dogmom1

hi, i've made several variations of kimberly's body butter recipe (absolutely amazing) and i'm wondering of EBCs colorants, which they sell for use in M&P, will work in the butters. there is NO water in kimberly's recipe, in case some of you are not familiar with it. just butters and oils. i'm pretty sure food color won't work since it's water based. TIA, ei

thanks billie, especially for reminding me about the scentreviewboard. i joined before i started making soap and totally forgot about it! i just couldn't believe the HUGE time difference between the one with the FO and the second one without. i did finally test and it IS soap, thank goodness. no zap at all. yes, notes..... must remember.......

hi karen, i haven't tried the coconut lime. i need to play more with the sage pomegranate, it seems to need a bigger wick and i haven't gotten back to it. all the others you mentioned throw very well for me. they are all really wonderful scents! the CS people are so nice and also very helpful. you're lucky to be close to them! i definitely agree that the wick sizes they recommend are a bit too big, tho there are a few FOs that i've used a 14. i use glass, not tins, and i don't know if that affects wicking. i think the tin might get hotter than the glass, which may influence the burn, but that's just a guess. let me know how the coconut lime works out. good luck and keep us posted! ei

hi karen, welcome! i use 464 and CS FOs. i find an eco 10 works very well in my 3 inch containers with MOST of the CS fragrances i use. i also use 1 ounce per pound and light color. sometimes too big a wick can be as much a problem as too small. are you using all 3 leaf rated FOs? most of those are great, but i did have trouble with a few not throwing well. what FOs are you testing with right now? maybe i can give you some of my results. and of course you can always try the other wicks. i may do that for the few FOs i had trouble with using the eco wicks. HTH!

thanks! tonite i took the soap out of the shoebox, took off the freezer paper and cut it. i'm afraid to do the tongue test, got a bad shock from a laptop charger about a week ago and just the thought of even a zap right now gives me the chills. i did take a small piece and washed my hands. got a good lather and washed for a minute or so. no sting or anything. i guess at some point i'll have to find out.... but not tonite! it cut easily, no crumble or anything. next time i'll have the stick blender ready!! thanks again!

sorry, double posted.

well maybe not quite forever.... my first batch i followed eugenia's room temp tutorial which calls for including FO with oils BEFORE adding the lye water. i used 3/4 ounce FO to a pound of oil. traced in about 15 minutes. last nite, i used the same recipe but NO fragrance added to oils. took almost an hour to give me a very light trace. can FO or lack therof make that big a difference? the FO was CS lavender. tia... again... ei

wow, that post of yours takes the cake. you have an unbelievable amount of nerve. i've been on this forum since last april and still consider myself a newbie to all this. i've gotten guidance and suggestions from lots of people i've never met and most likely never will. some of them have been making candles, soap, and/or body products for many years. i've learned from reading their posts that blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention too much money and countless hours, have gone into the products that they have perfected. this is a pretty friendly community, and the responses to your post sure prove we consider ourselves a community. you made a big mistake (or is that misteak?) tonight when you insulted the very people who could have AND would have been happy to answer your questions and give you guidance. i hope laura is right and we never hear from you again.

thanks for the info! i love violet lime too, the candles are awesome, and the cranberry marmalade. i'll definitely try the others too. since i do soy candles, i only have "3 leave scents" right now, but need to put in an order soon.

thanks carole. i just read and responded to you PM. i love CS cranberry marmalade, so i will definitely use that one. the candles are totally amazing. i'll check out backwoods for sure!

thanks to all who've answered me. i am particularly worried about seizing, since i am brand new to CP. i don't expect you all to tell me which do and which don't, but can i depend on suppliers mentioned to tell me quick trace, not good in CP, as i've seen some do, and is the info reliable? candlebuddy, candle science is my supplier for FOs for candles and i love them. they don't have any info about how the oils work in CP tho. have they worked well for you in CP? thanks for any more info anyone may have, as well as for the sites you've all lasted for me!

i've got to stop spending money like a crazy person. i need to get some FOs for CP and the sticky has SO many oils and lots of suppliers. if you could only use one supplier to start (i know i'll break down later) who would it be and what FOs would be the most important? i hope i put this in the right place, i see a lot of essential oil stuff here so i'm hoping i did. TIA

sue, thanks for the welcome... it sure is an addiction! scented and lorrie, i can't find the cable to attach the camera to the computer, i am still searching. i put it somewhere "safe". smittenheart and all the rest, it actually came out really nice. no zap only one day later. i also took a small piece and washed my hands, it was fine. smells wonderful, hope it lasts. it's not a lot to look at, very plain, but creamy looking and i think a nice fine grain, tho nothing to compare! i need to get FOs. i only have CS oils and have only found two of them that are definitely OK to use in CP, lavender, which is what i used for this batch, and sister kya posted that violet lime is also ok. there are probably more, but right now i'm chicken to try them. and there are SO many in the "scents that ROCK" sticky , it's kinda overwhemling to even start looking. thanks everyone for your interest and your help! ei

shame on me, i took the easy way out! my son dug some wax out and put it in a melter. the scent filled up the whole living room! i decided to stick to the melts for a while, then just never got back to testing. i'm getting ready to test 444, i'll try it again in that. i got sidetracked learning about CP soap, and i finally made my first batch a couple of days ago. maybe i can get back to some candles since i now know that lye water in a covered container in the bathtub with the door closed will never become soap. i also learned that it doesn't have teeth and if treated carefully, is actually pretty easy to use! i'll give it a try tomorrow with the 444, maybe i'll have better luck. i'll definitely post the results. i would like to get a candle to throw the scent, i actually like it a lot. ei

i just hope it's not free lye that i saw!! but i'll post, have to learn.... thx!

my lye water was crystal clear, nothing in it at all. looked just like drinking water.... but you're right, i'm glad it's behind me either way. thx!

hi everyone, just wrapped up the shoebox. i'm a little worried 'cause as it went from very light trace to more like medium, i saw a few tiny light specks, just a few, but i'm wondering if it could have been lye? i ran my recipe through soap calc and believe i weighed everything accurately. i left the superfatting setting at 5%. i used eugenia's room temp recipe, lard, olive oil, coconut and castor oils. FO but no color. i guess time will tell....... if anyone has any thoughts, please let me know! time to go to bed, i have to get up for work at 4 am and it's 11:30 pm now!! TIA, ei

hi PA, so that's 2 T of beeswax per pound? and that won't hurt the lather? we LOVE lather! do i need to up my glycerine or castor oil? thx, ei

hi everyone, ruina, thanks for the additional insight into the blocks. i actually tried the suggestion of adding the oils and butters. i melted the beeswax and then stirred in my heated oils and shea butter. when i went to add it in a few minutes later, it was a kind of creamy soft "sorta" solid, like coconut oil gets when it's right around the melting point i guess. it incorporated beautifully. i did a really small batch, 8 ounces base, so i added 1/2 tablespoon of the BW. i am afraid to add more in case i start losing lather, and since the party is SATURDAY, i think i need to stop experimenting and start making sheep! i may try just one more time, adding more dr bronner for some more bubbles. just don't want it to soften the bar again! and if i add more GM, will that make it softer? i use the evaporated kind and would love to use more. thanks again to you, sharon, jo and PA! you guys ROCK!

jo, that was a nice accidental discovery! i am definitely going to try it, just didn't have time tonite. ruina, the way you do it sounds very interesting. very clever!! i think i'm going to try that also. one thing no one has mentioned is how much of the "other" stuff do you add to make it work? 50-50, more? less? thanks to all once again. this forum is a Godsend, everyone is very nice and helpful. then there are some people especially willing to share, like the four of you who answered! eileen

thanks sharon and prairie annie!!! i'll try that tonite. i am going thru EBC base like crazy.... i hope this will work. of course hubby is enjoying all the lather, he's not worried about how long it lasts, he just grabs another bar! i'll let you know how it works out. thanks again, eileen

hi, i am still trying to get a MP bar that lasts a decent amount of time. i've tried OO (i Tbsp per pound) and i'm still not happy. i melted 1/2 TBSP beeswax (pellets) completely, in the microwave, and added it to what i thought was pretty HOT MP base. i seems like the beeswax cooled when it hit the MP and the bottom of the second bar (i'm doing very small amounts, so it was only 8 ounces, two bars total) ended up with hard, scratchy "stuff", as hubby put it, on the bottom of the bar. Obviously some hardened wax. how hot is too hot for the MP? i have a presto pot and a candy thermometer so i can get a pretty steady temp. i know some of you add beeswax to most every batch, can anyone help? also, does the addition of the beeswax affect the lather? i'm making the "veggie tales" sheep for my grandson's 3rd birthday party next weekend and i don't want the soap to disappear so quickly in the tub that the kdis get upset!! TIA! eileen

hi darbla, i checked the sticky out after i saw your post. i had looked at it before, but not thoroughly. there's only one mention of CS oils, right at the end, and just 3 or 4 oils mentioned. i think maybe most of the info may be from before CS came into existence, but i don't know. i've only been doing candles for 13 months, so i don't know how long before that CS was around.

i have not tried peaks base, but i know that CS has info on their website about their base and VOCs. apparently some states have stricter laws about the bases and not all bases are legal to sell in those states. if you live in one of the states (they're listed on the CS website) better check with whoever you decide to get your base from. i got some base and reeds from CS and mixed 1 part FO (CS mistletoe) to 3 parts base. within about 30 minutes, maybe less, the scent had gone up the reeds. it is amazingly strong, of course the FO is strong in soy candles too. i actually had to take some of the reeds out, it was almost overwhelming. i also did a lavender one, again, wonderful. i want to try the cranberry marmalade and also the rain water to start (all CS fragrances).

hi blossom, i sure hope you see this. can you tell me any other CS scents that do well in CP? right now they're all i have, since i've been doing candles. i am dying to try CP, and i have so many of CS FOs, i'd like to use them. tia, eileen