Janis

Julie, That soap is gorgeous! :highfive:

Your soaps are always lovely.

The word that comes to mind is "inappropriate".

I just caught this thread and have to respond. You can try all of the above mentioned strategies, but if you are truly sensitive to coconut oil, you'll want to stop using it altogether. I can tell if there is 5% of co in my soap, because my skin raises hell with me. I sub co with pko at around 20%. If I use more than 20% pko, it starts to feel like co. If you want more bubbles than you can get with 20% pko, then add 10% castor oil, which also helps with moisturizing. I always add at least 10% of an oil with linoleic acid such as sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, or rice bran oil. Actually, I've discovered that rice bran oil is a good sub for olive oil as a base oil in that it seems gentler on my extremely sensitive skin. Hope this helps.

I have the Upland round mold. I don't use it often, but when I do, I like it. I have the one with the stand. It makes 15-one inch bars. I'm guessing that they are 3 inches in diameter. You will get a seam on one side from the liner--not a big deal to me. I love the stand, too! I agree, though, if you are minimally handy you can probably make it on your own. But if you don't want to hassle with it, this is a nice mold.

I have three Uplands and love them all. I could never cut a straight line, no matter what, so I ended up with a Delcie Soap Cutter, as well. Between the Uplands and the Delcie, I'm in soapie heaven, lol!

They turned out beautiful. And thanks for showing the other side. I think we all want that other side to look the same as the top, but really, it's not possible, lol. Love that color, btw.

Glad to see you soaping. That is just lovely.

Yeah, it must have been bad, because the memory hasn't faded, lol!

Okay, I'll be the odd man out here. I used canola and didn't like the consistency of my soap. I think I subbed it for my base oil, so used it at a fairly high percentage. I don't know about DOS cause I didn't keep it long (actually threw it out 'cause I didn't like it, yuk, lol). The other thing to consider about canola is that it is genetically modified, unless you get it from a non-gmo source. That may not matter to you, but if it does, beware.

Thanks, sweetie. I suppose I can filter it myself, right? Have you done that? Okay, I can see that this could be a new addiction, lol!

Wow, thanks for the info, Cetacea. I'm relieved to hear I don't have to buy plastic molds. Interesting about the different kinds of bees, etc. I would like to find a local supplier, but can't seem to so far. Still looking.

Just went back in the archives and noticed that lots of folks had soaped it way back when. The consenses was no d or a and nice smelling in cp. HTH

I soaped it eons ago. This is what I remember: It is one STRONG fo, so go light. At first, the smell was enough to gag a maggot, but in about a week the fragrance came out strong and true. If you love it in candles, you'll love it in soap. I can't remember about accelleration and I'm sure I wouldn't know about discolor because I used a ton of red clay on that one. My tester had a red bathtub, lol. That's when I had just started making soaps. Let us know how it turns out for you.

Thanks so much Janette. Yeah, and my next question was whether it releases from the mold, lol. Did you ever try putting it in the freezer?

I didn't know where to put this post, since beeswax is techniquely not "vegetable" wax. Anyway, I'd like to make some beeswax pillars just for me and maybe for gifts. I can't find much information on beeswax candles, other than a post that suggested using cotton square braided wicks. I was just wondering things like: Can I expect to wick up with beeswax? How is a beeswax pillar suppose to burn, for example, how far out should the melt pool go? Can you hug it, or is it more like soy, where it just burns down the center? Sorry, I hate posts like this where there are a million silly questions, but if any of you have experience with beeswax, I would love to hear about it. I'd just like to know what to expect when I start working with it. Thanks. BTW, I did just find a good source for beeswax for West Coast folks. Here it is: http://hiveharvest.com

Two BIG thumbs up on the labels. I like that the fragrance is the main part of the label (that's what people want to know first), and that your company name is small (folks don't care). Your style is similar to mine, so of course I love them, lol. BTW, your swirlies are always lovely.

Sorry, Gene, I didn't read the whole thing. So Olivia used the sap number for vco instead of co - 138. Hmmm, it's gets more interesting by the minute. Why would the sap for co be any different that vco? Probably isn't.

Yeah, but check out the soap calc, Gene. http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/oillist.asp Actually, I could go to 3 or four different calculators and come up with a different number. Go figure:tongue2:

Wow, that is a lot lower than the soap calcs. Thanks, Gene.

Thanks to both of you. I think I'll check it out in the archives at the dish. Olivia was the last one I heard mention it, actually. She said what you said, Robyn...just superfat more. I was just wondering how "wrong" the number is and if that has anything to do with my body's reaction to co. I sure would love to use it, but just can't right now, lol.

Hey, I think it looks real good, too!

Ah, yes, patchouli....brings back fond memories. You are a soapin' fool, btw, lol!

Very pretty! I just discovered mango butter and absolutley love it! It really does something special to a bar of soap, imho.

Very nice. Lovin' your swirls!