point. then I wipe down the sides and seal it with the plastic wrap and I LEAVE it alone until a.) it starts to volcano and I have to beat it back down or b.) Absolutly not more than 12 minutes has passed. Generally once I see it bubbling up at the edges and rolling onto the top I'll turn the pot to off for a few minutes. I normally get some combat in at around 6-8 minutes. ( I don't time it anymore to be perfectly honest) 6. I just keep beating it back down as it threatens to leave the pot wiping down the sides as I go resealing it until it's stable and in vasoline stage. 7. I turn the pot off and I let the sealed up soap sit and cool down stirring only occasionally to get even cooling. I check all of my temps at this point (IMPORTANT) with a digital stick-it-in-the-pot thermometer. I would NOT trust my laser temp reader at this point. I let the temperature get NO HIGHER than 200F and I personally want it at around 195F. It's HIGHLY IMPORTANT that you make SURE the BOTTOM and SIDES are checked for temperature the as ALL of the batter needs to be well below boiling otherwise when you add the sugar water it could hit a superheated pocket of soap and blow up/volcano on you... Which isn't going to be caustic at this point but it will be sticky above boiling lava goo soap and that can really hurt ya... 8. At 195F I add in my sugar water and mix it in thoroughly. Then I seal it back up and let the mix cool down to around 178F. 9. at 178F (ish) I add in the yogurt and clay mix and I let it set for oh... 5-6 minutes sealed up. 10 at around 150-165F I add in my SL first, rest 3-5 min... then my FO (I don't usually rest it at this point, though if it;s sealed up it doesn't hurt a thing) I'll SB it a little and then I blend up my colors with the SF. At that last bit with the FO and the SF it should be just as loose as medium trace CP soap. I usually use some sort of ITP swirl and then I'll hanger or chopstick the hell out of it... I think there's some pictures of some recent stuff i've done in the Old B&B style subforum... The specifics of how to get a smooth and fluid batter seems to be very much dependant upon adding everything after the cook AND in order of sugar, milks, SL, SF & FO or (FO and SF it doesn't seem to make much difference, in FACT I've used some of the FO to mix my micas with before.) AND at specific temperature ranges. Man, I resisted HP for a while but after I saw Valerie's results I HAD to give it a go and, well... I almost NEVER make CP anymore. I like the lowered FO requirements, the fast "cure" time, the consistency, the ability to specify exactly what I use as a SF, and the lack of color morphs really make this the more attractive option *for me*. Anywho... I know that's a chunk to swaller but I hope it helps some. Cheers, Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services.

SAY 'ELLO TO MY LEETLE FREAND!!!!! You can get away with straight sided cork stoppers If ya put some ribbon and crap around the top outside edge... Like even a thin layer of, CORK.... o.O (ya know, for the purist) If you have to cut'm a hole saw might be ONE of your cheapest routes. You COULD even use a jigsaw with a tilt table to cut your stoppers but that too will require the old nail-in-a-board circle cutting jig. (Really, it's just a nail in a board. Lookkit: ) Oh and here's a little more info about cutting cork, razors really DO work best... But, OH LOOK! A CORK supplier too... O.O https://www.bangorcork.com/how-to-cut-cork-32120 You can also "roll-your-own" by taking a strip of very thin cork and adding a little glue on the inside face wind up a cork stopper like a jelly roll. Then you sand, file, or pare the side down to the taper you want... There are a BUNCH of different ways of doing this. I actually own some of these jars and they are fantastic! I've had mine for around 15 years and the corks are still good. https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/clear-glass-wide-mouth-cork-top-jar/profile Slainte! Sponiebr

Um, I've done this before though NOT at 4". You'd need a (God forgive me for what I'm about to do) You're gonna want something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Malco-GOS5EV-4-Inch-Gutter-Outlet/dp/B00EFA4XZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1502194964&sr=1-1&keywords=4"+fine+hole+saw That'll give you a 4" diameter straight sided plug. To taper it though... yeah... That becomes more of a challenge. You'd need a disc sander with a tiltable table like this: https://www.amazon.com/Delta-Equipment-31-140-Sander-12-Inch/dp/B00812RELM/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1502195388&sr=1-5&keywords=disc+sander BUT WAIT!!!! THERE'S MORE!!!! (slow blink) You'll need to create a jig that pins the plug in the center and allows you to basically spin the plug (think center hole on a fidget spinner) You'll tilt the table of the disc sander to your desired taper, bearing in mind that the plug is already at or slightly smaller than 4" so the end of the taper has to intersect at 0 for you to maintain a 4" major diameter. Oh, and your jig HAS TO BE FIXED IN PLACE so that the new plug inserted will turn all nicely and brush up against the sanding disc at the same depth as the last one, I'd make it with at least 2 or three outside rollers for quick alignment of the new plug... Or there's THIS: https://www.amazon.com/WIDGETCO-Size-Cork-Stoppers-Standard/dp/B00QIJNMUM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1502197057&sr=8-4&keywords=4"%2Bcork%2Bstoppers&th=1 HTH, Sponiebr: The Executor of BAD ideas and Sundry Services.

Ok, so I added FCO as the superfat to one of my batches of soap the other day and it got me to wondering... Fractionated Coconut Oil is by definition Coconut oil... So if I already have coconut oil listed on my ingredients label do I have to list Fractionated Coconut Oil? You know how potato chip companies list ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following:Canola, Soybean, Cottonseed, Corn, Fossilized Vegetable (in the form of paraffin)) Is anyone here doing that? I'm not going to use FCO or MCT as a soaping oil, but only as the SF component, and normally it's either OO or CO, (though I might use Avocado oil here in the future...it depends on how fast it will turn on me...) I'm making up ingredients labels and I was just wondering... Along these same lines... It would be nice to have 1 ingredient label for ALL of my bars of soap. (I've been reading Soap & Cosmetic Labeling by Marie Gale) It's soap, and it's called soap BUT WOULD it be acceptable, to list additives that are not normally listed in the ingredients by maybe adding a line with: May contain one or more of the following special additives as indicated on the front label (Whole Oat Flour, Salt, Beeswax, or Honey)" and put "MADE WITH REAL BEE'S PUKE erm... HONEY" or whatever on the front label (the front labels are all different anyway) ? Or perhaps the "similar items" "alternative" type of listing of "May contain one or more of the following special additives: Whole Oat flour and Honey in the "Tiffany's at Breakfast" soap. Beeswax in the "Holly's Snickers" Soap, and Salt in the "Goddess Says NO!" soap). One bottom label would simplify my labeling ENORMOUSLY, but if I've just gotta print'm up in sets then so be it... Like for the soaps with VS in them I've got a separate label for those because it's a really significant part of the ingredients... Just interested in your thoughts. Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad yadda... yadda... yadda...