Carrie

Geez, why do I let you all enable me? I went to the TKB site today and ordered the 1oz sample pack of POP colors and added black and a little bit of that hemp wax. Anyway, when I was checking out it said that orders were taking 2-3 days for processing but I just got a shipping notice. Woot.

How does a person go about testing FO's for body safe?

You could smell the difference between soy and paraffin?

Glad I found this thread. I'm making my soap tonight for the milk soap swap and wanted to make sure of how to mix it in. I'm making a 3 milk batch this time. I've only ever made 1 milk batches in the past.

You don't need to preserve the salt though, do you. She added extra salt. I add preservative by oil weight, I don't even include the e-was or stearic.

What kind of soap are you talking about. M&P is almost always shiny but CP soap (at least mine) isn't typically shiny.

That is the same place that my emu came from. I got it from the co-op on the whisk. Colorado Organics did the co-op and it was about $23/lb for the cosmetic grade. I have no idea how much was ordered to get that price but I got 2lbs and it's lovely stuff.

I've probably ordered from Cierra about 6-8 times in the past 6 years. In that time, I think I've received one shipping notice. Everything has arrived in a timely manner, my complaint about the CS was the lack of communication. I've never received a return phone call or email in all the years, but again, the packages always arrive on time.

I hear that many emails go unanswered. If you start sending daily emails now, your odds increase that you'll get a response.

I start out with 1oz/pound of oils. I adjust from there. Never more than 1oz per pound though. If it doesn't work at that rate I don't use it.

They also sell on eBay but I haven't compared prices between the two sites. On eBay, you can get free shipping on auctions but not on buy it now prices. http://stores.ebay.com/YourOrganzaBag OK, I just checked the prices and the eBay price is way better. You get 120 3x4 bags for $9.50 including shipping and at his online store you get 120 bags for $9.60 plus $5.95 shipping. Makes me glad I buy on eBay.

It is still just plain old melt and pour soap. It isn't cold process, it just looks more like cold process. Treat it the same as any other M&P. This is for the white but the clear looks like the same. 'Cold Process-Low Sweat' Melt and Pour Base (Opaque) - A cold process melt and pour base? How can this be you ask? Our newest base allows you to enjoy the look of cold process in a Melt and Pour base! It is perfect for someone who wants to wrap their soap in paper. This soap base is an opaque white base that does very well in humid climates with little to no sweating! Ingredients for the low sweating bases are exactly the same as our white melt and pour base. Only difference is glycerin is decreased and other oils slightly modified to make up for the glycerin subtraction.

Me too.

The citrus EO's tend to fade so most people use an anchor scent. Another EO, for some reason, helps the EO scent to remain. Many people add lemongrass, litsea or even patchouli as anchor scents.

Did you check your junk mail folders?

There are a couple of uplands for sale at SoapSaver, if you're a member.

There was a thread at the Dish a couple years ago about using silk from old blouses. The poster said that she would go to yard sales and thrift stores and buy silk blouses, regardless of color, and cut them into small pieces and use those in her lye water.

I take the outside off first, then the corner bars then the rest of the outside bars then the dividers just come apart. I only have the 9 bar mold so it's fairly easy to do.

Goddess from Old Mill or from WYW? I've made numerous batches of Goddess from Old Mill and never had a problem like that.

Congrats on your first soap.

Truly, you won't even taste the soap after a few days to a week. I find what you do to avoid the taste of soap to be just too much work when it isn't really necessary. (For me, anyway) I've been using my soap as toothsoap for about 2 years now. I can tell you that for years my dentist appointments were disappointing but after using soap on my teeth, my teeth and gums are in much better shape.

Wow, you have been listening.

I've been using it for over 2 years. I don't grind or anything, just cut into squares and I keep it in an old retainer holder. That way it's easy to take with me when I travel. Mine is just my usual recipe with lavender eo. You get used to the soap taste, it only takes a few days before you don't taste it anymore.

I was reading about Castor Oil on another forum and it said that over 5% it would affect the initial hardness of the soap and make it harden slower. I found this to be true when I upped the castor to 10% in my recipe and the soap feels spongy for several weeks before hardening up.

My last recipe tweak was 85% coconut, 5% shea, 5% castor and 5% babassu. They were just OK after 6 weeks but after 6 months they are wonderful bars. I'm using it as a facial bar right now. I use 1/2 fine grind sea salt from the bulk bins at the grocery store and 1/2 non-iodized table salt. I do equal amounts of salt and oils.