7 Pawz

It will just end up slimy goo.

You can go ahead and try it though. I think everybody needs to try that at least once. LOL

yeah, just hate to waste my effort It had a high content of olive oil and castor, tho if I tried that I might see a little glycerin would help, I don't know, thinking about it does make me tired, cause I'll have to eight grate or chop--- and I don't think the gremlins are choosy either, we beginners get to see them quite often

Guess the gremlins were here this weekend to, I halved the oils in a recipe and forgot to do the same to the lye water, you can guess how that turned out. BUT, the soap is shiny, hard, brittle sides, but lathers well with the little sample I waited to try, the edges were a little brittle, not as bad I expected, however, my white turned green, (maybe the olive oil, not enough TD)), I'll let it sit for 2weeks, then see if its shreddable, maybe I can turn it into a cheap liquid soap, since thealkinity? would be high.   , will try it with one bar, if it don't work, i'll just chalk it up into a learning experience to PAY ATTENTION to what i'm doing-----

I love Nurture for their mica's. You won't be disappointed. 

Can't wait for it to get here

I haven't used any of the ones I ordered yet. Shame on me, but I suddenly went away from pink soaps lol 

However, I did buy some of the glitters and they have worked very well so far. 

I was impressed with the promptness of service and then they know what I've ordered and were asking for my opinion on one of the micas. Since I haven't used it yet, I haven't commented.

But color freak that I am, I'm wishing I would have gotten more than the sample they sent me of the persimmon orange one.   

Don't think I'm through ordering yet, I see more that I want to have (just in case) and not only that, I wanted to see what Mad OIls has to offer, I see good reviews on them also

Ok, after reading so many positive reviews about their micas, I ordered a few, can't wait for them to come in.  I'm just starting to build my color collection, so I thought I'd give them a try.  I did order some red oxide, thought it would be good to have around.. Don't have the sheet in front of me now, but the micas were similar to a very nice teal, gold,vibrant purple.

Oh my that is adorable!

aren't they?  would've got more, but this will do, its not like I'm mold poor

I get a lot of my soaping accessories from Wal-Mart. Like my silicone spatula's, and measuring cups. I also get a lot from the Dollar Tree as well. It's amazing what you can get and where very inexpensively. 

didn't think about the Dollar Tree, will have to give them a try.  You're right, even the frother i got, found it at walmart , the soap cutter, etc, they have some cute silicone molds, especially during the holidays

I buy most of my soap supplies from Walmart, oils, measuring cups, whisks,etc.  I wanted some individual molds for future salt bars or just a really small batch of soap.  Checked the cake baking/decorating dept and found these wilton silicone molds at $1.88 each.  I picked up all they had left which was 4, they hold about 8 fluid oz.

Well, i guess its inevitable with all the talk about fo orders, I had to get more so I decided on some from Peaks , got them this week.

Gingerbread Cookie---strong oob, like 

Mountain Pine--hope this cures with a fresh scent, seems very light

Citrus and Sage--used this before, love it, hubby says it makes everything smell fresh

sample of Tuscan Nights---like it, but don't really recognize the smell

So guess in the coming weeks, I'll try the Gingerbread in candles and soap, Mountain Pine---soap, Citrus Sage & Tuscan Nights in soap.

NOW, I'll have to try Filmore's Christmas Tree, it sounds exactly what I'm looking for, similar to the Balsam candles from BB

Very pretty I love the contrast between the colors

I do something similar. If its one solid color I add the colorant directly into the oils before adding my lye solution. If I am doing several colors I put the colors into seperate bowls and use about a tablespoon of oil from my soap oils that way I am not adding in any extra oil and don't need to adjust my lye.

 

I have done it both ways, before adding my lye solution, and after. I have noticed no difference other than it works better for me to do it before adding my lye solution. Either way, I always do so long before trace.

Thank you, that also helps out, as I tried both ways, just trying to be sure I'm going in the right direction, just working with no more than 2 colors till I get it right

It depends. If I am going to color my whole batch a single color I add my colorant to my oils before adding in my lye (I do this with TD for every batch and then additional color if I want it to be a single colored soap) If I'm going to color for swirl I usually put my colorant in separate containers and add only enough oil to get it to mix (always an oil I have in the batch already, but not subtracted from the batch and not added in to the soapcalc - this way it just adds to the superfat but not by a significant amount) then pour emulsified soap batter into the colorant containers, mix well and then proceed with my soaping. 

 

I hope this makes sense. I'm not very good at explaining things, sorry... (Visual is usually always better for me) 

Thank you, that helps out a lot.  Especially with the swirling issue---

Is there such a thing as adding colorant before trace or after trace in cp soap?  Sorry for the question, but I'm wondering if I should figure the SAP of the disbursement oil that I'd use, or take it from the initial oils in my batch, which is what I've been doing and seems to work fine.

thank you

Oh and I should mention that I have no desire to sell dog soaps either, so whatever I make would be for our own pup(s) but it still has to be good, kwim? She is way to spoiled to use an inferior product. Another reason I'm looking into making my own.

dont blame you there, having a few dogs myself, I'd like to come up with something.  I did find a recipe on the about .com site for "easy dog shampoo", but haven't decided if I want to try it or not.   Dawn dw detergent is too harsh, for ph reasons I'd think, BUT I have used it in a pinch for rescue strays that were flea infested, it gets rid of fleas immediately, but after that treatment I then give them a proper dose of flea meds, thats the only thing I've used dawn for.  Never would I use that on a dog on a regular basis.

To give you some insight into how to blend EO's here's a simple guide.

The basic categories are:

1. Woody (cedarwood, pine, etc)

2. herbaceous (rosemary, clary sage)

3. Citrus (lemon, orange)

4. Floral (geranium, rose)

5. Resinous (frankincense, patchouli)

6. Spicy (black pepper, ginger)

Imagine these categories in a pie shape, with 6 next to 1.

So the rules of thumb are to blend with different EOs in the same category, or with one in the category beside it, left or right. This is a very basic guide.

So your lavender and lemongrass will blend, but the clove might be best with something from the Woody or Resinous categories.

There are lots n lots of books on the subject. HTH

Thank you, it does help out, I'd like to do a clove blend for the holidays, so I'll be doing more research.

Awesome Blossom!!!! THAT is so cute!!! Grrrrreat job!!  Chunk anything is awesome....love the process and seeing the end result !

Yeah, I love my chunkies, like to make them, they are so forgiving

Get a q-tip and put a little of each scent on the ends and enclose it in a baggie for a few hours then open and sniff and see what you think. That's what I do with blends I'm trying that I'm not sure about. Works well. 

Thanks, I'll try that

Does anyone think that Lavender EO  would blend well with clove?  I have Lemon Eucalyptus also.  that's the only 3 EO I have right now, 

Sounds awesome!  I need to get soaping too.  Where do you get your bubble gum FO from?  Is it something you offer year round?

got the bubble gum fo from NG, its just a sample that I'm trying, so far it smells very real oob.  I soap just for fun 

Thanks. It went well so we are going to do a local craft show next month!  Excited and nervous thinking  about people we don't know buying our product   Hopefully they love it too.  I ended up going with a craft paper band this time but I also like the idea of the treat bags.  Would be less work

Glad it worked out for you, good luck with the craft show

Wow, nice job

Thank you  getting ready for another soap session this weekend, think I'll scent it with bubble gum and go with neon pink and white, should be colorful

Their customer service is awesome and shipping is reasonable for me.  I find their prices on FO not as expensive as some suppliers I've ran across and will continue to use peaks.  Their tutorials and the forum is an added plus

So glad I ran across this thread, I am tired of putty and wick pins, I don't pour at high temps, but sometimes leaks just happend when I least expect it.  Going to try this , hopefully my local walmart has it.

On teensy bars, i should have mentioned use a good gram scale to measure. A difference of a gram in that small of a batch makes a big difference over all.

Also with small batches the thermodynamics are all askew. The soap will not get as warm in a tiny mold (that energy from the chemical reaction that creates heat to saponify the oils is really small). That will change the overall feel of the finished soap for a while. Eventually, after a long, long cure it will approach the same feel as a bigger, warmer batch.

And.... For soap that is initially harder earlier, rather than worry about SF (which has little to absolutely nothing to do with bar hardness), use less water instead (create a stronger lye solution using less water). Your SAP calculator should have settings to adjust the amount of water needed.

When I unmolded the soap bar, it was a little soft, had a small crack in it.  I pressed the crack closed and let the bar harden.   It is now to the point where it has cured to a nice hard, white bar, still not ready to use yet, have a few days to go on that, but I am anxious to see how it works out.  The FO I used was not strong enough for my liking, so that is the only change I'd make at this point.  I did find that when I unmolded the soap, it had a ring in the center, so I guess it didn't gel all the way?   The ring is no longer there tho.   I can see your point about the thermodynamics to.

I love chunk pillars and jar candle chunks....Is a beautiful candle you made 7 Paws.

 

i've been wanting to do chunk jar candles for a long time.....just have to set my mind to doing it....

 

Trappeur

I know what you mean, I kept telling myself, prepare, prepare and finally I just had to do it, then I wondered why I took so long