soulshine

I was going for a 2 color swirl:tiptoe: well I got 2 color tops and maybe 2 or 3 bars with 2 colors... and of course my swils aren't as swirly as I'd like, but I think they turned out OK. I'm waiting on my soap doc to plane the tops, and bevel....

I didn't list lye on my labels but I did list the oils.... Since I'm pretty much out of everything that was labeled {don't worry, it's all family and friends at this point, but hopefully won't be soon} Guess it's time to get back into doing research on what the heck I'm s'posed to put on that darn thing... How do you figure out the % with the oils and the lye & water? I'm not the best at that whole math thing...

I've never heard of this! what is it? sundried salt? that's just what the name makes me think:tongue2:

I save all my scraps for scrap bars. I think someone else calls them treasure soaps. I make a basic batch of soap, then toss all my scrap shreds in the pot and pour. I don't sell those since I always forget to label my scraps and I wouldn't even know what to put on the ingrediant label... Just a thought. Although I've never made salt bars, so I don't know if it would be a good idea to toss those scraps in....:undecided

Thanks for the continued replies! the more the merrier! I use the soapmaker program for my recipe formulation, and was actually trying to figure out the lowest amount of hemp oil I could use and still get those amazing benefits. And it's kinda hard to tell just from the numbers what 2% changes, depending on what you sub that % with. Since the hemp oil goes bad so quick, and I can't get it locally (& it's not cheap), I'm trying to minimize the % I will use in the recipes. I just put a batch to bed with 7.9 % hemp oil. (I know it's a weird number, I was trying to only use 8 oz so i'd have the other half of my bottle to play with;) ) I'll update ya'll when I can use it. And of course I'll post pics once it's cut:laugh2:

I have a 4oz bottle of citronella that I've had for almost 2 yrs now, I keep forgetting about it in the summer... Guess this summer I'll slop some wax in a bucket and see if it's still any good. Thanks for reminding me about it!

I have some I got from Pourette. HTH

WOW you guys will make soap out of anything!!!! I haven't gotten the guts up to do more than OM&H and a tomato soap. Those bars look awesome! I hope it feels as great as it looks!

thanks for your replys ladies! I think I'm going to try 8% and see how that goes. I make 100 oz recipes, so I want to try 8% so I only have to use half the bottle. If I think it needs to be upped, I can shrink the batch size a little to compensate.

I use palm, pko and coconut 2gether in most of my recipes, however I am tesing bars without the PKO because I can't get the flakes locally, and I don't want to pay shipping. (and I just ran out)

I am testing recipes out trying to find my "golden" basic soap... I have made 2 batches with hemp oil that turned out AMAZING! I tried the last one after just one week of cure <couldn't wait:tongue2: > And it lathered like crazy! better than some of my bars after a couple of months. So I think I'm hooked on this oil... but it's kinda pricey. I've used it at about 16% in both batches, because I had 2 16 oz bottles I was trying to use up B4 they went bad.... So for those of you who use hemp oil what % do you normally use? I searched on this site and found most recipes using hemp to be at 10%. Is this effective? Can you get away with less and still get the same amazing results? I know I'll have to test and find out. I just thought I would ask the experts before I started using up my last 16 oz of hemp... And on a slightly different note... Do people "frown" on your usage of hemp oil? (besides the hippies and earth lovers) Thanks for reading, and for any advice you might give!

I have zero graphic arts knowledge, and need a good logo. I'm also kinda broke, so I can't afford pricey graphic artists.... any one with any suggestions would be awesome!!!!!

Those are awesome!

I really love it when you talk to someone about a lost package, and they tell you they will reship it. Then you call back 2 weeks later to find out where it is, and THE SAME person says "we have no record indicating that you would have your order reshipped, who did you talk to?" Then they charge your credit card AGAIN for an oder you still don't have....

Those are great ideas! thank you so much!!!!

:whoohoo: Thanks everybody! Getting so many amazing responses is overwhelming. I was pretty impressed with it myself! I think it just came out so awesome cuz I was showing my boyfriends nephew how to make soap <he was stuck at our house and bored, but found it interesting>. I used a bar of it last night, (couldn't wait to try it) and it was amazing! Sorry it took me so long to get back to answer the ?s, I've been avoiding my computer. I used black oxide to color it. I don't use anything to support the sides of the mold. It holds up just fine when full. (But I wouldn't stack anything on it). I swirled in the pot at thin trace. P.S. I think it's our new FAV scent in the house!

A friend of mine is throwing me a candle party! I've never done this before and would LOVE to hear your suggestions... I figure I'll get all the girls drunk, then steal their wallets! At least I'm hoping they'll buy my stuff. I know I should take anything /everything I can sell, since most people I know like to buy what they can see... So I'll have candles, soaps, some bath salts, and maybe a couple of other things if I get my supplies in time... any help/ suggestions would be awesome!!!

My latest batch! scented white tea & ginger form peaks. I love this scent! And I was happy with the swirls! WooHoo!

You might try looking for chemical companies in your phone book. Just call around and see if any of them sell caustic soda or sodium hydroxide<is that right?> I did that here in memphis, and found a place where I can get 50 lbs for $60! Beats the price I was paying at Kroger before! Good Luck!

I also would say that the FOs you get from either hobby lobby or micheals are not up to par with good FOs from companies like Peaks. I sometimes still use craft store wax when I'm in a bind.... but always go for a good quality FO. Even the online retailers quality varies. from one company you might have to use 2 or 3 times the amount of fragrance that you would have to use to get the same scent throw as a good one. I only make pillars, and people tell me they sometimes wait 6 months to light my candles because they smell great without even burning them, which of course means they wait that much longer before coming back, but hey... they like 'em;)

wow, with that kit, they didn't say anything about the lye. I wonder if it's in there? and if it is will teenagers be getting this kit, and playing in it????

I've been testing recipes with some canola, soy shortening and rice bran to sub most of the OO.... however I haven't tried NO olive oil.... will have to try that out!!!

That soap looks amazing! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess I took too long to respond!

Do you have any other oils, like olive? The oils you listed are normally more of an additive oil rather than a base, because (partially) they are more expensive. Someone else would be better at explaining why poeple use certain oils (like Olive, Palm, Coconut, Palm Kernal, Canola, Rice Bran, Soybean, ect.) as base oils. I don't have a good starter recipe for you, but there ARE tons of them in our recipe section. And I thinkin robin's CP tutorial there is a good one as well. And if you haven't seen her tutorial, Check it out, it's awesome! I kept going back to the computer and looking at it to make sure I was making my first batch right:D . Good Luck , and don't forget to post pics!