Fire and Ice

A friend of mine, told me last night that she loves the Oat meal Goats Milk soap I make, scented OMH, except for one thing~ she says the soap stains a wash cloth! I find this strange since there is no color added to the soap. The F/O and the GM make it a dark brown but there's no color added to the soap to cause it to stain a washcloth. What could be causing this? The recipe does have lard in it. (crafty's recipe GM) As I don't use wash clothes, I don't know if it true or not.:embarasse Fire

My SS lotted spoon for mixing Lye. My SS whisk My spatulas. Fire

I'm wondering the same thing, Scented. I will go with Peaks Pumpkin Spice for my F/O and soap it very cool with no DW as there's the spice to it! I have to find a good spicy Cranberry too as my cinnamon is NOT body safe. Fire

Well I would love to know where to get the same Balsam Fir that Natural Atristians had. They closed and now I close to being out of the scent but it's awesome in soap! I soaped it with Sandlewood and it was GREAT! I'm going to order Rosemary Mint and Cranberry Citrus and possibly a spicier Pumpkin scent. Peaks was great but I've never soaped it! I know spicy scent can be a bitch unless you soap cold and with no discount water. I'll also use a whisk and not a SB Fire:tiptoe:

Your soap is beautiful! Please let us know how it performs in the shower! Fire

Sounds like you'll have lot of playing to do! Good for you! Fire

As this is my first year for CP soap, I'm wondering as well. I know what sold in candles but that doesn't mean people want to smell like Amish Harvest because they liked the scent in a candle. I have a pumpkin scent I will soap but my supplier for my Balsam Fir went out of business in April so I'm stuck with no supplier of that scent! Fire

Green Clover and Aloe is a VERY fast mover too and it heats up as well. Fire

IS there a templet in WORD? I got soap that needs wrapped and I will be using cigar bands for right now made out of banana paper I have to order on line. As this paper is kinda pricy, I don't want to waste it. Fire

Their Mango Butter is very nice too! I'll be placing a large prder with CF in July for some much needed soaping oils and butters! Fire

I plan to make 5# of Cool Citrus Basil and 5#Coconut Lime Verbena Tomorrow! I madde 10lbs of Potato Salad last night for a church gathering this afternoon! Will make my Lye Water before heading over to the church gathering and make the soap when I get home! Later this week I have to renew my Driver's License and tags! GRRRR:rolleyes2 Fire

Thank you all for the information! I did soap at room temp. The lye water was 90 and the oils at about 85. I didn't know that Green Clover and Aloe heated up so I will certainly keep that in mind the next time I soap. I also think I had too many hard oils and will cut back the Mango Butter by 5% and added that 5% to the olive Oil. I will also soap it COLD and throw it in the freezer! I will make lots of mistakes but as long as I learn from them, it's all good! Fire

Last Friday, May 17th I made a batch of soap with Green Clover and Aloe scent from Peaks. I allowed it to go through Gel on my kitchen counter and cut it 18 hours later. Gel was not forced but was not prevented either. There were no cracks when I cut the bars either. I placed up to cure and checked on it last night and noticed some cracks along the raised swirl lines of the soap. I've never had this happen before and it's not on every bar but it shows on at least half of them. Here was the recipe I used. I did take a small water discount as I had soaped this scent before and there was no acceleration and I was not using any milk in the recipe. 5# batch: Distilled Water~ 26.4oz (33%) Lye~11.61oz PKO Flakes~ 24oz (30%) Mango Butter~20oz (25%) Coconut 76 ~ 8oz ( 10%) EVOO~ 16oz (20%) Sweet Almond Oil~8oz(10%) Castor Oil~ 4oz (5%) 3.5oz F/O at light trace. I wish I could show pictures but I don't have a camera The cracks are strictly on the surface and don't penetrate. I cut a bar at the crack to see how deep it ran. I poured at a medium trace but swiled at a thicker trace once it was in my mold. I'm thinking maybe I've got too many hard oils to soft oils. Thanks for all advice! Fire

I know that at some point, I want to order the Ulta strong Issy Miahy scent since I smelled it in a tart in an exchange! Fire

Thanks Mystical. I'll watch his molds for awhile and keep an eye on the feedback! Thanks again! Fire

Okay, I got a reply from Colorado Organics about the dememtions of their 24 bar mold and how much it would hold and got the reply this morning! THESE will be the molds for me as they are the same depth as my Misty Creek Mold! Hi Amy-The interior of the mold is 14"x13.5"x2"(about a 16th of an inch shy). Ok-I added the mold to my soapmaker program. It holds 353 cubic inches. When I plug in my typical soap recipe, this uses 136 oz. of base oils, with a total recipe weight of 209 ounces. This is not allowing for lining your mold or whatever corrections you are making for waste allowances. I hope this gets you close enough to know if you can use it or not. Susan Sincerely; William 'Trey' and Susan Emery Colorado Organics, LLC

This is interesting because I've always heard bit thing about AGE Salty Mariner! But if Peaks is the same, I'll order from Peaks! Fire

I'm sure I'll agree with Carebear on this topic but I'm still having a great time playing with the oils and butters! That being said, I have already decided what will not be returning to my supplies once they are gone. As well as what will! Fire

Try Crafty AJ's Goats Milk soap! Or Michelle's Shortning and Shea recipe! Both are excellent bars for high lather and conditioing. Dawn's Basic Bar is also a great recipe. I have taken many recipe's here and tweaked them for myself and my customers. You have to know the properties of your oils and butters and what adds what to the soap. You need to study your oils and butter properties more more. BTW~ That was a very large amount of Cocnut Oil in your recipe. There are better ways of adding hardness to a bar rather than upping the coconut!.:embarasse Fire

Okay! I'm a DOPE! LOL! This whole time I've been saying 12 bar MC mold when, in fact is is a 16 BAR MOLD!:tiptoe: :embarasse :lipsrseal Slap me upside the head, Eugenia:yes: Fire

I LOVE the look! Very nice! Great Job!:highfive: Fire

Your soaps are just stunning, E! What do you use to cut your soap slabs and do you use a log splitter first? Fire

E, I never had a problem with putting 5# in the 12 bar Misty Creek. I'm looking for the big chunky bars! The customers love them too. I will hold it so I fill the mold. I love the bars that I get with this mold!:embarasse Fire

I remember that the cut lines on the old molds didn't line up correctly and people got some wonky cut bars. I certainly hope that problem is solved. If it is, I'd like to try their molds. I'd love to try one of the embossed slab molds with the celtic theme, but I don't know how those would go over with the public? Fire

Well, after studying those molds a bit I will have to e-mail the company because my twelve bar Misty creek will hold 5 lbs and that's what they are saying their 24 bar mold will hold even though it three inches wider than the twelve bar MC that I have. I need to know how tall the mold it. That's will determin if I buy the molds. Fire