hem06

Well, I tried again. Hope it worked this time. I think I waited to long to put in molds, though.

Oh well.

"Tomorrow is another day", said Scarlett.

Does it matter if I use hard of soft oils? Do I need to sub a hard oil for a hard oil, or does it matter?

OK, I changed to my bigger crockpot. That was my wax crocker, but my miserable soap from this morning is good enough that it washed wax off!

HOLY COW!

No wonder people make thier own soap. I have cruddy soap and it works better than anything I have ever bought!

I only have a small crockpot, and the recipe I used did not list the yield. So, I was afraid that I would not have enough room.

My crockpot says it is 2 quarts in English, but lists 2 Litres in French. It is pretty small.

My ingredients were:

lard

canola oil

olive oil

water/lye

I have on hand:

the above

palm oil

small amount of grapeseed oil

I can't use coconut oil, my dh is alergic, same with almond oil.

I have plenty of lye, water, etc. Just not sure how to contruct a recipe based on what I have on hand.

Did I mention I love Eugenia?!?

Anyway...it bubbled up. Then was very hard. Never did start to separate, even after cooking for 20 minutes.

No biggie. I rpobably made a mistake. I tried to half a recipe...and just halfed everything, which is probably a big no no! LOL

I didn't want to make a large batch for exactly this reason!

I will try again!

Perhaps I better post my recipe later, to see if it is OK.

OK...I failed miserably!

Reached trace with no problems. However, never reached the phase where separation occurs...it went straight to being VERY hard...Let it cook some more...

Arg...

Try again!

Wish me luck! Hopefully my next post is not "How to rebatch"!!

I have ordered from that site...they are GREAT. Even shipping into Canada, and chancing extra charges via UPS, thier prices beat everyone else, even other Canadians.

A box with 19 votives at 2 oz each makes it 2.37 pounds, so add a little more for packaging and its 4-5 pounds which I personally have mailed to Canada at only $9.00 if that.

And I can make 15 votives out of 2 pounds of wax.

Sorry that you feel that you cant join.

I think I have misunderstood...I thought this meant we sent 1 votive each to 19 people...

Better re read this!

I would love to join...but 19 votves plus postage from Canada would make this a $100 investment.

I will just read the thread when everyone posts!

Thanks Everyone!

Yes, it is bubble wrap that gives the texture. I make my own boxes. I draw them out in PSP. The nice thing about that is whatever size or shape soap I make, I can make a box to fit them.

What type of paper do you use? I am just boggled at how you print those out!

Thanks Eugenia! You have been such a help!!

Awesome!!

Where do you get your packaging? Those look great!

Those are gorgeous!

I have to know who did those boxes for you!!

You can sub just about any oil you want, its up to you. I use a lot of olive oil and soybean oil (Crisco). You can also use almond oil, avocado oil, mac nut oil etc and all of those can usually be found a upscale grocery stores or health food stores. I buy the huge jugs of olive oil from Costco.

In that particular recipe, if I used grapeseed oil, would it fight with the palm for firmness?

I have found a couple CP recipies that I would like to try. However, I think I am more interested in using the HP method. I can't think of a place that I can put soap to cue for several weeks without a pet, husband or child getting into it, KWIM? Plus, I am inpatient.

So, my question is, if I have a CP recipe, if I do it over heat, does it just automatically convert?

In what I have read, beeswax is generally used as a hardner.

(I could be way off!)

This is a great thread!!! I am learning so much from it, which was exactly what I wanted!

These are great! keep them coming!

OK, for CP/HP, I am guessing the major ingredient everyone needs is LYE, water.

What about listing your favorite oils to use?

What tools you could not live without?

A tool that is unecessary, but you love?

Your favorite soap scent, additives, etc?

What about, soap cutters, bevelers, etc? Do you have one, do you want one...do you care?

Favorite web links, etc?

_________________________________________________________________

Right now, I am in research phase for CP/HP. I REALLY want to try it! So, I would like to see what tools and products the vetrans can't live without.

I am amassing ingredients as I go, but need some clarification on what oils do what in the who now. (LOL)

So help all the newbies and post your tips, tools, etc.

My next question-

When I see a recipe like the ones above, are they any ingredients that I can substitute?

For instance, in this recipe:

olive oil(35%) 11.2 oz

palm oil(35%)11.2 oz

canola(20%) 6.4 oz.

coconut oil (10%) 3.2 oz

lye 4.3 oz

distilled water 12 oz

1.5-2 oz soapsafe FO or 1-1.5 oz EO

I have Olive, palm and canola oils, but not coconut. (dh says he is allergic)

Could I sub something else?

I also have some grapeseed oil in the house here.

This may be a no no to you vetrans, but I also pre cut my wicks, and then apply a "blob" of wax on one end (the bottom)

I try to get them in just right....but sometimes...anyway, the little blob of wax keeps them from slipping out.

Hi all,

I am really searching for a simple HP/CP soap recipe. I have not tried this yet, but am slowly gathering the ingredients. Something for beginners. (In fact, what I need is a book that explains all about soapmaking and the science of it. I have checked all major book stores, the library...where do you people learn all this?!?! There are no books to be found on this, that are still available to purchase!!)

I have palm oil, lye, and...some other stuff

I really want to try this. On the old board, I looked at all 300 pages of gallery pics, and I have been bitten!

After this "simple" recipe--I would love to find one for Honey(actual honey!) Oatmeal (actual oatmeal), and beeswax. I I have not really figured out the science well enough to know when those ingredients would go in

A friend of mine gave me a recipe...it has 15 ingredients!!!! Seems to complex to me!

I would appreciate any links or help. I was just starting to research and find out hings on the old board, before it went kaput. Terrible, terrible, day!

Well, I found out where I got it! I bought an ebook off the net awhile ago. This was one recipe. I am trying to find a recipe that usesboth beeswax and honey.

Here is another:

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 tablespoon ground almonds

1 teaspoon liquid lecithin

2 tablespoons bee pollen

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon rosewater or cologne water

This is supposed to be a "Beeswax cold cream" recipe.

I was trying to use the calculator on the link provided, but when they are using half metric, half imperial, mixing volume and weight measurements...let's just say, the math gods have never been good to me

I am getting frustrated, because the ingredients are expensive and I do not want to waste any.

3 lbs. 4 oz. of beeswax!? Where did you get the recipe??

Not an expert but to me that sounds iffy though there might be an explanation for why there is sooooo much.

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104

EXACTLY!!!!!!

I am so confused to this, MUST be a typo, right? I got it from...I can't remember! Which is why I can't verify it. If I use that much BW it will be a huge solid LUMP. (I think)