mountainmadness

The suppliers that I use for FO have not had any increases. You have to figure that she purchased the business from another... maybe she wants to make more profit to pay off her investment. 10% is not as much as the increase in some butters and oils over the past year. I have never purchased anything from them... I can understand why a lot of you are upset.

Nice work. You are always so creative with your gift baskets... something that I do not have a knack for! Great job! Jennifer

You can use Milky Way Molds for CP, rebatching, MP etc. Keep two things in mind.. 1) If you are doing a large batch of CP you will need A LOT of molds. 2) They prove to be tricky to get CP out of sometimes. You can use the freezer trick to get them out. HTH. Jennifer

IMO- Sweetcakes has the BEST for B&B.

Brambleberry has organic EO blends. I have tried a couple and they are nice.

Thank you so much for your response. We do not have a local farrier so I will call them. I appreciate the information. Jennifer

Hello All. I have been wanting to make a batch of Pine Tar soap. I have looked everywhere locally that I can think of.... sports stores, farming stores, horse supplies and have not found it. I have done a search here and nothing but pictures... I have spent about 2 hours 'googling' it tonight and still not finding pure pine tar. Does anyone have an online supplier that they are willing to share? TIA. Jennifer

I hear ya. I TRY not to be a WalMart shopper myself. I do not like spending my money there.... Jennifer

I did some research before I made my dog shampoo bars. I use tea tree and peppermint EO's. The tea tree helps with itchy skin and the peppermint eliminates the odor. I have heard of people doing blends of EO's to fight fleas and ticks but we don't have any here so that was not an issue for me. I would stay away from the flavor oils. HTH. Jennifer

FYI- I have found the same cord at Walmart for about .35 per yard. It is in the fabric section along with the ribbons.

Thanks for checking that Carrie. I didn't even look at the date.

Daniedb: And where have you been my dear?! :smiley2: Glad to see you back! Jennifer

Peppermint EO will give you a tingle.. I use .5 oz. per lb. of oils.

It sounds like your FO made the soap rice. I looked it up for you and it is B&B safe and doesn't note anything about ricing BUT the blend is mostly florals. Florals tend to be tricky in CP soap. I would suggest soaping at a lower temp... (about 90) and use room temp. lye. Also, stick blend until your soap is at a light trace then HAND-STIR your FO in. Stick blending can cause FO that are normally fine to have issues. Good luck with your next batch! Jen

The stamp is of my logo. I included the link because if you click on it then the picture is larger and you can see more detail. I ordered it through www.owossographic.com Believe it or not, your first die is free (you choose the shipping method and just pay for that). If they recieve your order before 10am EST they ship the same day. You need to order the 1/4" magnesium die on a wooden block. They were awesome to deal with and you cannot beat FREE. I know why they do that because I want to order more... It seems to work well if you stamp when your soap is very, very fresh.

I just received my new soap stamp today. I got home and had to try it out. It is a lot different then using the Milky Way stamps. You have to stamp the soap when it is still soft to get a good imprint. The Gardenia soap is a bit hard to see the stamp in the picture.. you can see it better in person. I only had this pearl mica. I also included a picture of my soap samplers. I had a local potter make the soap dishes. I stack 4-5 pieces of soap that were ugly end cuts or limited edition scents that I didn't sell out of. They are popular because the soap is less expensive then a regular bar. Thanks for looking! Jennifer Soap Sampler with pottery soap dish http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/mountainmadness_bucket/MorningGrump.jpg Morning Grump.. These bars are made with peppermint & spearmint EO. These will be soap on a rope once they are cured. http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u303/mountainmadness_bucket/Gardenia.jpg Gardenia

It looks like it was the goat's milk that caused the orange color. Did it smell scorched when you mixed it in with your lye? It will typically lighten up a bit when it cures.. but it will not be a light cream. Jennifer

I would not be adding more water once it is traced. It sounds like it is not mixing in and causing your soap to do that. A few other tips for you.. 1) If you are using an EO that is a pain... do not stick blend the EO in. Hand stir it. The only time I stick blend a FO or EO in is when I know it will rice. 2) Try mixing in your colorant and EO at a light trace. It sounds like you are waiting until a medium trace and if the EO makes it move quickly you are in trouble. 3)What temp are you soaping at? 4) If your soap is moving too quickly, make sure that you are using full water and not doing a water discount. I have used plenty of soybean (shortening) recipes and you are right, it does make it trace faster but you should be able to swirl or do whatever you want to do without it setting up on you. HTH. I know how frustrating it can be at times. Keep your chin up! Jennifer

You do not HAVE to list ingredients on soap. It is not required like other products. If you do list them though, I would use proper terms. Saponified means that the oils have been turned into soap... that is the way that it is listed because there is no lye left in the soap when it is made properly. If you are listing for M&P, I would do it like you are.. listing all of the ingredients in the base. HTH. Jennifer

I am sorry that you are having so much trouble. If it makes you feel better, we do not have a supplier for bath or candles in the entire state! IMO- you will save money and time if you place an order with a good company. I have never heard of purchasing wax at Walmart but I don't make candles so maybe someone let you in on a secret that I am not aware of.... Citric Acid is something that I have never found at any grocery store, although I was told that sometimes it is sold under "Sour Salt" in the canning section. I would get on Brambleberry (www.brambleberry.com) and order your M&P base, a fragrance oil sampler... They also have bath bomb supplies and candle supplies if you are dipping bunnies. Keep your chin up. You will learn the tricks of the trade with time and it will be easier when you know what you are looking for. Jennifer

I have always used the French Lavender. I have also heard good things about the 40/42.

I use soy also. It is wonderful!

I had soap molds made last year. I do some still in the slab, loaf or I use the custom molds. They are a very thin plastic (like they package oranges in). The great thing is you do not clean them. They are a one time use. You then box them up when you get enough, send them back to the company and they can melt and repour them. The molds that I had made still make it look like homemade soap. They have a slight, simple texture on the top with rounded corners. They are not 3-D nor have a fancy shape to them. Be expected to pay a bit for your first set-up order and then there are large minimums... my first order was 12,000 molds. HTH. Jennifer

We all have personal preferences.... I am drawn to unwrapped, natural, chunks of soap. I would not pick up a 3-D bright glycerin bar. Different strokes for different folks... as they say!

Depending on where you live will determine this... also, depends on what kind of oil that you are talking about. Coconut oil (76 degrees) can be liquid if you store it in a warm spot, if not, then it is solid. If we are talking cocoa butter, shea butter, mango butter then the melting point for these are higher and you would probably have to melt them when you want to use them. They would stay a solid.