greensoaper

The soap formula looks great. With lard and olive, it might take a while to trace so be prepared. Personally, I'd go with lavender, rosewood and patch...something like 5:2:1 and see how you like it. One of my best selling soaps is veeeery similar to this. Tangerine and patch would probably be nice at about 3:1, but would rock if you also had some ylang to toss in. Lime, bergamot and patch would work too. I'd start around 5:5:1 and go from there. Hope that helps.

Borax is an inhalation hazard. I would advise against using it in an airborne product like a carpet freshener. Sodium Bicarbonate alone should be fine.

Thank you so much. That is all excellent information!

Hi all. I'm thinking about dabbling in candle making after the holidays. I already have some divine beeswax on hand, so I thought I'd try making some beeswax votives to start. I do have a couple of questions though. Which mold material is preferred for beeswax, metal or silicone/rubber? Also, does anyone know the max fragrance load for pure beeswax? I know it's usually left unscented, but I just can't help myself. Finally, stepping away from the votives for a second, are there any containers that beeswax works well in? Thanks so much!

First of all, is your recipe in percentages? I get 111.6% when I added it up. Secondly,I agree about dropping the Crisco. I wanted to like shortening in soap, but I just don't. I'd recommend trying something like this: Lard 35% RBO 20% Coconut 12.5% PKO 12.5% Castor 10% Mango 10% Hard - 44 Clens - 17 Cond - 51 bubb - 26 creamy- 36 Iodine- 59 INS - 142 Please keep in mind, that I tend to formulate with certain characteristics in mind. Everyone has their own preferences, so YMMV.

I truly wish we could remove the term "water discount" from the vocabulary of every soapmaker around the world. This term has led to so much confusion and frustration for so many. Wipe it from your memory and retrain yourself to think in terms of lye solution strength. When we speak in terms of solution strength, we're all speaking the same language. This isn't the case for "discounting". A 33% solution strength is pretty standard. I actually prefer 38% unless I'm soaping a problem child like clove or geranium. I've been known to use 45% in a crunch (not recommended for newbies). Most sources recommend not going higher than a 40% solution. Back to the original post. I agree with Eugenia, too much safflower. Your formula puts your linoleic at 30%. That's a pretty risky gamble. Personally, I'd roll back the safflower to about 5% (and that's only if you insist on using it at all) and up the olive to 35 and the crisco to 25. I really think you need another hard oil here. I love palm, but lard or tallow would work too. Hope that helps.

Thanks. Hmmm...I've never tried to replicate sandalwood, but V. cedarwood, patchouli, vanilla and amber might give you something in the right vein. Might even throw in a tiny bit of clove. Of course with the rising price of patch and the already high prices of vanilla absolute and amber, I'm not sure if that would save you any money at all. I may have to play around with this myself after the holiday show season is over.

Hi there. This is my first post here, and i hope I'm not stepping on any toes or speaking out of turn. Sandalwood EO is divine, but it just isn't ecologically responsible to use. It has been harvested almost to the point of extinction. Some sources list amyris eo as a substitution for sandalwood. I disagree, and amyris is also a threatened species so that doesn't help much. Unless you are married to the idea of using strictly eo's (as I am) I would suggest finding a good fo dupe of East Indian sandalwood.