Jcandleattic

I have that zig zag mold! I love it, and it's a very popular seller for me. Trying to get both sides level and the same height is somewhat of a challenge, but it sure is fun, the color combo's you can come up with!! I also have the yin-yang mold. Love that one too.

I've never had a problem with my silicone 'glue' and the wick setter either. I use just enough to have it adhere to the glass. Dries well enough to pour in about 15 - 20 minutes, and I can usually pick the container up by the wick (that's my test to see if they are dry enough-lol)

Those are so nice! I'm a slacker student. LOL I've got the instructions, the flowers, everything I need with the exception of TIME!! LOL One of these days though. Hopefully when that happens they will turn out half as good as yours, Donita's and all the other great candlemakers out there!!

Wow, that's a very pretty white bar of soap!! Of course I'm like a lot of the peeps here and love the plain jane white soaps.

I use what carolgrant said with the rock salt used for water softner. (just make sure they aren't the big pellets, but more like the little chunks) I mix that with epsom salt and fo and colorant. Makes for a very soothing scented bath.

In the flowerpots with that wax I use the 44z's and in regular 2oz votives I use a 36z.. I love using the 4794.. Very easy to work with, and pretty easy to wick also. HTH

The 36 flat braid I use leaves about a 1/2" shell that I can easily hug and get it to consume itself in. I use a blend of my own wax (4625/4794) though and that may be why I'm able to do that.

It's really a matter of personal preference. I don't let mine gel because when they gel they tend to get a darker tan color instead of the light tan color that I prefer. Also my ungelled soaps seem to (of course this could be my imagination) but they seem to have a creamier lather and I really like that. That's why I don't gel my GM soaps.

I don't use that wax, but on my 4x6 pillars I usually use a 36 flat ply. HTH

I'm in the middle of a fundraiser so I'm going to be making up votives, 16 oz jars, some seashell jars, some rose toppers for a heart/rose container and also just for fun I'm gonna be working on pillars again. I haven't done any pillars in a couple months.

Did you cover your soaps with a plastic wrap? The "bubbles" look like perhaps the plastic was sweating and then dripped on the soap? That would be my only thought as to what they are. My lard soaps are always softer than my other recipes, but given the proper cure time firm up to be hard as a brick eventually. I usually always use full water though because of always trying new FO's that I'm not sure of! lol

I use 100% fresh frozen GM for my gm soaps and don't let my soaps gel while using it and I get a really light tan soap. (if I don't use a scent that discolors that is) The smell will eventually go away. Since it turned a slight orange I would say it probably got a little burned from the lye. Like the others suggested, frozen GM or an icebath with help eliminate that.

I have that exact cutter (have had it for about 2 years now) and I LOVE it!! LOVE love love it!! Doesn't it make ya wonder how you did without it? lol Congrats! Oh and a word to the wise, don't try to cut a loaf of MP with it. It'll snap those wires! lol (don't ask me how I know that little tidbit! lol) But otherwise the wires are pretty strong and they are really easy to replace also.

Ditto. That's where I get mine as well.

I either do a couple batches of confetti soap, soap balls or put them by the sink in a little soap dish bowl for both decoration and use, or I turn them into a liquid goo using water, borax and a little more lye and use it as a household cleaner. Cleans just as good as the orange spray cleaner a lot of people clean with. By doing this the only household cleaner I still buy is a window cleaner that I can get from my hubs work for next to nothing. lol

I got mine at K-Mart in the kitchen section. It's a Martha Stewart drawer organizer. They have them in singles like what is shown, or a triple unit. (3 all attached to each other) HTH

Your soaps are always gorgeous AJ.

I usually always take a bar of soap into the shower as soon as that baby is cut. LOL But I also take a bar from the same batch into the shower after it's been well cured to compare the difference and mildness. What a difference time will make. So to answer your question, no you don't HAVE to wait, but like AJ said earlier, it will have a tendancy to dry your skin out if you don't wait at least a couple weeks.

I have all 3 molds. A Kelsei, an Upland and a Misty Creek. HATE, the Upland. That mold is just not for me. But I love my Misty Creek and also love my Kelsei. Lining the Misty Creek is not a problem at all because even without the template it takes literally seconds for me to line it and even faster with the template. The kelsei is easy as pie because of the no lining. I get thicker, chunkier bars with my Kelsei, but not as many bars with it as my Misty Creek. Gotta love the knife that comes with the MC mold though. (that was long winded enough wasn't it? lol) I also have a couple log molds and the FCS log cutter which is DIVINE!! LOVE it too. And my hub made me a beveler so I'm all set.

A lot of people use mylar plastic cut to fit for their molds. It's re-usable so you only have to fit it the first time and wash it off for consecutive uses. The garbage bags will make lines if it's not pulled tight or fit right. I still use freezer paper in my molds. Takes me about 30 seconds to fold, cut and line it to fit in my molds, so it's not a problem for me. HTH a little.

If it wasn't at a true trace it could possibly seperate in the mold, and you will know it when you see it. If it was at a true trace and just very very thin, it should be fine. It might take longer to set up, but will become soap. When I'm wanting to make a swirl, once the oils and lye become opaque (but no trailings like you usually get in trace) I will take out my portion to be colored and start pouring the soap into the mold. It's never seperated yet, so I'm thinking yours should be fine. Only time will tell I guess. Good luck and let us know how it turned out.

WOW~How perfect is that?!! Good job!

You can add both color and fragrance to GM soaps.

Thank you, BUT it is NOT an original idea by any way shape or form! lol In fact I think it was 2 years ago or so, somebody had posted the idea here and I took a stab to see if it would work, and I LOVED the results, so changed it up a bit to meet my standards and have a great selling item now.

For my winter shows I make something called "Magic drip tapers". I dye the wick, dip the taper enough times that I know the taper will drip. Due to the dye on the wick, it makes the drips the color of the dyed wick even though the wax itself is pure white. These sell very well for me, and people seem to love them.