Sherl

Walmart and KMart have the plastic tackle boxes.. look where the fishing stuff is. I have Plano model 3620.. got them at KMart. I use 1/2 oz tins to put my samples. I can get 40 in a case so can take 80 in 2 cases that fit in a large tote. The small tins can be a real pain to get open at times so I WD-40 the area that the lid overlaps the bottom.. much better.

I'm new to shows but I have a vertical shelf that allows me to disdplay 66 scents in a space of 14" x 36", with storage underneath. I have 2 other vertical shelves that display pillars and am working on one to display votives. I find that people like variety. I may only carry 3 or 4 each of the "off season" fragrances but they are available for those that only like such and such. I only do one size pillar and the votives are from the extra wax when I make a pillar. Would rather not mess with them but they are inexpensive to buy so I carry them. I am still working on my "line" so to speak, but the shelves are designed to be flexible and display whatever I decide to carry.

I'm fairly new as well, but a trip to Miller Soap on the web will get you started. Lots of recipies, MMS also has recipies.. as well as other sites. Just do a search for cp soap. I picked a recipie that had the oils I had on hand and resized it to 2 pounds.. a workable trial. There is info here on how to work the MMS calculator, I printed it out, printed a recipe and entered the info into the calculator and played with it untill I understood.. then resized the batch. I made my first two batches with out fragrance to get an idea of what a trace was then did one with fo. It was a lot of fun and now I can't wait to do more. Good luck and have fun!

You make pillars.. Wet spots seem to come with the territory. Some days you get more than others. You can try using a heat gun or putting in a warm oven, but I find they come back. I warm my jars and don't cool in the box and I seem to get better results than with any other method. Winter is worse with the cooler temps for me as well. As long as they are not real bad, I let them go, most customers do not seem to mind them, and the big names also have them.

I am still new to soap and made the Basic Veggie from Millers site [i think] and ended up with a nice bar except for the texture. It was Soybean 45.45%; Olive 27.27% and Coconut 27.27%. Is it the soybean that gives it the funky texture? It is a wonderful soap, lathers very nicely. It has been 6 weeks now and still is not rock hard, would call it firm. Can this be tweaked to get a firmer bar without losing the properties I already have? What could be added in a small quantity to firm up this bar?

I add some to my parrafin container blend. It adds about 15-20 hrs to the burn time for me on a 18 oz jar. You do have to be careful how much you add, it can change the wicking. I added it thinking it was sticky and would help with wet spots.. don't think it helped me there. But it does make for a nice, slow burning candle.

Reminds me of something tropical.. how about Tropical Sunrise. Paradise Lost. Bird of Paradise. Island Breeze. Fantasy.

Go to Salvation Army or any thrift type store.. can get small on the rocks type glasses, shot glasses and sometimes some other neat glassware that can be use for measuring fragrances. Best part is they are usually real cheap.

I use RA's. Strong and I like it's Earthy smell. Have sniffed a few that are a bit sickening. Have fun getting it wicked!

You're in the neighborhood of Starville. They had moved to a new location when I left Texas. They should be able to fix you up. Did ya'll get a lot of rain? Watching from Ohio I wondered about the Sabine.. it always flooded roads in the spring, bet this is a mess. I lived in Longview.

Try twisting the wick. They usually curl one direction. I twist the wick several times before I pour. When they burn, the directional curl doesn't stay in one place, it moves slightly and it helps. Hope this made sense.

I use 223 in 18oz antique jars. I add FO at 155-160 and pour into heated jars when the temps go below 150. I have found that if I keep them out of the box I get fewer wet spots than cooling in their box. With this jar I do get craters and holes. It is not a one pour with this jar. It is with my shorter terrance or keepsake jars. So I poke a few holes and heat gun the tops. Kinda a pain but I really like the jars. Plus, I can reduce whatever wet spots I get at this time. I use no more that 1oz FO with 15oz wax to get 1 pound total. If a FO isn't strong enough at that strength, I don't use it.

I use their Leather, Christmas Cabernet and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Nice and strong in parrafin. Don't think you can get a better Leather.

I'm still new to all this.. made 3 batches with out fo or anything else and got nice bars. So decided to make cucumber melon and add cucumber in place of some of the water. I had pureed the cucumber and frozen it several weeks before. Darn things are just too abundant in the garden. So I pull it out of the freezer, run it in the processor again and get a cool mush. I replaced about 2/3 of the water with the cuke. Can water be switched out by weight or does it need to be volume? I mixed the lye/water, added to the oils when cooled, then at a light trace added the cucumber. Was thinking did not want the lye to effect the green of the cuke. Added the fo, mixed well and put into the mold. Man.. the stuff stinks! It permeated a 2 story house. Now, 3 weeks later, in the basement it is still strong. Did I do something wrong or could it be the fo in the cp soap. I'm hoping the stuff mellows some, but it does not have that nice, fresh, green cucumber smell I was hoping for. Any recomendations for a nice cucumber fo in cp?

I am still new to soap making.. have only made a few batches. I am wondering if there is info listed on what the different oils bring to a bar of soap? Like some condition, some bring lather. Have been on several sites and have not found this info in one place. Thanks...

Office Depot and Stables both sell T Shirt bags. I paid $10 for a box to get me thru a small show.

Would think you would want to cover the human scent, not make oneself smell like a doe. Your husband might not appreciate meeting a love struck buck on the way home from the deer stand. They have been know to hurt people. I know my husband is very careful with the doe scents and makes sure they don't get on him.

I live in a small town and Kroeger carries it. We just got a Super Walmart and they don't. They do have quite a few oils so can overlook not having lye.

Finally did my first CP soap. It was fun.. but the wait to see it is like the night beffore Christmas when you are a kid! I peeked and peeked.. finally today I pulled it out of the mold and cut it. Bummer now to wait 4-6 weeks to use. And I thought waiting for pillars to set up was no fun! Oh well, on to another recipie to try and supplies to order. I'm hooked!

to soap.. does it ever go bad? I've read of the cukes and carrots, is anything else used? I assume it is mainly for color.. do you get fragrance from this stuff? I got a garden full of excess, would be neat to use them in soap. Got every thing together and will try cp tomorrow!! Can you use candle coloring in this kind of soap or do you need something different?

I've taken some recipies and plugged them into the calculaters to get an idea of how they work, and on the soapcalc one, it lists things like hardnes, cleansing..ect. Can someone give me an idea of what these numbers are telling me or direct me to a place that does? For instance, the hardness of some of the recipies I've plugged into it gives a range here 23-48. What is this telling me about the soap I'm making. I'm off to Wal-Mart to get a stick blender and would like to know what I can use for a mold that holds about 2 pounds of soap. Any suggestions?? What dimensions am I looking for? Also.. I have read that I can use my pots I use for cooking.. don't need to get a special set. Just making sure that is true. Thanks for all your help..

My Mother-in-laws sister is a candle nut.. she buys from the dollar store all kinds of cheapies. Then she gives me dirty jars and expects me to refill them. I have explained that I do not fill any jar that I do not sell, and I am not in the jar cleaning business. So, I get the dollar store candles stuffed under my nose and I'm told how good they smell. I finally made my point yesterday when I told her I could not smell anything, but then I was used to the way my candles smell. Then I let her know how busy I am doing shows and selling to others.. hopefull that will get her mouth shut for a while. She wants something for nothing and I'm not in business for that. The Dollar Store can have her.

I have finally gotten brave enough to make some CP soap. I do have a question... how bad does the lye smell when you mix it? If I make a small batch some morning, will my husband come home from work and choke??

Mango Sage Tea [TW] Oakmoss [Tony] Blackberry Sage [TW] All the high dollar ones I carry...

I got the same thing when I switched from a shorter, bigger opening jar to a taller jar that tapered as it went down, as do the Balmorals. My wick/wax was fine in the first jar and in the second I got soot. I seem to get it the further down it goes. To get the top [wider] to burn ok the wick is a tad bigger than the narrower part needs. I kinda have to wick for the middle, the top will leave some corners till the half way point, then burn fine the rest of the way down. Getting my wick trimmed short enough before I burn is a little harder as well in these taller jars. Plus, the flame gets down in the jar where there is less oxygen than it gets at the top. All these conditions are not the best conditions for burning clean. I've also noticed that the heavier oils are more prone to throw soot than the lighter ones. I do not believe that a candle exists that does not throw soot to some extent.. there is combustion and soot/smoke is a by-product. The best we can do is configure wax/wicks and containers to produce as little as possible and educate those that burn them to burn them properly.