Fire and Ice

I still say it's a very cheap shot to a supplier. More times than not, the emails can be found in the spam file. We agree to disagree.

I have never encountered any problems with RE/AH. CS has been great and the oils have been fine.

I understand this is the way most customers feel!:tiptoe:

Well I know lots of soapers who love them for their great oils. I DO plan on trying them.

There is an excellent possiblity that your email ended up in their spam file, therefore they don't know about your problem.

Before you slam a supplier on a forum, you'd be wise to exhaust ALL avenues of a resolution prior to coming in a crying foul!

Is there the possiblity that the F/O is actually old than you remember?

I just don't see why you come in and whine when you also say you haven't actually had their side of the story. What you've done here in this post is a very cheap shot.

She said: "The 4 oz. bath bombs I buy from Kmart are $1 each, so it makes no sense for me to pay more."

My reply would be: "Then don't. Just keep getting them from Kmart and we're both good."

:laugh2:

My bars are 6oz after cure and I sell them for $ 6.00 each or three for $16.00. I've al;ways sold large bars because I want my customers to get what they are paying for.

I must have a bad nose, because I can't smell the lard. I've taken to using Wal-Mart's GV shortening. Makes an awesome bar of soap.

I use lard in many of my soaps and I like it just fine but I also add PKO, OO, RBO and Coconut. I won't use it in a facial bar nor my DSM soap, My customers don't really care vut I live in the country and many people understand that 10% lard isn't going to kill them! I have yet to meet people asking for veggie oil soaps.

That being said, I hope to be ordering a 50lb cube of no stir palm at the end of the week along with the rest of my Soapers Choice order.

How much of a water discount did you take? There are many scents that will heat up and cause a soap to crack. Green clover & Aloe is like that. Therefor you never take a water discount with them.

24 is not that many scents. What you could do is only carry certain scent at certain times of the year. What are you going to do at Christmas with fall and holidat scents like Pumpkin and such.

Only you can make the choice but you also might start doing some limited editions.

Chances are excellent that they are made in China. Promote buying hand made in the USA.

I have a question: Do you list LYE on your igediants list? Lye is USED to create soap but there's no lye in the end product od the soap. I've seen it with and without lye listed in the ingrediants.

I personally use the following on my labels:

Sapified oils of Olive, Rice Bran, PKO, Soy. Also contains Distilled water, Dead Sea Mud or oats, silk and fragrance oils

If you are going to list Sodium Hydroxcide, where would you list it?

If you do not want to gel milk soaps, put them in the freezer overnight.

I've done both gel and non gel on milk soaps and I just gel it now.

Everything depends on:

Wax

scent

type of candle you are making

weather conditions/humidy

inside temperature

etc etc

I have no patience for that crap...I pull out of the melter at 190/200 deg., scent, color, pour...

Take all of the advice, try it once, then do it your own way. Thats the only way you will be happy with it!

I so totally agree with you, Barncat:tiptoe::wave:

Just me, I know lots of people double wick their candles but I will never buy a double wicked candle myself unless it's a very large candle. I always feel like someone was lazy in their efforts to find the right wick. :lipsrseal

It looks great! How did you like it? I love using DSM in my soap!

Very nice soap, E! I'm lovin' it!:wave::whoohoo:

I agree. Lard is much cheaper to use than Crisco. And I drop the coconut way down and sub lard in it's place. Please don't get me wrong, I like Crisco too and I use it in some soaps but lard is still cheaper.

My soaps are way too big to fit in a soap box so I use a muslin bag. I leave a display bar out for the customers to smell and look at.

I use lard instead of palm as well. I live in a farming community so people expect lard in their soaps. Lard is cheap and the resource is endless. I buy my lard from Columbus Foods. I also DO use PKO flakes for an even firmer bar of soap that will last a long timeformy customers.

I would never do something like this! You have to put the money forward to make all the product in order to stock the store. You have to make the rent plus paid employees? Where will you find the time to make product? The health department will not allow you to just make it on site. They might shut you down and you still have to pay the rent for both months.

You would need better than a customer base of over 2,000 customers just to break even. And they all have to be in a buying mood!

If you don't have the customer base, don't do this! You will lose your shirt and have to file bankrupcy!

We had a local chandler do this, small store in the mall.: She lost her butt inside of one month and is still trying to pay off the debt! This happened seven years ago. She put the whole thing on CC and a loan!

She now sees she made huge mistakes. Also, Malls are notorious for raising the rent right after you move in! She had a tiny store and the rent jumped twice in one month!

I've been making candles for eight years and soap for two and there's no way I would risk that sort of money!

Check with the health department to see if they would allow you to do this. They probably will not nor will your insurance. Every germ known to man is floating in a mall.:lipsrseal

My bars are appox 6oz after cure and I use an Anhoki mold. She's on the Dish. The old holds 7.5 lbs of wet soap and maks 25 bars. Their much much better than a MistyCreek mold because there's no play in the knife slots. They are wood and you have to line them with freezer paper but the bars are the size I want and my customers love them! It's a good idea to order the knife a s well as it's custom made for the molds. My Misty Creek knife was too thick for the slots.

Here's a link to her site:

http://www.bunniesworkshop.com/soap_molds.html

I'd explain to her that candle making requires lots of research and trial and error. That there is a formula invloved and safety rules that need to be adhered to. Then offer to teach her how to make them...for $50-75 PLUS supplies (going rate I see online). Chances are she'll balk at that price...she is trying to make them herself because she wants them cheaper than buying them.

Trudi

Why train someone to compete against your own sales? I hope that price you quoted is PER HOUR OF INSTRUCTION! $75.00 per hour is cheap! Then you tell them about liability insurance and explain they must have it in place prior to any training session! That'll discourage her big time. Never train idiots. They will burn down their own homes and blame you!:lipsrseal

You could also use some silk in the lye water. That helps to make a creamy lather.

Yup! I never soap without Silk. I also use a lot of GM in my soaps as well. Using Half & Half or heavy cream might help too. There's a thread, over at the dish, on the soap talk section about using heavy cream instead of GM or CM. I haven't tried it yet but I plan to at some point.

I use Select Shades and can get a very nice Lavender color that doesn't morph.

I used Crisco for nearly two years and I've never had a problem with it. I can't/won't ship palm in the summer so I use Crisco, lard & PKO instead. I like it my soaps and will continue to use it. It adds to the creamy lather that my customers demand in my DSM soap. It's basically the "Shortning and Shea" recipe here in the recipe section of the boards.

Sounds like you got a false trace.

If you put it back in the pot, make absolutely sure you reach trace. Also make sure your hard oils haven't settled to the bottle of the pot.

I've never used soy oil either but I've used Crisco a lot and that's a type of soybean oil.

May next time, sub on you liquis soy oil for Olive oil.

I work with DSM all the time and you DO need to make sure it is well incorporated into you oils before adding you lye water.

Combine hard and soft oils in the pot.

Stick blend them together.

Add your DSM one tablespoon at a time and stickbled after every tablespoon in added. your oils will turn gray with the DSM as it is combined in.

When the DSM is fully combined and married into you oils, THEN add the lye water and bring you mix to trace.

Keep in mind that because you are working with DSM to use a spoon to bring up anything that may have settled to the bottom of the pot. I never use a scent that I know can expediate the trace.

In working with DSM for a swirl in soap,

Combine all the oils and add lye water.

When you have a light trace, pull off the soap to be mix with DSM and mix it and set off to use. The DSM should already be in the bottom of the container for swirl portion.

I do both an ITP swil as well as a top swirl.

Good luck