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AMEN to that! That was the first stick blender I bought and it burnt out after 3 batches and they were small batches to boot! I have been using a kitchenaid stick blender since and it has held up for the past 3 years.

I store my soaps in cardboard boxes too and I haven't noticed any of my EO or FO scented CP soap losing its scent. I have read that some people put a cloth on top of the soap while it is being stored in a cardboard box, and they put some drops of the EO or FO that is used in the soap on the cloth. This can keep the scent stronger and just replenish the cloth now and then. I never tried this but it sounds like a good idea.

I usually wait to unmold my CP soap for at least 3 or 4 days, sometimes longer if I forget. The only soap I unmold the next day is my cocoa butter soap because the cocoa butter makes the soap hard faster. If I wait too long then it is too hard to cut.

I get my OMH from The SoapDish. It is very sweet and it does have a bit of an almond undertone. I haven't tried any other vendors for this. I actually ordered it when I ordered my sodium hydroxide since you have to order something else besides that. I made a batch of soap with it and my daughter fell in love with it so I have to keep ordering it, otherwise she whines! :smiley2:

I used BioScreen: http://www.bioscreen.com/ Their customer service was awesome!

This was an interesting article. Note the Editor's Note at the end of the article: http://www.naturalingredient.org/Articles/mulhaupt.html I use Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) at 1% and make my lotion to order. I have NEVER had my lotion get moldy, and it has passed the USP Preservative Effectiveness Challenge Testing. The testing was very expensive so it would take a lot for me to reformulate my lotion and then pay to have it tested again.

If we both got the same results katshe, then I think we measured correctly. Soycrazy said the same happened to them with the same recipe. I boiled my water in the microwave so it's not like I left it on the stove to boil for a long time. Maybe if I had left it alone for a week or so it may have been fine. After I added the extra 20 oz of water the LS is fine and still nice and thick. I am sequestering it right now so I will know better next week how this worked out. Thanks for the input!

I love these log molds from Creekside Soaps. I also use their log cutter. They send you the mold lined with Freezer Paper so you can see how they line their molds. My corners are perfect now and I don't lose any soap end due to unsightly wrinkles etc. http://creeksidesoaps.com/supplies/soap-mold.htm#mold5 I have also gotten some slab molds from Candles and Woodcrafts. I line these with Freezer Paper also since I learned that technique from Creekside Soaps. http://www.candlesandwoodcrafts.com/woodensoapmolds.html I like to use herbs for coloring. I get great results from Emporium Naturals. http://www.emporiumnaturals.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22&zenid=bc9d61e528635c37bc381644e7889acb I have had great service from all those listed above and I am very happy with their products.

I did boil my distilled water for the dillution phase but it didn't dilute very well MamaV. It was still mostly chunks after I checked it in the morning. I added the additional 20 oz of boiling distilled water after the initial 24 hour dillution phase. This morning it looks much better. There are a few guey chunks left but I will scoop those out and dilute separately as the tutorial suggested. Thanks for the link MaggieMay. The pictures and discussions really helped. The recipe ingredients in the tutorial look like it is just a bigger batch from the one on about.com. Dilluting in a bucket and leaving for a few days sounds like a good idea too adillenal. I find myself looking in the crock pot too often since it is out in the open. I should just put it in my soap room and leave it alone!! So, I am heating it up again to add my borax and glycerin, then my essential oils. I want to add the glycerin because I find liquid soap a little too drying. I have read the glycerin helps with that so we will see. Wish me luck... and thanks for the advice!

Yup! That's where I saw it!!

I have insurance, always have. To insure I have an excellent product I have spent a lot of money on testing my lotion in a FDA certified lab. I don't make much money selling my product, I spend way more than I make. But, I believe in the quality of my product and I take pride in my work. I would surely be strapped if the FDA imposed fees on top of what I already pay to insure I have a quality product. I signed the petition. The rich get richer and the ones that can afford any FDA imposed fees are already rich so they won't care. The FDA will just limit the choices we have as consumers. I know I don't want to use soap, lotion and bath products that have things in them I can't even pronounce. They can put me out of business but I will ALWAYS make my own soap, lotion and bath products for me and my family.

I saw a pictures of a large soap mold that was set on top of a heating pad. I can't remember if it was a post here somewhere, or on a website that either sold molds or gave instructions for soapmaking. I think they also used a heating pad on top of the mold too. I use the Cold Process method so I don't use external heat. The pictures they showed had an explanation that the mold was too large for their oven so they use heating pads.

I am challenged when it comes to making liquid soap. I either make it too thick, or too thin. When I make it too thin I use foamers and that works fine. So, I tried to make a small batch of Liquid Soap using the instruction on About.com using the crock pot method. The ingredients: 16.5 oz. Sunflower Oil 7 oz. Coconut Oil 5.5 oz. Potassium Hydroxide KOH 16.5 oz. Distilled Water for the Lye Mixture 40 oz. Distilled Water to dilute the soap paste Either 2 oz. of boric acid or 3 oz. of borax mixed into 10 or 6 oz. of water Approx. 3 oz. Fragrance or Essential oil, as desired Soap dye or colorant, if desired So, everything went find yesterday. My paste got to the translucent vaseline stage all all was good. Now to start the dilution stage. I added the 40oz of boiling distilled water to the crock pot, covered it and waited until this morning to check on it. There were still quite a few big chunks of gooey paste in there so I have been stirring on off for hours, then I decided maybe I should turn the crock pot on again. Now after several hours it is all mixed together but just as thick as it was in the vaseline stage. I boiled another 20 oz of distilled water and added it back to the crock pot, turned it off stirred it up and covered it again. I will wait until tomorrow again but I feel I obviously did something wrong if the paste never diluted fully and then when I reheated it, it got all paste like again. Am I on the right path or have a messed this batch up?

I use the 6 oz bottles from All White Candles. These are also packaged with 12" reeds.

I just use a butter knife, like I would frost a cake, after I have poured my CP soap in the mold. If you wait a few minutes the soap starts to get thicker so the little waves etc stay pretty good.

I use my basic CP recipe also. The Anise Seed Essential Oil is what is supposed to mask the human scent from the fish so it is my understanding the fixed oils can be whatever you like. In 5 pounds of soap I use 7 teaspoons of Anise Seed Essential Oil. It is pretty strong smelling but I like the smell.

That is wonderful that you do such good business from your website! Can you quit your full time job and just concentrate on your own business? I don't get much traffic on my website and I work a full time job so I don't have that problem. It seems most of my sales are to family and co-workers. I just got done with a craft fair, the only one I do, and the weather was horrible but I did pretty good business. I am not sure how to promote my website and my product while working a full time job. Seems you don't have THAT problem!

Thank you so much! I was so happy to get my results. I know others may not agree with my using GSE but I feel very committed to keeping my lotion as natural as possible. That is just me and I feel more confident knowing my product did pass those challenge tests. I don't judge others for how they make their soaps and B&B products. We all have to follow our own inner voice. I worked with BioScreen Testing Services in California. I went to their website http://www.bioscreen.com/ to read up about the company, then I emailed them at info@bioscreen.com asking for a quote. I worked with Orly Zargar and she sent me the quotes and answered all of my questions. Believe me, I asked her a LOT of questions. Also, when I got my results back I still had questions and the lab manager called me. Their customer service is excellent! Actually, I emailed several different testing labs and BioScreen was the only one that answered my immediate questions, and actually called me.

I use the PayPal shopping cart on my website and customers can use their PayPal account or credit card. I haven't had any problems.

I make my lotion to order so I don't have it sitting on a shelf anywhere. I sent in a batch I had made a few weeks earlier. The USP perservative challenge testing did not require that I submit a sample that was a certain age. They challenge the preservative by actually introducting bacteria, mold and yeast with a broth of some kind. The tests showed that GSE held up to this challenge and I have the documentation to support this. I tested my lotion early last year, that I personally use, with the testing kit from Snowdrift Farms. I tested it when I made it, 2 months later, then 4 months later and this testing did not show bad things growing in my lotion. I was done with the jar by then. I will do more testing this year. When I discussed my testing results with the lab they told me they have had lotions with artificial perservatives fail their testing. You are required to disclose your preservative so they were very aware of all the ingredients in my lotion. They have additional tests available that aren't as expensive as this initial test so I am looking into these also. This initial test cost me $900 so it was not something I did without thought. I have read that some companies add things to their GSE so yes, it is important where you buy this from. I get mine from GloryBee Foods. If others are more comfortable with artificial preservatives then I would say stick with what makes you comfortable.

No, I use Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) as a natural preservative in my body creme and it has a very long shelf life. Grapeseed Oil is different.

I sent my body creme into a lab for USP Preservative Effectiveness testing. After reading all the advice here from the pros, I decided it was something I needed to do. It cost me a fortune and I thought, OMG, what happens if it fails? I can't afford all this testing! Well, I just got my results back and my body creme passed both tests with flying colors! I am so relieved!! I use grapefruit seed extract as a natural preservative but I have read a lot of pros and cons regarding the effectiveness of this in body products. I now know this natural preservative has been challenged in a lab and I can be confident I am producing a wonderful, natural product! Now I need to get busy and start making more body creme!

The PVC pipe method sounds interesting. I have used the 60mm clear ornament and they are a nice size but I didn't really know how to package them. I wrapped them and put them in a clear bag but they didn't look as professional as I would like. So I got the Mega Tube packaging from Kangaroo Blue and use their large meatballer. The bath bombs are a bit smaller but they package nicely in the Mega Tube. I think the smaller bombs work just as well in my tub, I don't have a huge one. Those using the clear plastic ornament, how do you package your? How are the PVC pipe Bath Bombs packaged? I guess if I got a PVC pipe that would make bombs that fit nicely in the Mega Tube I could vary the thickness so they are a bit bigger.

If it is just labeled as soap you don't need to list the ingredients but I do anyway. I think the benefits of CP Soap show in the list of ingredients! I find people are becoming more and more aware of what they are putting on their skin and they really want to know what ingredients are in a handmade product.