Candybee

My number 1 seller is lavender. Followed by honeysuckle, rose, lilac, jasmine, and daffodils. Blends that do well are honeysuckle rose, honeysuckle jasmine, and tuberose & jasmine and lavender with just about anything. Hyacinth, apple blossom, lime blossom, gardenia, and orange blossom seldom sold well for me.

Moonshine I started wearing a respirator when I had been making candles for about 4-5 yrs. I started to notice that on candlemaking days and the next day or two after I had developed a cough. I recognized it because I had been a smoker for years and quit when I started getting that persistent cough. Also, it was around the time I got that cough that someone posted on this very forum that they had developed a lung disease and their doctor had tied it to her working with FOs in her candle making. This news along with my new cough concerned me enough I went and bought a respirator at Lowe's right then and there. As soon as I started wearing the respirator my cough subsided. BTW the girl with the lung disease had to stop making candles. All I remember was that she ended up being very sick and hospitalized and soon after never posted anymore so I don't know what happened to her. I know that toxic vapors you can't see hover around the immediate vicinity you are pouring your FO into your wax. You know how you stand over the pour pot stirring your FO into your wax? That is your most vulnerable time in the presence of those vapors. You should not be bending directly over your pot the entire time. Just do it periodically to make sure your wax and FO and color, etc. are blended. Anyway, ventilation is key to airing out your candlemaking area. But working directly with your candles you really need something to keep from breathing in the toxic vapors and fumes given off and a respirator is perfect for that. Same thing with working with lye. Fumes come off the lye as you put it into your water to mix. With lye you can actually see a little bit of a vapor lingering in the immediate area of the lye container. You need good ventilation working with lye but you also need protection from the vapor that comes off the lye. Anyway, my point being that when you are working directly with FOs or lye you are in the immediate "zone" where the most toxic fumes are, within a few feet. Outside that "zone" you are not likely to be breathing in the worst or strongest toxic fumes as they dissapate after a few feet. But the whole area still needs to be aired out or ventilated. BTW I have to lock my two cats up in their bedroom and put a towel down at the bottom of their door so the smells given off by the FOs on candlemaking and soapmaking days don't reach them. Before I started doing that they would both be vomiting for several days after. I just wanted to say this to demonstrate that the fumes from the FOs can be toxic to small animals. Before I let them out I open up the house to air it out for at least half an hour or more.

Moonshine if you clean your toilets out with any toilet cleaning products they either contain lye or something at least as caustic. If so, then you have already dealt with a caustic cleaner and its safety use. If you can wrap your head around that you'll realize its very similar to working with lye to make soap. Besides, you should be wearing safety gear when making candles. I wear shirts and pants that cover my arms and legs, shoes to protect my feet, and a respirator to protect my lungs from the toxic vapors given off from FOs. The clothing protection is the same for making soap. You just want to add gloves and eyegear for protection.

Confession is good for the soul! Feels good doesn't it?

Thanks for the tips on the gloves. I think I'm going to order a box and if I don't like it can take them to a yard sale. My clothes and protective gear is working great. No way do I want to burn my eyes or not be able to get clothing off in a jiffy. I just find I really don't like wearing gloves and wondered if I was the only one.

Wow! I don't have that problem. Maybe you have sensitive skin? But you are right, the gloves I get have been bulky and problematic and frankly have scared me a few times when I knocked something over or lost my grip on something. Now that can be dangerous. I guess I will look into more tight fitting gloves. Are you talking about the kind of disposable gloves I see at the doctor's office that come in a box?

I would love to have some jasmine but the cost!

For the last 2 yrs I have not been wearing protective gloves when I CP. I think because the gloves keep tearing and don't seem to last very long. I am always replacing them and eventually I just gave up trying! My protective gear is now long sleeves, pants, footwear, and my respirator and eye goggles. That's it! Even when I paper towel out my bowls and soap equipment I don't wear gloves. The only time I got lye on me was when I was wearing gloves several years ago. Just that one time. I have found that I am more likely to get it on my arms or chest as I am SB my batter than any other time. It wasn't until today when I was shopping in the dollar store I finally bought a pair of latex gloves. I mean well but I wonder if I will end up not wearing these too.

It does sound interesting. Would love to know if the oil can impart the floral scent in lotions, soaps, and balms.

Do you mind sharing where you got it from? I'm not familiar with it. I've been using rose geranium.

What pretty colors! I'd call it Celebration soap!

I remember this tip from you TT and always check my fatty acid profiles when using a less stable oil. I love using sunflower or soybean or grapeseed but I have to watch the profiles to make sure they don't go too high. Since I started doing this I have never had any DOS.

Okay none of that explains the bourbon.

Definitely sounds interesting.

I think that makes a lot of sense. Keeping it simple to begin with can be a very effective way of learning.

Ah yes... the Holy Trinity! I think every soaper should try it. You'd be surprised at how many recipes can be made using it. One thing I have found is that the simpler the recipe usually tends to make some of the best soaps I ever made. I prefer soaps with 2-4 ingredients myself. A lot of soap I make has 6-8 ingredients many of which are purely for marketing. But when I reach for a personal bath bar I know the simple recipe soap is usually the one that feels best too!

When I first started making pillars I was taught to use spooled wicking and not tabbed wicks. The reason, the pillar can burn down to the end of the neck of the wick tab and that could present a possible fire hazard. With a free standing wick or spooled wick the wick will 'fall' over somewhere towards the bottom of the pillar and self extinquish the candle that way. To this day I make my pillars using spooled wick. I do test using tabbed wicks. I just find it easier to pull out a wick and retest with another. Once I know which wick I want I buy the spooled wicking and thats what I use for my pillars. One thing not mentioned is wick wax treatment. If you are buying pretabbed wicks for your pillars they are generally pretreated with wax for burning with container candles. So you may want to find out what wax its treated with and take that into consideration when buying your wicking.

Now I get cream colored soap using extra virgin olive oil and white soap using regular sauteeing & cooking olive oil. The EXOO is greenish in color too. BTW I know a soaper that uses olive, coconut, and canola exclusively in all her soaps. I have yet to see a soap of her's that has DOS. But then I don't know her %'s she soaps with so that could make all the difference.

Oh those sound great. Do you mind sharing where you get them from?

Copaiba? Not familiar with that one. What's is smell like?

Gotcha. Funny, but I have a line of soaps I call 'Synergy' soaps after the EO blend for each.

Thanks for the tips! I have some amyris. It has a woody note and I've used it before in a vanilla woods blend. It turned out nice even thou the cedar eventually faded out. You mentioned peru balsam.. wonder what that is like?

The spruce, juniper berry, and scotch pine sound like good ideas. Will have to look around to see who has them. Is there a balsam EO? Would love that. Here in Virginia there is red cedar that smells heavenly! Don't suppose there is an EO of that thou. I have black pepper. Never thought of using it with evergreens. I've got cedar but it fades in CP. Sandalwood is just way out of my price range. Can you imagine what I would have to charge my customers for a bar of soap? Eeek!! I do have Peaks Asian Sandalwood I use for a sandalwood in CP. It sticks pretty good with minor fading and blends well with EOs.

Who is synergies? Or are you talking in general terms? I know many give suggestions which oils blend well with a particular EO. Is that what you mean?

Thanks for the tip about wintergreen. I will check it out. BTW-- I like litsea cubeba too and use it a lot in citrus blends. It really helps them come alive especially when mixed with EOs like lemon, lemongrass, and grapefruit.