LovelyLathers

I have bars of both non milk and milk soaps that are a few years old, They are fine, incredible lather, Very mild and there is No off smell and the scent is still strong in them. With proper storage they should be fine in my opinion. I do CP and very little HP.

I do. Some days when I do it I curse it others I find it not a hassle. It does not smell after but it does smell while doing it. I feel everyone should at least try it once. Make sure you ask for the suet (fat from around the organs) and ask if he will grind it up for you. The worse part for me is the grinding. Here is the way I do it but use very little water, I do not cover the fat with it. I maybe use a cup to 2 cups. http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingoils/ss/rendertallow.htm

You can make any recipe and use the beer as your water. Make sure the beer is flat with no fuzz left and it is cold. Add lye very slow to it as it can volcano. Very lttle of the scent remains after you make it, if any. You can add ground up oatmeal in it also.

I think you mean Swiftcraftymonkey"s blog. Maybe this will help you find what you are looking for. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

Scented I hope you can make it, I understand about the production part. Yes the FB page is keeping everyone up to date! I see that they announced Kelly Bloom will be there talking about preservatives and something else, lol, a senior moment!

Scented are you going this year, I want to hear you sing (heard you put on a great show!! Emilyspoppy, this is a regional gathering not a national one. It is a small one but tons of info and lots to learn, meet peers, internet friends, goodie bags and vendors. I have not attended one but have heard from the people who do attend this one and I am so excited to be going this year. Small groups are better any day than big fancy 500.00 ones.

Candybee sorry to hear that, maybe you will come up with something before it is sold out.

Is there anyone from here going to the Mid Atlantic Lights and Lathers Gathering. I registered today. I am so excited. I have wanted to go for many years. http://www.blackcatgraphicdesign.com/wordpress/

From what I have read today there was a huge loop hole in the contract. I guess Iwill have to wait and let the legal system hash it out before I can make judgement on this. It seems the manufacturer still has both names on the codes to the FO's which should have been changed upon the sale of them. I am not saying what is being done is right just saying let the lawyers hash it out and see what is fair and then I shall decide if I will be buying.

It is super cleansing, it helps detoxify and draws out impurities. But remember you can not make any claims only that it is cleansing. It is great for acne and helps reduce pores. My grand daughters use it and love it. It odes stain washclothes and bubbles will be gray to black. HTH

This company does and I believe most companies will send it. http://www.essentialdepot.com/servlet/the-Alaska--dsh--Hawaii--dsh--US-Territories-%26-APO-fdsh-FPO-address/Categories

I agree with Cindym recipe and make bigger batches and also make sure you let it cure out for a few weeks, it think you will see a difference. Also watch out for using Sunflower at that high of a % might get dos. Anything over 10% and I have had it.

Your recipe may be too cleansing which will strip out your natural oils. Maybe you could put your recipe here it would be easier to help you with it. How long are you letting them cure for. Even HP needs a cure time to mellow out. There is a big difference between a soap 1 week old and one 6 weeks old as far as not drying your skin, harder bar and more lather in my recipe.

Natures Garden has pet friendly FO's I have used them and neem in my pet soap. My Son uses it on their dog all the time with out problems. I would not use an EO at all, too many risks.

I have tried all types of liners as TallTayl has also. I do the freezer also which works the best. If you oil the mold the oil will go through saponification just as the oils in your soap does.

I make it but I think I am out of stock. I will have to check tomorrow, I may have 2 bars. I do one that is camouflaged swirled and one that is off white. I sell tons of it. I call it "Dirty Hunters Soap" I make it with venison tallow which hunter friends of mine give me. You can get the FO at WSP

It does amaze me also. On licensed fabrics there is a warning for personal use only. Some people just don't care. SliverofWax is correct they will face hefty fines and items confiscated, Not worth the risk in my opinion. Companies are cracking down on their trademarked rights due to the economy.

PMM I use 5 to 7% Babassu It is too pricey to use it higher atleast for me. No I have not felt a drag to it. I use it in my shaving soap and it has nice glide and slip to it.

Hi, As far as testing is concerned, I test until I get a perfect product that I and my testers love there is no time frame really. If you found a product you love and your testers like go for it! As far as mold, you do not have to worry about that in Lip Balm as you do lotions and products that have water in them. You lip balm does not have water in it right? Than no worries with that. ALWAYS use SAFE manufacturing methods when making any product. Some suggestions off the top of my head are: hairnet, gloves, preparing work area and utensils, apron, no contaminates in the area (food, pets, dirty areas). I know there are more. Use common sense, think about what you would consider a clean area what precautions you would like a person to do if you were buying that product. I do not use alcohol to sanitize I use a bleach and water solution. I do 10% bleach to 90% water to wipe down and rinse utensils. Make sure it is completely cooled off before covering to avoid condensation from forming on the product.

I use both in most of my soaps. CO has great lathering properties. It tends to dry my skin out as it is very cleansing and removes too much oil from the skin. PKO makes as nice hard bar and adds to the whiteness of the soap. A few customers I have are allergic to CO so I leave it out and add Babassu oil. I love Babassu as adds to the lather and conditioning of the soap and is not as drying.

I do not use coconut oil in my bastile soap because I have a few customers allergic to it. You will love the babassu it add so much, nice lather, conditioning and not as drying to the skin as coconut. I love adding it to whipped shea butter, I add it to lip balms also. It has a low melting point so it absorbed quickly and is not heavy and as oily as some oils.

Babassu is a bit pricey but I think it is well worth it. I love it in soap at 5%. I use the soapmaker program it came up as being about 9.5 % superfat. I use 6 to 7 % superfat.

Did the soap in your other batch harden? From that post and now this I am wondering if your lye is any good or if you are not getting a true trace and pouring to soon.

It looks good. 10% superfat? You could go 40% solution to make it harden up quicker also. I do not use CO in bastile, I use babassu, PKO or palm. It makes it a little milder. I use mine after about 4 months with no slimy feel to it. High OO soaps get hard so make sure you watch it for cutting other wise it will shatter and be hard to cut.

Hi, You should used distilled water for making your soap. You can use regular water depending on what type it is but I would not recommend it.. There could be many reasons your soap has not hardened. First of all is your scale accurate? When did you make your soap? You have a lot of water in there so it may take a long time to harden up if it does at all. I come up with 240.69gr with no discount. I would have used 195.05 gr (33% lye solution) or even less water than that. With that much soft oils I would say it maybe your problem.You have all soft oils with very little hard oils. The Almond oil is recommended for use of about 5 to 10% as it a very soft oil. Did it come to full trace? Is it separated or just not hardening? Could it be the lye? Is it 100% pure? Is it fresh and not old? What temps did you mix at?