bunkie68

What a pretty color, and the FO sounds interesting. I'm anxious to hear how they turn out.

Wow, those look incredible, and what a creative way to save them! I'd probably have gotten mad and just tossed the whole mess. They look amazing.

Wow, those look wonderful! I love the neon soap. This may be a silly question, but how did you get that confetti look?

That looks great! I'd buy one.

That looks really nice! Juniper breeze is a wonderful scent.

Thanks, Maggie! Do I just squash all the ingredients in nice and tight, and then let them dry?

Thanks, y'all! I appreciate the thoughts.

Has anyone done this? Just starting out and trying something new, I don't necessarily want to invest in molds for bath bombs, and I thought muffin tins might be a good size to use.

Someone requested that? I grew up in Louisiana, and I can see where someone might find that the smell of burning cane makes them nostalgic for home. I wouldn't want it myself, but I can see where someone (who must not ever have had to clean up after the cane was burned ) might like it.

I know there are soap recipes out there. Once you've been doing this a while, do you tend to stick to tried and true recipes, or is it possible to experiment with different mixes of oils, run it through soapcalc for lye and water amounts, and go from there? I'm just curious - right now, I'm sticking with things I can buy at my local grocery store, but in future, if all goes well, who knows what I might try.

Ooh, those are very nice. I'm no expert by any means, but I'd think any darker/bolder color would do really well.

Wow, that's beautiful!

These sound wonderful! I'm going to try making them myself - I've gotten bath fizzies from Lush, Fantasy Bath, and a couple of other e-tailers, and I'm interested to see if I can go them one better.

I saw the FBB co-op and thought I'd try out a little bit of it (even if it ends up just being for my personal use and not something I decide to go into full steam ahead, it still looks like fun!). Is there any kind of sugar that's better than any other kind? I know you can use turbinado or demerara. Brown sugar? Plain old granulated sugar? And what about salt? I've got some dendritic salt that I thought might make a nice scrub. Thanks for any info!

Ooh, nice.

Amen to that! Thanks for the thoughts, Pam.

I've generally been using one ounce of FO per pound of wax. Is this a good rule of thumb? Is it reasonable to expect that more or less may be needed depending on the oil and/or the wax used? Is "too much" a matter of personal preference, or is there a point at which the amount of FO used will affect the quality of the finished product adversely? Thanks for any thoughts!

I have a postal scale, will that be accurate enough? It measures to 3 decimal places.

That helps a lot, thank you!

I'm just starting, so right now I think I'll just line a shoe box with freezer paper and use that - don't want to lay out a lot of cash until I know I'll like this and be able to get somewhat proficient at it. But for future reference, can you use any kind of molds with CP soap? I've seen some really pretty embossed-type molds out there, with fleur de lis or Celtic knots or other designs, and I wasn't sure if those were strictly for melt and pour or if you could use them for any type of soap. Thanks!

There's a Lowes right down the road from me, so I'll check there.

I use molds with wick pins and I use tabbed wicks. When I'm ready to put the wicks in, I put them in with the tab still sticking out. I heat the bottom of the wick over a flame and use a pencil eraser to push the tab all the way in. It works great for me, and the tab gets just warm enough to melt a little wax on the bottom of the votive and seal itself to the candle. Hope this helps!

OK, I'm off to read! And take notes.

Thanks for the information! I'd seen from reading that people had said you could get a lot of the oils at the grocery store, and as luck would have it, there's a Super Wal-Mart in my town - I'll have to see what kinds of oils they have. Any old olive oil? Does it have to be extra virgin or will just regular or light suffice? I think I'll stay away from the kits for now, do my own thing, and read a lot. And I'll definitely check out the Scent Review Board. I've got so much information in my head, it might pop.

The last several batches of votives I've made, when I test them, they burn down very quickly in the middle of the candle. The wax collects in the container, and it then burns very well, without a lot of wax left over, but it bothers me that it burns so fast out of the center right at first. I don't remember exactly which wax I used, or the wicks - I've got that information at home and can post it later, but can't recall it off the top of my head. I know it's a soy wax made for votives, and wicks that specify that they're for votive use. Does this burning pattern mean I'm using the wrong wax for the wick, or the wrong wick for the wax? Should I keep experimenting with different combinations to see what works better? Thanks for the thoughts!