Carol M

I'm wondering if leaving the skewer in isn't defeating the purpose of poking the holes. I was thinking that the purpose of the holes was to allow for air flow. The tester I poured did have one small air pocket, but nothing like I used to get with Palm 1. I had the a/c on in the house, so thought that might have contributed to it. I plan to either cool the candles in the oven next time, or cover with a cardboard box and see if that helps.

Like Jami said, you may want to try with one single larger wick, or two smaller wicks. The tendancy is to think that if wicks drown out, you need larger, but that's not always the case. I don't use straight soy, but I'm sure the principle is the same. Sometimes with too much wick, the heat melts the wax down too fast for the wicks to be able to keep up consumption and drowning occurs. So it might be worth a try to wick down a little.

It's been that way for at least a year that I know of.:undecided

No wonder you're doing the happy dance:grin2: Those are awesome!

Yeah, you can use a heat gun on the tops of palm and it hardens back up with the same look. As a matter of fact, that's what I always did with the old palm. I would poke so many holes (to ward off craters) that it looked like a crazed woodpecker had been at it. I found it easier to just heat gun the tops and let the melted wax fill in the holes than it was to try and pour new wax in the holes.

Those are extremely nice! I love that scent, too; very comforting.

Sounds like you need something to extrude the mixture. I think those pancake batter dispensers just allow a measured amount to "drop" out. I've never used one, so can't say for sure, but I think the scrub would be too thick for that. I would probably try working with it before it's totally cold; just cool enough to keep the scrubbies in suspension. Take a long-handled iced tea spoon and drop globs of it into the tube. With the long handle, you could reach all the way to the bottom easier, and then smooth it out.

I'm not sure if that is the correct wick or not, only time will tell, but that is the typical burn pattern for palm. It burns down, then starts spreading out and ends up with a thin "ledge" hanging over the meltpool, then that melts down last. I'd give it a little more time.

Those are beauties:D Gorgeous pattern! The thing that struck me about this wax was their description of it as a 'one pour wax'. That is unheard-of in the palm world. Was it really one pour, or did you have to poke holes (to avoid craters) like with other palm waxes?

I've gotten palm tarts in swaps before, and they worked very well. They were made in the standard metal tart molds, though; I don't think the plastic chocolate molds would stand up to the required temps. The one thing I did notice about them is that they seemed to get scuffed up easily, once they were removed from the molds; so this could be a problem if you were selling them. If I were doing it, I'd probably try pouring them in the mini muffin liners. Just have to try it and see if the paper/foil would peel off easily. Edited to add that you may be able to shrink wrap the tarts and keep them looking nice that way. The ones I had gotten were just in small ziploc bags, and parts of the edges had crumbled off, making the bag look a little messy.

That's one of the most beautiful soaps I've seen on here. They'll be falling over themselves to get that one!

Thank you, Peachdream. That gives me something to go on.

Do you still use stearic with the BTMS, and do you substitute BTMS at the same amount as e-wax in recipes?

My WalMart hasn't had the large oyster cups since late last fall. I kept going back and checking, but now there isn't even a "shelf tag" for them, so they're gone for sure. That was my favorite holder for the Dixie cup votives; guess I'll have to go with the flower pot holders now. Don't like those nearly as well; they're a little too "cutesy" for me. Our Supercenter is undergoing a major renovation; different areas of the store are partitioned off for the revamping. Someone who works there told me that we are losing our fabrics, too:undecided Not that I sew really, but I do need fabrics occasionally. Now I'll have to drive over 20 miles to get to a fabric store. Before our Supercenter was built, we just had a regular store. I was so excited, because I though the craft section would increase in proportion to the size of the new store. Wrong! The craft section in this Supercenter has never been as good as in the old store, and it's shrinking all the time. They just built a Target shopping center about 14 miles from me, and that has a Michael's in it, so guess I'll be going there more often now.

I got one; it was sent about midnight, so I didn't see it til this morning. There appears to be about 12 new scents; they're 15% off with coupon code. PM me if you need it.

Jane,where do you find the .5 size? I have a tiny jar I'm trying to wick, and an Eco 1 "almost" works, but the jar gets too hot in the second half.

I agree that poking holes and pouring in layers are helpful with this wax. Maybe you could use multicolor layers, then the lines wouldn't be an issue.

I just now realized that you said this batch was cphp, rather than ohp. I've never done cphp, but use a large, covered stainless pot and cook in the oven at 170. I set my timer for 15 minutes initially, then stir and set it for another 10-15 minutes, then 5 minute increments after that. By checking it periodically like this, you can easily see when it is going through gel (transparent stage), so you don't risk overcooking it. I use 1.75#-2.5# oil batches (depending on mold), and my batches usually have a total cooking time of 30-45 minutes.

Well, now that you have a batch under your belt, you know more what to expect next time. I love ohp, too; it's my favorite method that I've tried. You asked about cooking the soap in the mini loaf pans; that would depend upon the material the pans were made of. If they are aluminum or Teflon coated, it wouldn't work; they would need to be either glass or stainless steel, to stand up to the lye. Besides, if you did this, that would mean that you'd need to scent and color before the cook; in doing that, you lose one of the major advantages of hp. The main reason I prefer this method is that in scenting and coloring after the cook, you have more control over the finished product, with less chance of the soap seizing or morphing. Just do as AJ suggested and mold up as quickly after the gel as possible; it will be much more manageable that way.

Thank you, Judy. I'll for sure order that one. To me, pear is right up there with cucumber/melon for a refreshing summertime scent.

Those are gorgeous! Both of those scents are right up my alley.

Those are super gorgeous:cheesy2: A good, strong pear scent is one of my favorites, but it's hard to get it sometimes.

Another fantastic one is her Caramel Dip. I love that scent! I guess it's what you would call "fallish", but I use it year-round. And the Apple Martini is such a fun "bubbly" scent.

Those are extremely nice! I love the color combination.

Uh-ho; don't tell me that they're not gonna mix in. Haven't gotten around to trying them out yet. When I get in a new flavor oil, I take a toothpick and dip it in, just to get an idea of what it's like. I have the sweetener from SweetCakes, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone, and also a sweetener from WSP, which is somewhat better. I do prefer presweetened,though, whenever I can get it. The SC one is a pia; you have to melt the base and mix in the sweetener, stirring constantly. Then you have to let it harden up, and remelt, stirring constantly. The time I tried to use it, I still ended up with the top part (where I topped off the tubes) being bitterly sweet from the concentration of sweetener that settled to the bottom of the melted base.