sage

I received all my subscription issues and I am not going to renew. Loved the great pictures and the idea. Was disappointed with the articles almost teasing you with a little information that you could find on the internet and then letting you hang. Thought I would get more recipes that were more advanced instead of basic ones.I don't make candles, but I agree there wasn't much for all the candles makers.

Thanks! That made me laugh about the holes in the soap. It was a thought so may just leave that one alone.:rolleyes2

Has anyone tried putting chunks of mp soap in cp soap? If so did it melt the mp soap when it went into gel stage? I am wanting to try but didn't want to waste a batch of soap since I don't ever work with mp soap.

Does anyone have a recipe for sugar scrub that uses a fruit powder and is thick? This recipe sounds like it may be thick but wanted to use or try a fruit powder for natural color and scent.

Heard on the local and national news about lavender & tea tree essential oils in soaps,lotions,shampoos,etc. causing prepuberity boys to have a surge in estrogen and grow enlarged breasts. It was temporary because once they stopped using the oils in question the condition went back to normal. Is this just something new and really hasn't been fully tested yet? If so then this would cause a major back lash in baby products that have lavender in them. Just a thought and is making me wonder what the back lash will be for all bath and body products makers who are small time. I can hear the questions now at shows not to mention the liability.

You know, I wondered the same thing! I'm really new on the M&P circuit and ordered (what I thought was) three 1 pound blocks of Silk & Shea M&P from Jody's Soap & Creations.

Now, I fully understand M&P comes in larger (24lb?) blocks and they may or may not be cutting off my 1 pound hunks. What I got, however, was a 3 pound wedge of something. There was NO label on it and it was in.....get this....a white Walmart bag! And not even a clean one either! There was dirt and what I think was grass stuck to my wedge o'soap. I was not a happy girl. But what threw me was that it was sticky. Or moreso....tacky. (Of course the dirt stuck to it well!)

What's a girl to do? So, I took a tater peeler to the entire outside of that wedge. :lipsrseal Still tacky. I tried to grate the soap....just cuz I wanted to... and that didn't work well either. But I did get my Green Clover and Aloe soap made and while I like it....it still seems a bit tacky/greasy, even the un-tested bars.

I have ordered the sampler pack of soaps from SFIC....should be here tomorrow or Wednesday...and if those go well, I'm just gonna order from Peak's! I will not, however, order M&P stuff from Jody's again. Live and Learn!

Donna

I too ordered from Jody's and I hate to bash anyone. My order was in a box that the tape was all falling off of it and was partially open. I ordered deodrant containers and quality was good, but they smelled like mold. They were in plastic trash bags so I didn't lose any. I counted! The fact that they stunk so bad I was concerned that my product would smell so I had to air them out for several months. They still have that musty smell. I emailed with my complaint and heard nothing. I too will not order because quality is everything from a supplier.

From my experience I add the dilution water, leave it overnight. Then the next day it should all be good to go. Then I bring it back up to a good temp in the double broiler, make my borax solution with boiling water and then add it to the gel. My gel got even thicker after that. I am working on a new recipe this weekend, this time not adding the borax. Liquid soap is so fun to make.

Thanks for the feed back. I think my crock pot didn't get the temp up to where it should have been for the overnight wait. I WILL get the hang of this. I am wondering why it is cloudy this time after boiling it down in the double broiler for the second time. I think it has gotten even thicker since it has set awhile. Things are looking up.

I neutralized with borax solution but I had already added boiling water to the paste before I neutralized. I am sure I added way to much water. I did boil it down yesterday but didn't add anything else such as neutralizer to the already neutralized soap.It is a little thicker. I have it in jars right now and it is cloudy. It does look a little thicker. I am sure it just takes a few times of flubbs and then it falls in to place.

Ok got to ask what is slsa. Just wondering!! All these appreviations sometimes throw me for a loop. I can't get the picture to come up either.

Hibiscuss sorry I didn't notice that you had replied to one of my posts. I added more distilled water to that recipe because my paste was still really thick and gooey after I added the 40 oz. of water in his recipe. I let it sit over night after stirring it a few times and I wondered if it cooled down too much during the night before it had a chance to dilute. So like a newbie that I am making liquid soap, I added more water and then it was too much. I like my liquid soap to be thick enough to stand on wash cloth and you can see it. It still has to be able to pump through a pump bottle. That is my goal. :highfive:

OK I finally took my runny soap:undecided and used the double boiler method to boil out some of the water. It is still a little runny,but looking like it might be some what thicker than it was. My house smelled great, but wondered if that boiled out most of my essential oils for scent. I feel like a dork, but this has me stumped. Appreciate the feed back I got.

I followed David's recipe using sunflower oil and coconut oil. I had the soap heating in a crock pot when I added the boiling water. I wonder if my crock pot doesn't get it hot enough. Do I pour the soap into the double boiler method now or do I wait till two weeks of resting then try to get some of the water boiled down?

This question is for candlespastore. I tried the tutorial from candle and soap this weekend. Everything was going great and I got to the dilute the paste part. I stirred it twice with the boiling water then again and took his advice and went to bed leaving it covered in crock pot till morning. This is where I had trouble. The gel was still gooey and didn't mix that well so I stirred it again the next morning. I turned the crock pot back on and then neutralized it. It still was soft but gooey and nothing like liquid. I boiled more distilled water and thinned it down after adding my essential oils. It is now in jars resting but now is too thin. I can buy some thickener but wondered if anyone else had that problem with the recipe he gave. I also didn't understand the dilution chart so I may have added too much water to the paste. I also have lab grade KOH so wondered if that had anything to do with it not diluting in the dilute the paste stage. I am wondering if lab grade doesn't take as much and may have messed up the calculations of KOH. I am not giving up and it smells wonderful.

I read all the soap rants and laughed a good laugh. I started my business three years ago after many years of figuring this all out. (Still figuring lol) My sister in law who worked in this really nice furniture and gift store decided I was worthy to come before the boss with my products. Well the boss ordered some products to sell and my sister in law who is an interior decor. puts some of the most beautiful displays in the store together. She has such talent and has made them a lot of money. I thought I had a good thing going. Well weeks later I walked in the store and couldn't find my products anywhere. They were shoved down on the last shelf of bath and body things with other products placed in front so they were lost in the shuffle. I got the hint from her so when we have gatherings I love talking about all my new wholesale clients and shows. No more freebies for her.

ere is my mom who bless her heart trys to support me and buys my soap. She always tells me I need to make an antibacterial soap. Mom will not be convinced my soap will take off the germs too. It is how you wash your hands and do it properly. Got to love them!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jasmine and Cool Citrus Basil from MMS for soap. Nasty!!!!!!!!!

I got my order fine except the deodorant containers all smelled like they came from a moldy basement. Had to air them out and hoped they didn't smell like that with product in it. The containers were good quality though.:undecided That is all I have ever ordered from her.

My experience with Select Oils or Tree Frog or what ever they go by was terrible. The oils were of poor quality and very expensive. It took me over 6 months to get all of my order and many phone calls. They always had an excuse. I think they should be reported to some better business organization. I got to the point of not trusting them that I never used their products in any of my stuff. I learned a good lesson from all of this as to how not to treat a customer and run a business in this manner. I love the family picture as to how they are a christian business. Makes you wonder if the site and business is really all it is cracked up to be.