mauimom

Grandma, you and I have some of the weirdest friends...and family members! My DH will not use my soap even tho we take a shower together and he tells me it smells good and I show him how the lather is.......what a dork! I always make my soaps plain and with just a little FO so that people will use it. I do not want it back! If you don't want it, regift it, for heaven's sake. But I have to say that your friends are just a little weirder than mine. I don't think any of my friends don't know that meat comes from a cow or refuse to eat a whole chicken 'cause just eating part makes them feel better. Duh!

Very good for a first timer! I am always so paranoid that I will forget something that I always have everything ready before I even measure the lye out. But that is just me, I guess. I tried some oatmeal in one of my very first batches and when I used it I found that it was scratchy. So now if I use oatmeal or almonds, I zap them good in the coffee grinder. (The coffee smell is all right, too.)

Those are the ones. But they will not ship them.

Well, they have all kinds of glasswear, of course. Lots of cheap, retro fabric for wrapings, etc. Bamboo stuff, and of course, lots of cooking wear that could be used for moulds, etc.

I just helped my daughter and son-in-law move to Davis, California and at the Ikea store there in Sac I found wooden soap dishes for 99 cents each. I bought 30 and brought them home. *faint* The wood is lovely and they work great. Can't order them on-line, tho. But, now she can keep me supplied! They look great all tied up with the soap and a big organza bow. santa chee

Well, this site has sure helped me out a lot in the past year. I enjoyed making candles for a while but now really really love to make soap and lotions and hair stuff. I thought I might go into a little business for myself when I got good enough, but research on that led me to believe that it would cost almost as much each year as I could hope to make. So, I will continue giving my products to friends, family and charities. As to what inspires me, the mountain where I live, the nature that surrounds me, (yes, even the black bears) and the small herb garden that does as well as can be expected at altitude. Even my little kittie gives me inspiration.

Either that or use this unscented and rebatch it with a lot more butters and such. The beeswax ought to let it come out of the moulds nicely, tho. Maybe if you rebatch you can use some lanolin and/or glycerin and/or grapeseed oil and/or sweet almond and/or herbs and/or shey or other butters as the last poster suggested.

I recently bought some "fixin's" from Mountain Rose Herbs in order to make my own tea. They have the bags, too.

I too started with candles and then emerged into soap and other personal products. I love it. At first I was so scared. Now, with the proper precautions, I have a wonderful time. It has taken me about a year to finally decide what I like to do. I tried M&P (hated that), then tried making re-batched soap (liked that so-so) and now have settled on making small batches with different scents and herbs and botanicals. Just finished another batch yesterday for my daughter that is pure olive oil with chamomile infused water (and lye, of course!) and just a tiny little bit of tumeric. She loves it! I have not made any candles for about six months, but I am going to do some for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Just have patience. It's all good!

Absolutely Beautiful!! You must be very proud of yourself. I am trying to learn to do the same thing, but I am about ready to give up. But, I want all the profit that I make to go to my favorite charity, so I don't want to spend much on a web site. I would appreciate any hints that you are willing to share.

Wow! Beautiful. Makes me want to get out of this heat and go swimmin' with the fishes.

Wow! That is really weird. Most of the time, at the local market, almost all I can find is canola, OO, AND, of course, Sunflower Oil. No trouble at all. The brand is Hain. I can get it at our Safeway and also at Whole Foods. Good luck. Maybe you can ask the store to contact the supplier of Hain products. :awww:

Could somebody please tell me how to use fresh herbs in CP soap? I am interested in putting the leaves in some bars as well as extracting the oils from herb leaves for others. Do you just steep the leaves in water for that? And then use that water with the lye? Thanks!

Whole Foods has the best.....and every once in a while on sale.....so I stock up, for sure.

Hi all, I made some container candles (3X3 inches square) using Peaks IGI 4630 and Zink Core 44-36-182. They looked great. They have been kept out of the sun and at room temperature since the pour. When I started testing, I realize that the wick could be a bit larger. But that is not the problem. The first day they were fine. Then about the third day after the 160 degree pour, I noticed that the wax was pulling away from the sides and the bottom some. Not a lot, but noticable to me. What gives? What did I do wrong? And why did this only show up a few days after the pour? Thanks in advance for your opinions.