Suzanne

e, I don't think it says it that it stops saponification at trace does it? I think you can control which oils make up the 5% or whatever percent. I'd have to differ with you on this e. It's not always black and white there's a lot of grey area in soaping, so to speak. We're talking chemistry here, alkalis and acids and neutralizing. Timing makes a big difference. I don't think the saponification process stops at trace nor do I think this website says that when you read it in full context. However if you are reading only excerpts of it, I can see how it might be understood that way.

Superfatting Soap - This means that oils or fats have been left in the soap unconverted by the lye either because the amount of lye was decreased to allow some fat/oil to remain or oil/fat was added at the trace stage after the mix had saponified. (In lay terms saponification means that the lye/water and oils have been mixed and brought to a trace stage where at this point the lye has been mostly neutralized. Any oil added at this stage will basically remain unchanged in the final soap bar) The method of adding additional fat to the soap mixture after it has saponified had an advantage in that it allows the soap maker to better control what oil is left in the soap. Adding the extra oil at this time keeps it in its natural state, and ready to instantly moisturize your skin as you use the soap. When superfatting your soap at the trace stage make sure you use the 1% excess fat lye amount. Otherwise the soap will be too oily because it will not only contain the oil you add at the trace stage but will also have excess fat from a lack of lye. Superfatting soap by decreasing the lye content eliminates the step of adding oil at trace but decreases the control that the soap maker has over what oil is left in the soap. For example, if 5% cocoa butter was added as part of the base oil (say 95% Olive Oil) and the lye amount was calculated for a 5% excess fat level the excess fat in the soap would be made up of a combination of Olive oil and cocoa butter with most of the excess fat being Olive oil. If the same batch was mixed using just Olive Oil at a 1% excess fat level and the cocoa butter was added at the trace stage you would know that the final soap bar contained 1% olive oil and 5% cocoa butter. The cocoa butter would have in this case been unaffected by the lye since it was added after the soap had traced. (NOTE - When adding oils at the trace stage (superfatting) be sure to use a lye calculatation that gives you about 1% excess fat. When using our Soap-Calc program or any other lye calculator do not include the oils that you will be adding at trace in the calculation) I came across this that I think explains what you might be asking. But remember, unsaponified oils risk getting DOS because oils do go bad after time. Here's the web site : http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/oils.html

Adding some beeswax with the soy seems to work the best for me. And ALWAYS keep a plate or something underneath the bear. The fragrance oils will eat right into wood furniture. Make sure and inform your customers of this also.

Yeah, a real eye opener for sure.

If you are feeling guilty about using plastic, take the ecological footprint quiz and see what else you might find out. Very interesting and informative. check it out http://www.earthday.net/footprint/info.asp

Try Sola's. They have the Nectarine Blossom and Honey. I haven't tried that one from Sola's but I've tried about a dozen other of her FO's and every single one of the them are strong throwers. It looks like the Nectarine Blossom and Honey is B&B safe also. They also have great customer service. http://www.solascandle.com/FragranceOils3.aspx

They could have, but doubtful. That was the straw that broke the camel's back with them for me. The quality of their fragrances that I tried were just so-so. To many other GOOD suppliers out there. dirtybirdsoaps - you should give Peak's a shot. They have excellent fragrances oils.

I wouldn't buy from them. Their customer service sucks. A couple years ago I bought a bunch of tins. They arrived all dinged up. They wouldn't take them back and only offered me partial credit to buy something else. Needless to say, I never did buy anything else. There's many excellent suppliers out there so I chose not to do business with them anymore.

Bethany!! You're killing me!! I'd be like a kid in a candy store if I went to Bramble Berry's.

Yes, LUCKY YOU!! I love hearing good things about excellent suppliers. I'm so jealous that you live soooooooo close. I'd be in heaven living that close to Bramble Berry.

Bramble Berry is an excellent supplier! They have great customer service and great quality products. Lots of great info on their site for research also.

Quote: Prestos or pour pots, for instance you'd submit as use tax. This is not true in Michigan (nor sure about other states). In Michigan for businesses there is an exemption for property (not land or real estate) which is used for modifying or changing the form, composition, etc for ultimate sale as retail. There is a lot of inconsistancies and inaccurate statements in this thread and I STRONGLY encourage you to take make an appointment with your accountant. There are many things you need to consider concerning your taxes. Your accountant would be very happy to explain the responsibilities you have as a business owner for your taxes. What I've seen in this thread about the Sales and Use Tax information is not correct. It differs for each state but their are exemptions and requirements you must comply with. It will be much easier for you to take the professional advice from your accountant. You're accountant will make it easy for you to understand and tell you what you need to track, keep records of, etc.

No universal scent with florals. Are all these FOs your referring to, from the same supplier? If so, I'd seriously consider trying another supplier.

Butterfly Hugs has an excellent hot throw in soy!

Paw Made has excellent customer service and product for soap making supplies. I've always been happy doing business with them. Washbasin Wonders went out of business several months ago.

Nature's Garden has it. They changed the name to "Sweet & Tempting".

Umm carebear. Nah that doesn't help. The ingredient lists are identical word for word, symbol for symbol. If you go to Moonglow's website and read the info on their soy whipped body butter not just the ingredients, it's the same info that's on GreenLeaf's website. I thought it seemed kind of strange but Grams shed some light on the issue.

Thanks for explanation Grams! BTW, welcome to CT. I like both GreenLeafs and MoonGlows Soy Whipped Body Butter. All this time I thought they were the same. Oh well, learn something new everyday.

I copied the lists from both sites. MoonGlows listing: INGREDIENTS: 1. Water 2. Hydrogenated Polyisobutene ~ emollient. 3. Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride ~ Coconut Oil 4. Butylene Glycol ~ Carries vitamins into skin. 5. Emulsifying Wax ~ binds water and oil. 6. Hydrogenated Soy Glyceride ~ conditioning agent. 7. Soybean Oil ~ Extracted from the soy bean. 8. Glyceryl Stearate ~ emulsifier ~ keeps product stable. 9. PEG-100 Stearate ~ derived from coconut ~ thickening agent. 10. Dimethicone ~ Moisturizing silicone skin conditioner. Also an anti-foaming agent. 11. Lecithin ~ 12. Stearyl Alchol ~ Refining agent and thickener. 13. Carbomer ~ emulsifier ~ stabilizing agent. 14. Phenoxyethanol ~ Preservative. 15. Tocopheryl Acetate ~ Vitamin E ~ Antioxidant vitamin, emollient, and moisturizer. 16. Triethanolamine ~ PH adjuster. 17. Citric Acid ~ Vitamin C ~ antioxident ~ also maintains PH balance. 18. Disodium EDTA ~ Water softener. Prevents solids from crystalizing, leaving white film, etc. 19. Methylparaben ~ Preservative. 20. Propylparaben ~ Preservative. Also kills bacteria and fungus, and is used medicinally to help treat fungal infections. 21. Ethylparaben ~ Preservative. 22. Butylparaben ~ Preservative. GreenLeaf’s listing: INGREDIENTS: 1. Water 2. Hydrogenated Polyisobutene ~ emollient. 3. Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride ~ Coconut Oil 4. Butylene Glycol ~ Carries vitamins into skin. 5. Emulsifying Wax ~ binds water and oil. 6. Hydrogenated Soy Glyceride ~ conditioning agent. 7. Soybean Oil ~ Extracted from the soy bean. 8. Glyceryl Stearate ~ emulsifier ~ keeps product stable. 9. PEG-100 Stearate ~ derived from coconut ~ thickening agent. 10. Dimethicone ~ Moisturizing silicone skin conditioner. Also an anti-foaming agent. 11. Lecithin ~ 12. Stearyl Alchol ~ Refining agent and thickener. 13. Carbomer ~ emulsifier ~ stabilizing agent. 14. Phenoxyethanol ~ Preservative. 15. Tocopheryl Acetate ~ Vitamin E ~ Antioxidant vitamin, emollient, and moisturizer. 16. Triethanolamine ~ PH adjuster. 17. Citric Acid ~ Vitamin C ~ antioxident ~ also maintains PH balance. 18. Disodium EDTA ~ Water softener. Prevents solids from crystalizing, leaving white film, etc. 19. Methylparaben ~ Preservative. 20. Propylparaben ~ Preservative. Also kills bacteria and fungus, and is used medicinally to help treat fungal infections. 21. Ethylparaben ~ Preservative. 22. Butylparaben ~ Preservative.

Why are the ingredient lists identical?

Laurie, Green Leaf's soy whipped body butter is the same as MoonGlow's. http://www.moonglowcandles.net/lotions.htm The ingredient listing for both sites is identical.

MillCreeks Birthday Cake is awesome in soy wax.

Very nice site MissMary. I may have missed it but I didn't notice an "About Us". If you want people to place orders using your website I would think you would need to have information about YOU and your company. I can't even see where you are located or would be shipping from on your site. And the contact us wouldn't cut it for me. That's to generic. You need to list the city, state, phone number and email for your company or a lot of people will shy away from ordering from you unless they know you. I'm sure you'll get it tweaked up just fine. Good luck to you!

It was you BIGCAT. Are you a sheep?

Vicki, ya screwed up the flow of the thread(s) by merging them after people posted. Some people weren't able to figure it out when you merged them.