Loretta

May Chang?

I got this recipe from a book by Tatyana Hill, there is a basic soap base recipe and a moisturising soap base recipe and from these 2 recipes there are then variations and it looked like a good idea to me. I used the recipe as it was.

When I have made other batches I have followed the recipes exactly and they have worked.

I do not know how to use the soapcal I have tried! and this is why I have followed an exact recipe. I thought if I learnt the technique I would then be able to figure out how to make up my own.

Although this hasn't worked I now understand what makes soap hard or soft. In the other recipes I have used palm oil, this is the first one where I have not used it.

Shall I just leave this in the mold for a couple of weeks and see what happens and keep an eye on it?

Thanks for all your help, I love making soap but I think it is going to take years before I get it right!!

I am quite new to soapmaking, I have made several batches which have worked. I am trying different recipes using different oils and butters to see which I like bst and choose which one I want to use regularly as my basic one.

I used this recipe on Sunday

1lb 5 1/2 oz coconut oil

1lb 7 3/4 oz sunflower oil

1lb 7 3/4 oz oilive oil

8 1/2 oz caustic soda

32 3/4 fl oz water

I did what I always do but as soon as I added the lye water to the oil it was different, it seemed very liquid and it seemed to take much longer to reach trace than any of the other recipes I have used. I was going to unmold it 24 hours later but it was very soft and sticky so I left it another 24 hours and it was still soft and sticky but I managed to get it out of the mold. I have left it drying now but I am not sure if it is going to change or take a long time to start going hard.

I probably won't use this recipe again I will go back to the ones that did work but I want to know if this recipe should have worked.

I hope all this makes sense!

Well, I added some more glycerin and it stayed soft. I used it anyway and it bubbled well, felt nice and smelled lovely, I used Juniper breeze. But I just want it to go hard!

Any ideas

I haven't made these yet but I did read the recipe and found this.

Looks like you can still try to save the batch you made.

Thanks I'll try that

I made some of these 2 days ago and all seemed well and when I put it in the loaf tin and squashed it down it felt really firm and seemed to be going hard nearly straight away

I have looked at it today and it is just a fine powder and dry and I know that it is never going to go hard now.

What have I done wrong?

I expect I can still use it just by sprinkling some into the bath but I want Bars!

Help:confused:

I think this is a great idea, i ususally try to get my molds from the us and packaging, but as you say a lot is on the shipping.

I think that the supply of packaging in the Uk is the hardest part

I forgot to say just a couple of days ago I emailed jeff at logan bear candles, I found him on this wonderful site, to see if he would consider sending me things, particularly soap moulds, and he said he would and was very helpful. I am at the moment looking and checking exactly what I want, this is such a breakthrough and I am so grateful to him

Brilliant, count me in

When I first joined this site Chauntelle contacted me, sorry Chauntelle I think about you but with one thing and another I didn't get round to email you recently but I will very shortly! and we both had this dream that one day we would be able to afford to go over to the US and buy loads of stuff, we are so envious of you over there, even basic stuff over here is hard to get and we look at what you have got and just cannot believe it.

One day..............!!

Thanks CareBear! Sounds like a cool decoration and home scenting option. I'm going to try it one day soon!

Thanks for all the replies, this was fun and easy to do and they smell good, they are just beginning to dry so I hope they last, I did not do the orris root but I will next time.

I hope that they dry completley and last

If left alone and in a reasonably dry place, they will dry on their own and last forever. I had one for years, it got smaller and smaller, but still smelled wonderful for a long time. Make sure you use quite a few cloves.

Thanks for that, they look and smell lovely and I hoped that they would last

I saw an article in a magazine about making various things and decided on making these.

I have bought some oranges and pushed cloves into then all over and they smell really nice. I have tied some string round and will hang them up.

Now I am not sure how long they will last long or should I be doing something else to them like drying them maybe or are they just for a few days?

I really wanted to make infused oils and was pleased to see how to do it and how easy it is. I used my crockpot and did lanvender infused oil. It smelt a bit funny but I put it in a bottle and will see how it turns out.

I then used dried marshmallow, I bought some and didn't know what to do with it so I thought - infused oil. Well, the only way I can describe the smell is - cat's wee!! it is awful. Is this what marshmallow infused oil smells like or did I do something wrong?

Or you can use the calculator at http://www.summerbeemeadow.com/ which will compensate for the variations in density of different oils though with such a small mold it really won’t make any discernable difference.

I am concerned about making such a small batch, I make a minimum of 32 oz batches for testing new recipes as it is physically impossible to get every bit of oil out of your measuring containers. The larger volume makes it a much smaller percentage.

Thank you for that, as you can see I am very much at the beginning of learning, I will make a larger batch and see how I get on.

The problem here in the Uk is that it is very difficult to get any equipment, I am using baking and cake pans. If anyone knows where I can get some of the great soap molds in the UK or someone in the US who would ship them I would be very grateful. I seem to able to get individual and shaped molds now but good big basic molds for big batches seems to be impossible

length x width x depth x .40 will calculate how much oils to use

So it is just the weight of the oils and nothing else, not the lye or the liquid? are cocoa butter etc included in the weight of the oils?

I know I am being thick but I am so excited about making CP I don't want to get it wrong

I have a mold that I use for M&P which holds 1lb 4 oz and it makes good size bars that are just how I want them.

I have started to make CP soap, still learning and I want to use this mold. How do I work out the amount to make to fit this mold, is the weight of all the ingredients before i start

I can't live without this site

I was really interested to see this post, I was going to ask some questions about FBB. When I bought some it felt lovely and squidgy, I have used it as it is, I have made a scrub with it adding loads of olive oil but it is really very drying. It at first looks and feels as if it is very moisturising. I put so much olive oil in it I thought it was too much but it seemed to absorb it and make the oil disapear, very odd. Unless I see something soon I think I will give up on it

What is the best (or your favorite...or your best selling) fragrance? I'd like to start with Goat's Milk M&P. Does any particular fragrance go well with this or does the soap base make a difference as to which fragrance is used?

TIA

Most of my customers like this unscented and that is all I sold for about a year. Just recently I have tried some fragrances and I like to keep it simple. I have used vanilla and geranium as seperate fragrances if you know what I mean, seperate bars, I was thinking of trying honey. What does everyone else think I would be very interested to hear

Bath teas are really nice but it is correct people don't seem to know about them or what they are for but I love them, once you can explain what they are like and how to use them people keep coming back for more it is a bit of a problem getting then to try them though but once you have they are hooked

As well as using herbs eos and dried flowers etc which smell nice you can add oatmeal or porridge oats, we call them this in the UK you may know them as rolled oats, not sure and adding these makes the water sof and you skin feel lovely

Could some tell me how much olive oil or avocado oil could add to 1 lb of M&P to have some benefit but not spoil the soap

Thanks for that, I do have some polysorbate 80 but I could not remember what I bought it for, what quantities of each should I use?

I am sure I have read somewhere, althoughI may have dreamt it as all I dream of is soap & B & B making but is it right that of you add castor oil to a base oil, like sweet almond oil, does it make i disperable in the bath rather than an oil slick floating on the top and if it is correct how much of each

Thanks

How much clay would you use for 1lb of soap and what sort of clay?

Thanks, I feel I ought to keep some records but I am not sure how to start