mauimom

There are people who won’t ever try real soap. .

I know people, yes, I’m talking about adults here, who refuse to believe milk comes from cows, or have suddenly developed lactose intolerance when they learned it. And one lady I know only found out a few years ago that meat is animal flesh. She still eats meat… but refuses to talk about it, LOL. We order a side of beef every year; it saves us about 50% on our meat bill. Good Angus beef. They love coming to our house for dinner but she refuses to order a side of beef. The idea of a half of cow in her freezer and she wouldn’t be able to eat she says. She only buys chicken parts, never a whole chicken now that she knows it once had feathers and walked around, either.

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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.)

They have them online if they're these ones. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80051302

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

mauimom, do they have any other cool things at Ikea for soap or candles? I've never been to a store, but I have looked in their catalogue.

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.

Kinda off topic, but I need some help. I'm looking for a small business who wholesales tea. !

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.

Hello! I've have been lurking around the CT message board since I started making candles in February and figured it's probably about time I came out of hiding and said hello to everyone. I've found so much information and this board has been so helpful to me as a beginning chandler that I just wanted to thank everybody and say... I will no longer be a lurker!

Hello and welcome to this wonderful board. I am kinda' new myself and believe you me, you will not find a better place to have your questions answered , gripe , send pictures , steal ideas , etc., etc. Every time these folks get to solving problems, or complementing others or just being connected to each other, I think to myself......"Lordy, wouldn't the members of this board make a wonderful government body"?

Have a wonderful time getting addicted and keep in touch with us.

They look good but was wondering if you did a repour on the votives? If not, you may want to try that. There wouldn't be such a sink in the middle. Otherwise, great job.

Yea, I know. They look kinda' bad. :embarasse I did one repour, and the next morning should have done another, but had run out of my scent mixture. Plus, I had to go shovel more snow!

I do. I do. I don't know which I like more. :undecided Started candles before Christmas and CP soap after Christmas. I am now trying rebatched soap. Not doing well yet but it will come. I have made some fantastic soaps using recipes that I stole from people on this site. Darwin's Favorite is now my favorite (of course, I tweeked it a little to suit me)

By the way, I added no scent or color.

Hello All,

I have no idea what happened to this candle. Never had this happen before. Of course, I never tried to make a bees wax candle before. I used 75% bees wax and 25% votive wax. Poured at about 160 degrees. Then when everything was going smoothly, at least 45 minutes after the pour, the grand canyon appeared. Any ideas out there?

By the way, happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and grandmothers out there. May your children and grandchildren bless your life forever!

Thanks, Cat. I see you are brand new to this site and I would assume candle making. Just as I was a few short months ago. So, the color of the containers are all dye chips (Ivory with a tiny touch of Fushia, Melon, Purple, and Blue. I used IGI 4630 Blended wax for those with 44-36-182 Zinc core wicks which I attached to the bottom with a touch of heated glue. Just a touch. Good luck.

During our last huge snowstorm last weekend, I decided that I was ready for some spring scents and colors! The votives are Plumera and Gardenia. The square containers are Spring Rain, Honeydew Melon, Blak Cherry, and Ocean Breeze. The floaters are Lemon/Lime, and the pilars are scented with grapefruit, tangerine, and sage. Have not decided on a name for them yet.

I spent the weekend looking in book stores for candle making books and mags and was so disapointed to come home empty handed even my little village library had two books but not quite what im looking for !!! It is so frustrating that a large borders didn't have one book even though there system suggested 10! They import from the us but didn't have one mag!!!! Is there anywhere i can go in the uk and actually look at the book/ mag before committing to buyuing!

Thanks for letting me moan guys i feel so much better now! i just get so annoyed that we seem so slow in england!

Well, I finally purchased some used books on amazon.com. After checking out some from our mountain library. They are great about getting books from other places for us to use. Everybody in this little bity mountain community thinks that our tiny little library is their best friend! Anyway, other than that, I got a lot of information and instructions from about.com. And then just kept looking on the internet. I tell you however, I seem to be able to get more information about soaping on the internet than about making candles. Good luck to you!

Well, what an interesting question. I live at about 8,300 feet ASL. The biggest difference for me is in the pour temp. Since water does not boil at the same temps up in the clouds as down on the earth, one must make that adjustment for the temps to reach after the wax has melted. Difficult, as one day may vary from another, depending upon other factors such as lack of humidity and outside temps. Sometimes I end up just playing it by ear. I know, I know, not very scientific, but.....

However, I find no difference in anything else. Burning is the same, scent throw seems the same, etc., etc.

What makes a candle rustic? LOL! I know this is a dumb question! But, consider this from a person who only does containers!

But what I can't figure out is......how do they get the rustics with different colors that look like waves and such? I have seen some in the gallery that are dark and light in the same color that look like waves on the outside. Beautiful. I have tried this, but not much success.