GrandmaArial

Beautiful presentation. Your table will be swamped! You'll probabaly have to leave early because you'll run out of everything.

I can’t open the pictures but from what I can see from the thumb nails they are all beautiful! I particularly like the Cypress Red Tea. I’ve been thinking of ordering some Rooibos to soap with. Does it smell as wonderful as I imagine? The tea is so wonderful I can't imagine red tea soap being anything but dreamy.

I think it sounds very nice. Try a drop each on a cotton ball... see what it's like.

I no longer have birds but as I remember they are very sensitive to fumes. I would certainly isolate them from the fumes just to be safe. Even my cat has shown a tendency to develop respiratory infections if I allow him to enter my soaping area before I have completely vented the air. It doesnt take long to vent the room when you're done. I stick a fan in the window next to my work area faceing out with another window open across the room to set up a cross ventieltion.

I am still terrified of lye, even though I have gotten small splashes on my skin and know it’s not like some horror show… the skin doesn’t start bubbling away. Yes, it’s uncomfortable but a little cold water flushes it away. But still… every batch I make a big production of. Getting out my safety equipment (goggles, mask, gloves, rubber apron, and my “soaping clothes”… long sleeved shirt, jeans, old boots). I pace and look a the oils and lye sitting, waiting for me… finding excuses to not start, until the urge to soap over comes me (it really is an addiction) and I dive in. Once I have my oils measured and melted it’s to late to stop (can’t waste the oils) and I will don the goggles, gloves, and mask and measure the lye. After that… it’s easy. Ok… still some apprehension when I pour the lye into the water… but not that much. I set my lye jug in a pan of cold water so it cools pretty rapidly as I stir it… then pour into oils… and the magic starts. I watch as the oils incorporate with the lye and start making soap, as it goes through the stages and add what ever additives I have spent days thinking about… planning… and pour it into the mold… wrap it up and tuck it into like a new born baby… clean up the mess, remove my goggles and gloves, change my clothes and then wait… none to patiently… knowing I’m going to do this again, laughing at myself for all my anxiety. But the next batch, whether it’s an hour or a week later is just the same. So dive in and do it. Follow basic safety precautions . Do it when you can lock the door against kids and pets at a time when you should be free from interuption. if you start feeling over whelmed stop for a few minutes, you can until you mix the lye water and oils. Won't hurt a thing. once you've poured the lye water into the oils put the lye pitecher in the sink and run cold water in it... you'll start to feel a lot safer then and won't want to leave. you'll be fine.

Beautiful swirls and your colors are killer! Nothing else to say... just beautiful.

Ok… I guess I owe everyone an apology, about the salt bar. Neighbor came over a while ago, eager to see what hubby had done with the shelves she saw him bring in Sunday morning. I proudly took her down to see my new soap closet with all my experiments lined up. She immediately gravitated to the salt bars exclaiming how beautiful! I explained to her they were a test and really very ugly… she told me I’m nuts; that I need to keep the look. So, I guess it’s a matter of perception. However… the lavender/chamomile… she’s so not impressed with. Said it’s not ugly… but nothing special about it… not particularly pretty… nor was she impressed with the looks of the bayrum, though she did take a bar for her husband. She did like the 24 carrot gold and jade, but the salt is her favorite and she has requested to be the first tester when it’s cured. So… I’m sorry… you’re all right and I’m wrong. Please don’t act like my hubby and make me repeat it 200 times…

Those look great! how wonderfully creative to think of useing a funnel for a mold! I'm so impressed! You know I'll be barrowing your idea for something... Hmmm... cone shaped bath bombs...

Have you thought of makeing your own? You know the silicone ice trays like this http://www.abestkitchen.com/store/xmas-cubes.html ? Important if you use these, they are not like the bakeware and do not like extremely high heats so pour as cool as possable and do not put in the dishwasher (ask me how I know).

100% soy wax is hydrogenated soybean oil. SAP= 0.136 (average) like all 100% soy oils. Hydrogenation increases hardness but decreases conditioning and lather. I prefer it to stearic acid most of the time now when I need to harden a recipe up a bit, though stearic acid has its own plusses (very very hard, tons of creamy lather). I researched this a couple months ago and would cite my sources (on SAP) but it was on my old laptop which has been reformatted and now belongs to my sister in law. Sorry… but you can no doubt find the info for yourself by searching “soy wax history about” (I think those were the key words I used). I wouldn’t trade soy wax for PKO unless you want a completely different soap. Their properties are very different.

I LOVE THOSE! The first one I see an oak leaf with an itty bitty tiny humming bird. The second I see a woman holding a glass and getting ready to drink… the screaming faces are the best though. Those are so great!

Thank you Crafty and MarieJeanette. I think I will try Crafty’s recipe first as hubby picked the canned goats milk up for me, and being who he is couldn’t just buy one can. I’ll be using canned goats milk for awhile… This batch gave me fits all around. After the orange frozen milk and the smell… finished it up and put it in the refrigerator… and hour later I was getting dinner, opened the fridge to witness a mountain developing in the center of the loaf. It was gelling! To late to stop it I pulled it out and turned the over to 170 and shoved it in. 3 hours later it looked gelled on top… I turned the oven off and went to bed. This evening I sliced it… near the ends you can see the circle where it gelled but never got all the way out. Or maybe it just didn’t gel as hot as the center. Maybe next time I’ll stick it in the freezer. Can saponification take place in freezing temperatures? LOL. I may have to find out for myself. All I can guess is the herbs I used super heated it along with the heat the milk adds. But surprisingly it looks ok… a rather nice dark tan with a touch of green from the infused oils and herbs, and smells wonderful. I used a tranquility bouquet (sage, rosemary, parsley, lemon balm, and wild mint) from my garden.

That is so true, and my husband is one of them. Although he has been using the soap I've made for him with my own two loving hands for several weeks he still will say he needs a deodorant soap to feel clean. I just ask him if he's still using my soap, he looks surprised and says “yes, never mind, I forgot”. He’s such a guy. I have noticed the bathtub always seems filthy now. Where I used to scrub it out ever 3 or 4 days I have to scrub it almost daily now. And I like tub baths to relax... with handmade (real) soap I have noticed the water gets scrungy looking fast. I know I'm not any dirtier now than when I was using commercial soap (probably a lot less dirty as I can bathe every day, some days 2 or 3 times, with out my skin blistering up) so the only explanation I can offer is real soap gets me cleaner. It cleans off all the oils, salts from sweat, dead skin cells and bacteria almost on contact. And it does it with out stripping the natural oils from my skin. You don’t need antibacterial chemicals (which are toxic) if you remove the food source that allows them to survive and multiply. As I see it, it’s as simple as that. And it does it with out clogging or otherwise interfering with my pores or my body’s ability flush other toxins out through my skin. Yes, I have become a full fledged convert. I see and feel such a difference in not just my skin but in my health in general. I know that much of this is because I do have MCS but I believe it is also that I have eliminated a source of toxins from my life. I have heard a lot of good about Green Irish Tweed. Where I have seen it available it’s been rather expensive though. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet one day and cough the cash up! LOL

My friend stopped for coffee today… and to pick up some more soap. She told me her husband loves the bay rum soap, that he had gone into the closet and thrown out all the commercial soap that was stored there. That didn’t surprise me, after I finally got my husband to try my soap he did the same. Then she told me that my soap has saved her marriage… ok… that popped my eyes! Her husband sweats… not perspires… he sweats! Buckets. And according to her his sweat is particularly strong and acrid. She can’t abide the smell, and usually has to wash his work clothes two or three times to get them smelling fresh. But evenings, after dinner is done and he sits on the couch to watch tv and relax has been the problem. She has spent their married life finding things to do so she wouldn’t have to sit next to him, until he takes his shower and heads for bed. She says that since he started using the handmade soap he still sweats but it is no longer the strong acrid sweat and now after dinner she joins him to relax, but they aren’t watching much tv… they are now planning their second honeymoon (they have been married almost 40 years).

How many calories in that? Looks really good!

GEEK SOAP! Yes, I agree with Robin. I know a young geek who loves this stuff but it doesnt seem to affect him... he's no more wired up when he uses it than normal anyway...

Oh Thank you! and both of you for your rapid responce... I was just looking at it... thinking of chucking it... but decided to come back and check here. Thank you.

I just made my first batch of goat’s milks soap. After reading a dozen or two threads on it here I decided to freeze canned milk. Got everything ready, oils melted… lye measured, water ready (50% of total liquid) ready… took the goats milk out of the freezer… it is brown. I was to far to stop so went ahead and used it (guess I could have just doubled the water but what the heck) and… well... the smell… I haven’t seen anyone mention a smell that all I can describe as is old urine. I take the mask off as soon as I get the lye water and oils basically incorporated as by that time my glasses are so fogged up from I have to do see and the smell hit me like a rock in the face. It seemed much milder by the time I poured it in the mold, but is this normal?

I can't load the pictures for some reason, but from the thumbnails... looking good! I really like the swirls of the Mac Apple.

Those look very masculine. I'm going to have to find that scent. Sounds like something I'ld like to smell on my man.

All the stained glass window soaps that have been showing up... Like a bright spring sunday morning, the only thing I liked when Grandma dragged me off to sunday school! Even if you had to "clean" these by cutting the tops off I think they came out beautiful.

Those are truly art.

Sorry- hubby insisted I try to sleep as soon as I hit send on that last post... I don't know why... all I do is toss and turn and keep him awake. What is is about hot flashes and night? Mine start every night at 10pm... Now, trutyh is I rather enjoy them in winter, I chill easily, but this summer has been a real pain! OK, everyone else... leave the old women alone so we can discuse our achs and pains....

I have had oatmeal soap I HPed look like that but I think I had the heat to high. Since I've turned the heat down it hasn't happened. But this was CP, right? Sorry, I'm no help.

Actually... before my hands got bad I used to make baskets... I mean really make baskets... but people always looked disapointed when I gave them as a gift. Maybe because all I gave them was the basket, i didn't bother filling them up. LOL