coco

No, they are not the same. Crisco is soybean and cottonseed oil (or if generic is simply "vegetable shortening") and lard is (shh) piggy fat. Both can be found in the grocery store. No sub for the cetyl, if you don't have BTMS or cetyl you can leave them out altogether and up the ewax to 10% and stearic to 9%. A bit of a different feel but it works.

I have received quite a few pms for this recipe. Inexpensive, stays whipped and creamy,rinses clean, and feels incredible. SLSA can be added to make it slightly foamy if you so desire..

Coco's Whipped Piggy Scrub

32 oz. Makes 7-8 8 oz. jars after sugar is added

Ewax 9% 81.65 g.

Stearic 8% 72.58 g.

BTMS 2% 27.22

Coconut Oil (76 degree) 18% 163.30 g.

RBO 14% 127.01 g.

Castor Oil 14% 127.01 g.

Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 14% 127.01 g.

Lard 18% 163.30 g.

FO 1%

Preservative 1%

Plain white sugar as desired

Melt all but the castor, RBO, FO and preservative. Add the castor and RBO (I warm with 2 15 sec bursts in the microwave before adding). Mix on lowest speed for 1 minute (I use a KA to mix, but a standard hand mixer works just as well. Be sure to use a large bowl as it does splash at this point). Add FO and preservative, mix thoroughly and place in the freezer for 15 mins. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for another minute. Place back in the freezer for 15 minutes, rinse and repeat until it turns white and reaches the consistency of a light lotion (this part is daunting but it's worth it). Once it reaches this point, it should now start whipping up and will double in volume. When it resembles a creamy, dreamy, yummy frosting, you can now start adding your sugar cup by cup until you are satisfied with the texture. Scoop into jars and place the jars in the refrigerator for about an hour (not necessary but they do really set up nice this way).

Tried and true subs:

Coconut Oil: PKO

RBO: AKO, Grapeseed Oil

Hydrogenated Soybean Oil: Crisco

BTMS: Up Ewax to 10% and add 1% cetyl alcohol

Callmaker, no the sugar isn't sticky at all. I have tried a lotion with lard and one with deer tallow and both were lovely, not greasy at all. Smooth a bit of plain ole lard on your arm or leg, it actually sinks in quicker for me than Shea does. And the lard and shortening whip up really nice and fluffy. I would love to incorporate it in the lotions I sell but it makes people . Well, except for the men... they think it makes it all the more manly and would love it if I actually put bacon grease in there. Hmmm.. the leftover chunks of bacon may make a great exfoliant! <off to the kitchen to formulate>

I know this will sound really bad to some of you, but in the emulsified scrubs that I make just for myself I use lard,vegetable shortening (hydrogenated soy), coconut oil, castor and rice bran oil. Inexpensive and leaves your skin feeling AMAZING. Lard isn't so great for label appeal, but wow does it feel nice. I also skip the salt, as it burns the heck out of my freshly shaven skin and use regular sugar.

Anyone have a good bath syrup recipe?

I would like to have a thicker type of syrup. I found a formula that just uses glycerin, Jojoba and castor oil. Would I have to use castor oil? I understand that castor oil has a horrible smell and is hard to cover up. Any ideas? All I really want is a really thick bubble bath more or less.

eta: I found that I could use polysorbate 80 instead. Any other thoughts on a how to make a thick bath syrup?

Bath syrup is basically a thick bubble bath with oils added. Mom2, Polysorbate is an emulsifier and wouldn't be used as a replacement for castor oil. Castor oil is a wonderful cleansing and moisturizing oil. I use it in so many of my products, it doesn't have a bad smell at all but you can substitute just about any light to medium oil for it. I would use rice bran oil, or another oil that disperses easily in water.

I did use e-wax...I did not have dimethicone (have to look that up!). One thing I came across on my searches when this board was down that steric can be bad (draggy) and that the following products might be helpful: IPM, cetyl alcohol, PS 80, BTMS. I am trying to learn what these are and also what to use (one? all? in addition? in place of something?)

But I am having trouble finding resources.

SIGH

Thanks tho for your input!

dana

I was talking about BTMS when I mentioned conditioning ewax (some sites call it that), it really does help quite a bit and I don't use stearic with it as it contains cetyl. You would use it instead of ewax, or use a little of both. The hydrovance (LOVE IT) goes in with your water phase. Some people don't like to use silicones, but I just can't live without my Dimethicone! I love the slip and texture it gives. I have never had any luck with cornstarch personally, it gives a strange super powdery, dry afterfeel to me. I find that if my lotions or creams are too greasy, I will just up the water % a bit and replace some of the heavier oils with lighter oils. Happy experimenting, be careful it's addicting!

I don't even begin to attempt to call any of the lotions/creams I make "natural" but I do know that I wouldn't want Borax sitting on my skin.

Risks Associated with Borax

Borax is natural, but that does not mean it is automatically safer for you or for 'the environment' than man-made chemicals. Although plants need boron, too much of it will kill them, so borax can be used as an herbicide. Borax may also be used to kill roaches, ants, and fleas. In fact, it is also toxic to people. Signs of chronic toxic exposure include red and peeling skin, seizures, and kidney failure. The estimated lethal dose (ingested) for adults is 15-20 grams; less than 5 grams can kill a child or pet. For this reason, borax should not be used around food. More commonly, borax is associated with skin, eye, or respiratory irritation. It is also important to point out that exposure to borax may impair fertility or cause damage to an unborn child. Now, none of these risks mean that you shouldn't use borax. If you do a bit of research, you will find risks associated with all cleaning products, natural or man-made. However, you do need to be aware of product risks so that you can use those products properly. Don't use borax around food, keep it out of reach of children and pets, and make sure you rinse borax out of clothes and off of surfaces before use.

I use conditioning ewax and dimethicone in all of my lotions and butters and they give slip/glide with a powdery non-greasy feel.

Your oil % is higher than your water %, no doubt it is going to feel greasy! I would imagine you are going to have a difficult time ever getting those proportions to emulsify properly with beeswax and borax. I would start with 75% water 25% oils and see how you like that. And yes, lose the beeswax and borax and get some ewax and stearic acid!

Edited to add: You may want to lower your OO a bit and use some lighter/penetrating oils like rice bran oil, apricot kernel or grapeseed.

Do you have any BTMS? I sub that for the ewax and cetyl. You can always just leave it out and up the stearic, the cetyl just gives a nicer feel.

I hear ya hun, I'm living with the same thing I don't remember ever being even half as disrespectful to my parents as kids seem to be these days (yuck, that statement makes me feel so old).

My oldest daughter has decided that I am STUPID!! (nothing new)

I would kindly inform her that you are far too "stupid" to help her fix her hair

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the margarita (so does everyone else that tries it). The chai tea and coffee and kahlua are also to die for. I may be the only one that does this, but I melt a bit of sugar in with the oils until it's completely dissolved and have never had a problem.

It's not directed at you Renee!

Troll over to the Dish, LMAO. They will eat her for breakfast, spit her out and throw the left overs to the lions.

Well, I figured as long as she thought WE were b*tches!

*waits for the magic eraser to appear*

:tiptoe: :lipsrseal

Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll troll over to The Dish where there is no magic eraser. I do hear making soap is a way to make LOTS of money!

All of your posts should be deleted IMO.

Although I am above 20,000 a yr income, it's not what I want. I want more.

Well I would certainly think so. I couldn't afford to make and test candles and still manage to eat on 20k a year. I think my teenager makes more than that working part time and can't afford a backpack when he needs one. You may want to look into a different way to earn income.

EZSoy is 100% soy. If your label says it is a blend, perhaps it is EZSoy Advanced?

Hi all! I've been working with EZSoy and I've worked with 415 in the past, but someone gave me some 402 and I thought I would test the three against each other for fun.

I'm confused What is the 3rd? 415 is EZSoy...

Kangaroo Blue has some recipes on the website right below where you add it to cart.

It isn't a gel candle, it is a resin based clear wax/paraffin blend that is made to (like palm) leave an outer shell. I got something similar from BBW a few years back that I absolutely loved. This would be fun to do with pillars IMO!

So my question is..why are "we"(chandlers) putting ourselves through all the different soy wax testing if none of it matters anyways because it's not organic,all natural unless it's beeswax or bayberry? So it really wouldn't matter if I made"Soybean" candles and used a para-soy cause it's basically all the same..not organic! I know alot of it is advertising/marketing...what should the chandlers do that got sucked up in the all natural 100% soybean craze? I was just wondering what can be done to change this "LIE" that is out there people are actually sucking in.? Me,being one of them until I just read this thread.

Kimmeroo

<Shrug> For me personally, I didn't start making soy candles because I believed them to be 100% organic. From an ecological/environmental standpoint, they are better than paraffin and most environmentally conscious folk will choose a soy candle for that reason, though it doesn't make them "green". People that are die-hard "go green" shoppers will expect everything in the product to be 100% CO. I, like many people are drawn to the simple fact that they burn clean, no soot (boy do I enjoy no longer having to wash black off of my walls!), and the wax can be cleaned up with warm soapy water. Don't let the comments regarding the fact that it isn't 100% organic outweigh the many benefits that soy candles do have!

Why so much hostility towards the organic crowd?

Some of these posts sound about as childish as the "soy is better because parrafin will give you cancer" crap.

Just because you (used in a generic sense) choose not to use CO ingredients, doesn't mean that those who do are "desperate" to find a niche. It doesn't make us sleazy marketers looking to make a fast buck with the hottest buzzword.

Some of us chose to run our businesses as green as possible. We chose to use CO ingredients whenever possible (not just whenever profitable). We choose not to use synthetic fragrances (btw in response to the post above mine, essential oils are not true essential oils if they are extracted by any means other than those you listed, they are absolutes or resins or some other type product). We chose to use our businesses as vehicles to educate the public about the merits of organic farming methods, the downside of corporate farming, or how to look for fairly traded products and what it means to support fair trade in general.

People are going to buy candles, soap and anything else they want anyway. What's wrong with offering them a choice they can feel good about and a bit of education in the process?

If your market doesn't give a flip about greener products, then you shouldn't give a flip about those who sell to a market that does. Bashing each other doesn't benefit anyone.

There is a CO wax blend available. I posted a thread asking about it last night. I'm going to give it a shot. It may suck, but that's my chance to take. No one is demanding that everyone here stop using fos and their wax of choice, so please have some respect for those who choose to do things a little differently than you.

Wow. I didn't even get the slightest hint in any of these posts that anyone was bashing an organic product. Quite the opposite, I see so many people struggling to find a way to produce one that actually IS organic. It appears to me that many of these folks have done extensive research in trying to find a way to create an organic product and are finding (through RESEARCH not skepticism) that calling a candle "100% green" is just not legitimate. Not to say that it couldn't be produced, just not with the products that are currently being used. Organic products are VERY much desired, though those who buy an "organic" product expect it to be just that, just as a vegan would not appreciate eggs mixed in with their tofu and called a "vegan" meal.

I would go with the civil as well being that there is no way he will actually serve 20 years. Cover your bases!