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I leave mine white too... though my vanilla body creme does turn a very light tan after a week or so. No one seems to mind though.

I had emailed Snowdrift Farms before I posted this but I didn't receive a response right away. I got an email today and this was the response just in case anyone else is interested: "Although K sorbate does occur naturally, its popularity as a preservative precludes isolation form (sic) traditional natural sources. K sorbate is prepared by fermentation processes currently." I currently use grapefruit seed extract in my lotion and my testing has been fine on my lotion. I haven't gotten into scrubs etc for the very reason of having to add a preservative that isn't natural. I just make scrubs for family and friends that use it immediately and understand it is all natural. I wonder if natural cosmetic companies use Potasium Sorbate as a preservative and say it is natural because it is derived from natural products?

Hmmm.... I don't like having to add anything that is not necessary as I am trying to keep my products as natural as possible. Does anyone else dilute there liquid soaps more after the initial heated dilution of the paste? I posted a question about potassium sorbate as a natural preservative but no one has responded yet. I emailed Snowdrift Farms asking them if the potassium sorbate they sell is a natural product but they haven't responded either.... so I will continue to research and read any responses from the seasoned pros here! I really appreciate all the feedback, thank you!

I used Cocoa Butter creams but then towards the end of my 1st pregancy I got a horrible red itchy rash on my wrists, ankles and on my back right above my butt. During the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy the rash slowly crawled up the inside of my arms. It was horrible and I thought I would go mad! I went to my OBGYN in hysterics and he had no idea what it was so he sent me to a dermatologist who also had no idea what is was. They gave me benadryl and a cortisone cream which helped but didn't make it go away. When I was in the hospital after the birth of my son the nurse that took care of me said there was a woman in another room who had the same rash as me. The rash slowly disappeared after my son was born but I think it took about a month, though the itch wasn't as bad. Thankfully I didn't have this with my second child!! I feel your pain!

I have been trying to find a 'natural preservative' for lotions, liquid soap etc and found Potassium Sorbate on the Snowdrift Farm website and it states it is a natural ingredient. I googled Potassium Sorbate and found many 'Natural Cosmetic' websites that use this in their cosmetics. Has anyone used this as a preservative? Any comments or recommendations? I really do not want to add anything to my products that isn't natural. I would rather not offer the product for sale than add a preservative I am not comfortable with.

I didn't have to dilute my liquid soap any more than it already was. I guess if I want to use a regular pump bottle I will need to use less water when I dilute the paste. I have been testing a foamer bottle with my liquid soap as is and it foams fine. I guess the squirting in the pump bottle is due to a thin liquid soap. I will get the hang of this at some point! :rolleyes2

Oh boy, I didn't think of that. I am not sure what type of preservative I should add, or how much for that matter. Back to the drawing board....

Crazy is right Carrie! This thread cracked me up! I was very worried about running out of soap since it takes at least 4 weeks to cure. I am so low on everything it is beyond crazy. I need to get cracking after the 1st of the year to build my stock up! I have only been in business 9 months so I am totally clueless as to what I am doing half the time. When I think one particular soap is selling well I make a large batch, then one that wasn't selling well all of a sudden is sold out and people want more. Sheesh! Hopefully I will figure this out at some point. :rolleyes2

The soap works fine as long as it doesn't squirt you in the eye! I received some foamers I got off the classifieds here so I am waiting to try these out next week when I have some time off from my full time job. I will swap out the deadly pump bottles with the foamers for now and keep experimenting with my liquid soap. I haven't gotten to bath gels yet, but I am looking forward to getting to those sometime this next year!

Oh boy... I gave my daughter some liquid soap to bring to work and put in their bathroom. Mind you, this is my second batch of liquid soap and I am not selling it yet, just having people test it. My first batch I thickened too much with Borax, because I watered it down too much. My second batch I didn't thicken, I just lowered the water to paste ratio. Well, the soap is thin but not as thin as water, and it lathers nicely. My daughter IM'd me to tell me the soap squirted a co-worker in the eye. Apparently the pump on the bottle gets a little knob of hardened soap after use, then when someone gives it a good pump, it squirts in odd directions. I am so embarrassed! Has this happened to anyone else? I may need to use foamers, or make the soap much thicker again! So now my daughter has labeled my soap 'Killer Soap'!

I had someone ask if they could wash all their body parts with my soap... you know, their private parts... :rolleyes2 I just smiled and said absolutely! I wasn't prepared for that one!!

Wow.... I didn't realize how expensive Patchouli EO has become! I ordered a 16 oz bottle from MMS a few months ago and I didn't remember it being expensive then. I just visited their website and sure enough, the price has skyrocketed! I was lucky to order when I did! I get my EOs from MMS, SnowDrift and GloryBee. I LOVE chamomile EO so I always keep my eyes open for the best deals for this. I usually get 4 oz bottles, except for Lavender. I always get 16 oz bottles since I use this EO a lot. When I first started using EOs I got the smallest bottle to experiment with. The majority of my CP soaps I use EOs, I only use a few fragrance oils. I also use: sweet orange tea tree clove lemon and lemongrass lime geranium thyme peppermint clary sage juniper berry rosemary basil These are my main EO's that I use along with Lavender, Patchouli and Chamomile. I can only afford 4 oz of Chamomile at a time and I use it VERY sparingly!

I use PayPal for my shopping cart so I wanted to use PayPal's Virtual Terminal for craft shows but the fee is $30.00 a month. I almost fell over but then the support area told me I could suspend Virtual Terminal and only activate it during the months I need it so it would only be $30.00, plus transaction fee for those months. Sounds like ProPay may be a better way to go. I have a question for adillenal, do you just use their terminal access after your craft shows? The annual fee to have phone access in addition to terminal access is higher than just their terminal access.

I have had things like this happen to me too and it certainly does hurt my feelings. When something is made by hand, whether it is soap, food or clothing, you put a lot of time and effort into this. To have someone hand it back to you and say they would never use it is rude and thoughtless. I take these things to heart and don't understand why someone would purposely hurt me like that. But that is the thing, they don't understand that this is hurtful. I had one lady I work with say she didn't like the smell of lavender in a sample body creme I gave her. She said she could still smell the oils in the creme. I gave her the creme as a freebie because she bought some of my soaps. I didn't ask her for a critique but I got one anyway. Yet my lavender body creme sells very well and at craft fairs people always rave about it. To each his own. I won't be giving this person anymore free body creme that is for sure!

Cool beans! I am just waiting for a response from the classifieds to see if they have any left.

Thanks CareBear... I will check it out.

I am looking around for foam pump bottles for liquid soap. I am currently using regular pump bottles but I hate it when the end of the pump gets a dried piece of soap at the end of it between uses. Does that happen to anyone else? My liquid soap is not thick so I am not sure why this happens. So, I was thinking of trying the foam pump bottles. Does anyone know of a good supplier for foam pump bottles?

My daughter always got bumps and dry patches on her arms and legs in the winter time. I think the cold weather, and dryness in Colorado, used to cause this problem. I was always trying creams etc to keep her skin moist. That was way before I started making CP soap and handmade lotion. I do remember her getting a cortizone cream for some of these patches of red bumpy skin and we used it sparingly and it would clear things up for a while. The doctor never called it acne though. Just some type of dermititus. My daughter is all grown up now but she still has very sensitive skin. Using very gentle handmade soap, and keeping her skin hydrated is what keeps her skin in good condition. I have had acne, on my face, and all the doctors I have ever seen always said to wash my face with a gentle soap. I would agree with ladydragon. See if you can find a CP soap for babies. There are no harsh detergents in handmade soap and baby soap is very gentle.

No, you need a Tax ID to be able to collect sales tax when you sell products. So, the companies that sell wholesale don't collect tax from us because we will collect the sales tax from our customers. They require our Tax ID for their records to prove they didn't need to collect sales tax from us.

I get inspiration from every single person who posts on this forum. We are all a little different and when we share ideas wonderful things can happen. What intially inspired me to make my first batch of soap was just the creation process. I was so excited that I could actually make something that I could share with my family, just like making homemade jam, or pies. Though there are a lot of us on this forum making soap, there really aren't that many people I come into contact on a daily basis that do what we do.

I made my first batch of CP soap without a stick blender and it took forever to get to trace for me. What works best for me, especially if I use FO, is I add it at light trace because normally FO accelerates the trace for me. So, I use a stick blender in short bursts to mix the oils, then I stir, stir, stir with a heat resistant spatula. Then I stick blend again, maybe another 5 short bursts, then I stir, stir, stir again with the spatula. Watch the soap mixture closely. You will start to see very minor changes in the soap. Keep alternating between the stick blender and hand stirring. I then lift the spatula up and drizzle the soap from the spatula on top of the soap mixture. If I can see a faint outline of the soap that I drizzled down from the spatula on the soap mixture that is what I consider a light trace. If I dpn't see that I keep stirring and stick blending. Once I get to light trace I add my botanicals if I am adding flowers etc, then I mix those in and then add the EO or FO. I don't use the stick blender after adding the botanicals or fragrance, I just keep stirring with the spatula. Once everything is mixed in I then pour into my mold. I use my stick blender at the beginning of all my soap batches. I don't have the patience to stir for hours! Don't worry, we have all be in your shoes. Just make sure to follow all the safety rules. I kept a bottle of white vinegar right by me just in case I somehow got lye on myself. It has never happened to me yet, but I always try to be just as careful now as I was the very first time I made CP soap. Good luck!

Hi SpaceGirl! I am in Colorado too and not far from Colorado Organics. I got an invitation for their grand opening and I can't remember if it was the end of last year or the beginning of this year, but I couldn't attend. I was just starting up my business at that time so I thought I would visit them at some point but I haven't done that yet. Right now I get my EO's from MMS and Snowdrift, occassionally Glory Bee for those hard to find ones. I need to check Colorado Organics out and save on shipping! They also offer classes. I wish they were open when I first was learning about soap and b&b!

Thanks for confirming the heat seal PITA issue. I was concerned about that! I did see the collapsible tubes at Southern Soapers and they have both the sealed and unsealed ends available. I didn't find any lotion bottles at Soapers Choice, only oils. I thought about using a ziplock bag. I do that with icing. I may need to try that first because I don't think I want the hassle or the extra investment of a heat sealer. Decisions, decisions!

I found this thread while searching for heat seal lotion bottles. I see that Oak Court Creations still has the 7.5 oz size but I don't find these types of bottles on Kangaroo Blue any longer and searching hasn't gotten any other hits. I currently put my boby creme in jars because it is very thick. I have had people ask me to put it in a bottle as they prefer bottles over jars. Well, I tried the pump and it works for a while but my lotion is so thick you have to bang the bottle on a table at some point to get the lotion at the top of the bottle to move down so you have lotion at the bottom to pump up. Well, I don't like this at all, so I am trying to find bottles that have a wide enough opening, like a Malibu type bottle, but I would still have to use some type of funnel to get the lotion into the bottles. I did this with the pump bottles and it took forever to fill them! Is there no alternative to jars for thick lotions and cremes? Has anyone tried the heat-seal tubes and if so do you like them? Are there any other suppliers out there that offer these types of heat-seal tubes?