hem06

Dh suggested adding almond FO and making it burnt almond.

It is going in the garbage.

Just goes to show you...stick with the ways you know....and triple check your crock pot temp!

Sounds good to me! But I am not an expert, so I will bump this for you.

This is now that it has cooled a bit...

My LORD, it stinks. This is definite garbage. No amount of FO could save it!

Here is hot.........

OK, seriously...is there really nasty soap fairies out there? And if so, which one of you sent them here?!?!

The other day, I melted some clear M&P glycerine soap base in my crockpot. I added some honey, then didn't get time to use it. Turned pot off.

Today, I am going to put it...turn crock pot on to "keep warm" and leave for about 15 minutes.

Come back to crock pot on HIGH and M&P base boiling like crazy!! My base is dark brown/ almost black...and smells really strong of glycerine. (Will post pic as soon as I find camera) Anyway...is it ruined? Should I toss it? I am not fond of that smell to begin with...so it is making me rather barfy. Let me try and track down the camera...I really need to show it. Before this, with the honey, it was a very nice golden yellow. I have always used the microwave to melt this stuff before...but wanted to do a larger batch.

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Got it and emailed her.

Thanks!

Does anyone have one of these? I have tried a few, and all have gone mouldy. I do not want to have to store my lotion in the fridge!

Thanks all...I will take another look. Perhaps I will have more luck at a larger store. I have looked at Walmart and some smaller grocery stores, but thank goodness the parchment paper was only $2! LOL

I live in Canada....maybe it is not as common here, although I doubt it.

Deanna, do you have her ebay ID?

I was looking at walmart. In the saran wrap section.

Guess I will have to look at a few other places!

Hi beeswax-ers!

Just wondering what wicks you all use for:

tapers

votive

pillar

I have found a wick that works great on votives. However, I get it froma small craft store that does not label with the TYPE of wick it is. The bag simply says "X feet of braided wick" (or something)

Anyway, was wondering if any of you could give me numbers!

TIA!

I looked everywhere for "Freezer Paper" but could not find any. I know it isn't wax paper...but what about parchment? It was in the same section, so thought I would ask.

I cut my soaps up into small pieces and put them in a crock pot. I like to add gm or tea as the liquid to it and let it sit in there and cook. It takes me awhile doing it this way but this method has worked for me.

This is exactly the way i want to do it. However, I am not sure what liquid to add.

The soap is Oatmeal, Milk and Honey FO, so I do not want anything that will add scent.

Oops.

This may be in the wrong area...Sorry.

I ordered lip balm pots ages ago...have been handing out samples to my friends, family, etc, and awaiting feedback. However, How on EARTH do you label these so that they look nice? I am not ready to sell these yet...but maybe, some day, I will.

The pots have a lid that would accomadate a 1 1/4" round sticker on top...I can't find that size anywhere, and the 3/4" look really dumb.

Any ideas?

I do flea/farmers markets (for unrelated products) and to me, you really cannot pipoint what will sell well!! What sells for me may bomb for you...different strokes. However, votives are always a hit, a gentleman at my market sells his candles and he sells ALOT of votives.

People are finicky at these markets. One week I may sell $1000 worth of honey, the next week only $300. Markets are endlessly frustrating. I do alot of them in all kinds of different areas.

My suggestion to you is figure out how much product you need to sell to cover your table WITH PROFITS and see if it will be worth it, and also go check out your competition--and see how you can one up them. If you have competition that is.

If you don't....than anything you sell will be a novelty, and you can dictate what scents and types of things to carry just based on personal preference and early customer feedback.

I hope I have made sense....I have been doing markets a long time...but not with candles and B&B, so maybe my so-called "expertise" is not very helpful at all!

WOW!!

Now...I need a link for a tutorial on those! LOL

Those look SO pretty!

I am not sure what rebatch I will try. The soap is wonderfully scented, so if it looks ugly...I will give it to my family!

If I just grate it up fine, then remelt and pour...will that work?

Eugenia!! LOL. YOU WERE RIGHT!

I have a huge blister on my thumb from trying to stir not-cooked-enough soap to "applesauce" (Let me tell you now---it ain't gonna happen!!)

I am going to try rebatching this week.

Also, FYI-I have no idea how to color using tumeric, I just guessed...but ended up with a mild marbling effect....altho, my first batch is orange! HA HA

I think it would be more organized to show the different soaps available by scent--

eg:

Melon scent- Pics of types of soaps

X scent- different soaps

That way, people can search by scent, or by ingredient and see what scents are available...does this make sense?

I subbed canola for Olive in my bars--not as nice, IMO, but certainly more availble and cheaper.

Hi all! Well, after 3 attempts at HP soaping, I have one batch I am happy with, 2 I am not. I want to rebatch them. Figured out my problem was not cooking for long enough. Tho both failed batches are saponified, one was lacking enough water and the other I undercooked.

Followed another HP book that states to basically let your soap cook for 45 mins-1hr. Did that and have a very nice batch. Altho, I never did see any applesauce! LOL.

I have 3 books here on soaping, and all 3 give different ways to rebathch. One says grate fine and add 25% rebatch to 75% new batch.

One says grate fine, place in bag, melt in hot water, then pour.

See what I mean? The other says grate fine, add to pot, add some water, cook X amount of time...

Anyway, what do you do? What has been most successful for you?

TIA!

YAY!! Good for you!

Pass some of that my way!

I will pass.

I work only with beeswax, and I do not scent or color it....so I think I would be weirdly out of place!