Carrie

So the green bucket one isn't Armor?

Armour is a white bucket with green writing. I think the brand of the one in the green bucket is Morell or something like that.

I melt my hard oils and then add the lard and stir to melt. If it doesn't melt, I microwave a little longer and stir some more. Then I add my liquid oils.

Every single batch of soap I make has lard in it, every single batch of soap that I've made in the past 4 years has lard in it. I have never, ever smelled lard in my soap. I use lard at 20% of my oils. I have used armour (not my favorite) and the lard smells stronger before melting and I've used another brand but I can't remember the brand (in a green bucket at Walmart) that I like much better but I have never smelled lard in my soap, not even when it was fresh.

Yep about once a month, I was thinking about getting some more sets next time I'm down just to have on hand or in case anyone else needed some, I can send you a message when I pick them up if you'd like

I would appreciate that, thank you.

LOL...Thank you.

I like those. Do you get to Ikea very often? The closest Ikea is about 400 miles from me. I would like to have a couple of sets of those. I'm sorry I didn't see your co-op.

LOL...

Mine are 2.5oz, I looked into buying one of those $500 bath bomb presses... but with the stainless steel balls I use now, its become so much simpler that I cant imagine the hassle of having another piece of machinery around.

Stainless Steel? Where'd you get them?

I do mine CP also. My recipe is

85% coconut 76

5% babassu

5% castor

5% shea

When it comes to light trace I add salt. I use the same amount of salt as oils, for 2lb of oils I use 2lb of salt. I use 50% non-iodized table salt and 50% fine sea salt that I buy in the bulk bins at the grocery store.

I either use my Tony's 1/2 round molds or my Kelsei mold. I use the Tony's for men because they are large bars and the Kelsei for women because they are small bars.

That way they can sit in the mold for days and I can still unmold them.

I also don't use my salt bars for several months after making them. I find that the salt bars just get better with age and at 6 weeks they are still too harsh but at 6 months they are amazing on the skin.

I third TKBtrading. They have nice sample packs and a low minimum. You can get sample packs of neon and pop colors.

I agree with adillenal. I have some of Simon's Emu and it wonderful stuff.

Palm oil and PKO are different. One way to play with different oils is to go to soapcalc and enter just palm oil, 100%. Look at the numbers and see what they do, then change it to 100% pko and see the difference. Do this with many different oils and you'll start to learn more about the properties.

Have you read this? How to build a soap recipe

Bunny posted that several years ago and it is quite helpful.

They sell citric acid in bulk at homebrew stores. If they sell the ingredients to make beer and wine they have citric acid. I would imagine in Fresno there would be a place to buy it.

Get an impulse sealer. Do you have a Harbor Freight near you? They used to be cheap, like $10 - $15 cheap. I use the rolls of shrink tubing. I cut the length of tubing I need, put the soap in and seal both ends. Then hit it fast with the heat gun. Just point it at the soap then away, turn the soap, point for 1/2 second then point it away again. Once the shrink wrap is fairly tight, do it again and get the last of the wrinkles out. If you heat too long, you'll get holes.

The whole thing just takes second but it's definately easiest with an impulse sealer.

Wow, that's twice in one week someone has drug his name out of the gutter. All I'll say is buyer beware.

Carebear, you used to be one of Pauls biggest fans, what happened?

Thank you Monica for the class. I wasn't able to be here for the class but I think I'll try to make them tomorrow and let you know then if I have any questions.

So you like soap made with lard?

Yes, I much prefer it to soap made with Olive Oil.

Vegetarians and vegans make up less than 5% of the US population. I for one am not worried about them. There are at least 5 other soapers in my little town of 7000 that make vegetarian and vegan soaps. I'm out to please the other 95% of the people.

The round balls from michaels are used as molds for the bath bombs. They are the size of christmas ornaments and come in two pieces.

Yes, she doesn't make them but she may remember where she originally bought it.

I think this is where I bought my other one but please do a search for this company on CT, I think there been some customer service issues that you should be aware of before you order.

http://www.ellensessentials.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=74_77

I'm pretty sure I bought it from Grumpy Girl.

I don't know what it's made out of but you could ask at lowes or home depot and they could help you. You need a tube about 6-8 inches long and 1.5-2 inches diameter, the ones I have are clear but you could use pvc too. Then you need a dowel that fits tightly inside.

You put some bath bomb mixture in the tube, put in the dowel and smack it with a hammer. That would make round tablets. The one I bought from Grumpy has concave wooden pieces that make rounded (not round) tops.

I don't have anyone in mind. I just want to learn to make them. I have a tablet maker with the different shaped ends for different shaped tablets and I have a really cool ice cube tray that makes 1" round cubes that are about 1.5" long. It's made out of hard plastic with silicone at the ends so you can push the cubes out. I think those would make cool bombs.

I'm more interested in seeing how they are made than how to make them with a meat baller or ornament. Does that make sense?

Edited because I have 5lbs of Slsa and want to make the bubbly kind.

for the CT tutorials section. I need to learn to make them.

I've bought the blank plastic at Walmart. It's in the hardward dept and there are for rent, garage sale, for sale and blank ones. I think they were less than $2.

Not enough lye and your soap won't saponify. Many people make an all coconut oil soap with a 20% superfat. That means that 20% of the oil is unsaponified after the soap is cured. It's supposed to make a nice soap, I haven't tried it.

If you make a soap and it is even 1% too much lye, it will make it very uncomfortable to use. Itchy and/or burning at the least and it could damage your skin at higher percentages. You're better off going short on the lye.

Whatcha makin'? Soap with lye from ashes?

Maybe you could make up a new batch and put it away and don't use it. See if it settles.

Do you have kids in the house? They may be using it when you aren't looking.

I had a batch do that once. I had read that to keep a soap from gelling to let a fan blow on it. I didn't cover the soap and the fan must have dried out the top and it cracked just like that.

I kind of thought the point of forums such as this were to get tips based on other people's experience.

You can read about candle making all day long, that doesn't mean you know how to make candles. You need to get your equipment dirty, make some things on your own and figure out what works for you.

I can tell you exactly how I make my candles and you can do the same exact thing where you live and they will come out different. I can try to teach you till the cows come home. At some point you have to try it yourself and see if it works for you.

This may be a "teaching" board but we can't provide all of your answers, some of them only come from experience.