MochaMama

That sounds like an interesting recipe. I thought only soaking in the Epsom salts gave you relief - I didn't know that simply washing with them had some benefit...that's good to know! Good luck with the recipe. I would try it, but am running out of soap base!:embarasse

I have been on the board since August 2006 and have learned so much from here. I have read the rants and raves about folks who have worked making soap, candles, b&b etc., handed them out to friends to test then bam! the next thing you know, these friends are opening their own business! Well, well, well, it's my turn now. I handed out some samples and the next thing you know, someone I know is going to make soap too. Only not melt and pour..... she is going to "rebatch" because she wants a more natural soap. She also wants soap w/more lather. Sigh......I take it as a sign of flattery for my little melt and pour soaps. Just thought I'd share - I'm not even upset about it because I've (unfortunately) read too many stories about the same thing happening to folks here.

I know that "natural" is not a word regulated by the FDA so there are no true guidelines for manufacturers to say what is natural and what is not (learned that from reading here), but SFIC says their base is 100% natural. However, I have also read that melt and pour soap base is not natural. Is SFIC base considered "natural" by most people? Following this, if I made a soap scent with essential oil and colored it with carrot juice or what have you, could I then claim that bar was 100% natural. I am in the process of making label for my soaps and was wondering if I could possibly place on the label "100% natural". This seems to be a big thing where I live! Thanks in advance.

Yep, I discovered that too. Sigh.....pays to not only read the directions, but follow them also. If you drink crystal light, save the tiny cups the powder comes in - good for mixing the colors.

How silly of me to just not read the ingredients list (duh). Thank you both for pointing me in the right direction.

Thanks Donna....and the gourmet rose is an ebay seller.

Have any of you worked with both gourmetrose bases and SFIC? If so, what are your thoughts on how they compare? For example, hardness, accepting of addtives, etc. Thanks in advance - as always great info here.

Try here: http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item.asp?item=L047

Same here.

And I also meant to add, you are very welcome.

Sorry about that - here it is :highfive: http://www.onlineconversion.com/cooking_volume.htm

Hi, I know this response is late, but I hope it helps you in some way. Now, if the supplier says you can add 1-2% of FO per gallon to your base, that means you can add up to 2.5 oz of FO to your base – 128 oz x .02 = 2.5 oz ( 2 percent of 128 oz is 2.5 oz). The ratio would be the same for any amount of base. So, say you don’t want to add the full 2 percent. Let’s say you’ll add 1.5% of FO to 14 oz of base. (1.5 percent of 14 oz is .21 oz). So you’ll be adding .21 oz of FO to 14 oz of base. Now, on to your drops. You wrote that you added 75 drops to your 14 oz of base. According to onlineconversion.com, 75 drops is equal to .13 oz. .21 - .13 oz = .08 oz, so you can actually add about .08 oz or 46 more drops to your mix. But, I like to make things a little easier….you might be able to use teaspoons instead of drops. Again, onlineconversion.com will be your friend! Since you need to add about .21 oz to your 14 oz of base (using a 1.5 % ratio) you can actually just add 1.26 ( about 1 and ¼ teaspoon to your 14 oz mix. I certainly hope this helps you. I had a lot of trouble with the drops etc. when I first got started – converting stuff made it a lot easier for me. Good luck!

As for using essential oils, you usually have to use much less of them than you do with fragrance oils. I think the rule of thumb is to use about .5-1% per pound of soap (but please check this out for yourself - you make need to adjust your levels according to your soap base). Enjoy melt and pour. I know I've gone through at least 10 lbs of soap experimenting and tweaking. It's really fun!

I know this is an old thread, but I needed to chime in on this. I gave some soaps (about 4 oz) from a mold, to a friend of mine, who loved it. Then we just started talking about price. I said, hey, I might start pricing them about 5 bucks, since I add stuff like dried herbs and shea butter. I was told that basically my melt/pour soaps were ok, but not worth that much. But, if someone made "real soap" using lye, etc, that was much more work, and thus worth that much more money. I was a little taken aback, because while certainly I don't claim to work with lye, I think that all the months I spent experimenting with different ingredients to find just the right mix, and pour the soaps in individual molds, unmold them etc. etc. should be worth a little more that 2 dollars per 4 oz bar. But of course, by reading this thread and especially the comments by Angel and PrairieAnnie have shown me that handmade soap of ANY type is worth much more than a bar of Ivory or Dove, because of the simple fact that it is handmade. It's funny ... I've read that Lush's soaps are melt/pour and many don't have a problem paying top dollar.

I love the beveled edges also. The color is so lovely - it looks like the bars have a clean, fresh scent.

Yes, just use the fragrance oils in the recommended amounts as per supplier, usually 1-2%. Essential Oils you can use a LOT less. Have fun experimenting!

I am low on beeswax, so I decided to try to make a lotion bar with just shea butter and cocoa butter. I made shea sticks a long time ago, so I figured, if I did a 3:1 shea(3)/cocoa(1) butter mix, I would have a firmer (not too firm) bar with the majority of the bar still being shea butter. Melted it, poured it, and the mixture is liquid - it won't harden at all!! Has this happened to anyone else? I would have thought the cocoa butter would have helped the shea to harden. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

That's too bad that the supplier was not willing to make up for her mistake. You could try mp - since I have small ones and don't want the lye around, it works well for me, plus you get almost instant results. I don't see how the CP ladies wait so long for their results - I am so impatient!

Great advice - and something that I never would have thought of! Thanks Di!

Do NOT use regular grind coffee in your coffee soap unless you were planning on using it to sand your hardwood floors or you are seeking to remove the first layer of skin.

What was the outcome? Did you get the soaps replaced? Let us know!

I never knew that, thank you Empress!!

Oil soluble. It is the MMS lip balm colors. This is really a mystery to me, this has never happened before.

Argh! That durn shea!!! What I did was take a couple of lotion bars that I had all ready made, melted them in the microwave, added more color (via MMS lip balm colors) then poured it into the lotion bar stick. The funny thing is, this was like the 3rd remelting - I make a base, then scoop out what I need, melt in the micro, add color and fragrance, then pour. Also, the lumpiness took about a week to appear. I suppose I pushed my luck with the 3rd remelting.:embarasse