IndulgentCreations

Most are dipped but I know of a soap seller that makes and selld them on Etsy and she said she has a mold and paints them in layers in the mold to get the proper thickness. I don't know where she got her molds.

I don't think I had a pretty batch of soap for over a year after I started soaping as I really wanted to get a handle on things first. You have to take things at a pace you can handle. Make sure you can you know what light, med and heavy trace look like before you get into playing to much. I add my scent to my oils before I even add my lye (otherwise get moving too fast and forget it). Nothing worse that a beautiful unscented soap. As for color, just depends on what you're going for. If I'm swirling, I add at light trace. If I'm coloring the whole thing...add color and light and pour at med. trace. You can add titanium dioxide, just use a light hand. It can do some funny ashy, paste-y color things on you. HTH

I use tallow in 75% of my recipes and have never had an issue. Do you by chance increase your superfat percentage?

Never heard of that company before.

It doesn't really look like lye pockets to me. If you don't have a zap it's probably not.

I'm the odd man out then...I started with the meatballer from KB and had no luck making them, they just wouldn't stick together. I switched to the clear plastic molds and have never looked back. They stuck and were perfect. I also run a dehumidifer in my workshop.

I'm not finding much but their website has a contact page. I'd call them or email and ask to be sure.

It's really just a matter of personal peference. I gel all of my soaps with the exception of my milk soap. I prefer this because it sets up sooner and allows me to move along a little faster especially if dealing with a finicky FO and I never worry about partial gel. I used to wrap & peek but a couple of years ago tried CPOP and never looked back.

One issue you may run into not wrapping your soap mold is the increased chance you will get a partial gel. Some FO's no matter what get hot but not always hot enough to get all the way through the soap. You always have the option to build a really simple wooden mold which will be easier to wrap.

The super soaker is not far off from it...I use a squeeze bottle so I can put some pressure behind it to get the swirls deeper into the soap. If I'm using a finicky FO and don't have the time then I just hold my pyrex cup up a couple feet over the mold and pour.

I totally agree with 1st batches being simple. Castille is just not a good simple starting point. If you're not opposed to lard, try a simple recipe with things you can buy at your local grocery store...lard, shortening, canola, OO. PM me if you need a starting recipe and I'll gladly point you in the right direction.

Might want to run any future recipes through a soap calculator next time. Based on my calc, that batch would go straight to the garbage. If you're using 48oz of olive oil with a 5% SF you should have used 6.178 oz of lye and 18.24 oz of water. That is an extremely lye heavy batch of soap! You're very lucky it didn't burn. Only using olive oil to make soap (castile) is probably not a good starter recipe to try out. It'll not show you a proper trace and should take a while to set up (usually days before I can unmold) or cut. HTH

Daystar has an awesome pumpkin too. Pumpkin Patch...sells like crazy for me year round and sticks great in CP.

I found this one...scroll to the bottom for directions. http://www.expertvillage.com/video/162079_make-body-paint.htm

Here's one for edible body paint. http://zedomax.com/blog/2009/01/24/valentines-diy-how-to-make-your-own-edible-body-paint/

Here's 2 more for edible... http://www.budget101.com/recipes/id162.htm

I probably should get a 2nd to have on hand. Last time I killed my scale I had to wait close to a week for one to come in. Not good when your really busy.

I only use 92 now too. I got tired of the 76 getting squishy in the summer months. I never noticed a difference when I changed over.

If you are making larger batches you really don't have to be that percise. I use this scale http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-kd7000.aspx and it works great. You'd only have to worry about being more accurate if your working with 1lb or smaller batches. That's why we work with a superfat, allows a little slack. HTH

Do any of you have a favorite source for these clays?

I got mine from NDA.

I used to use a ice bath to cool mine but now I mix lye/water the day before I plan to soap. It's just easier and allows me to move quicker with it already cooled.

Technical grade is all you need for soap.

Yep, that sound better to me. You absolutely can do a 100% coconut salt bar with salt equal to your oil ounces. It's a great bar, I've just played a bit with my recipe over the years. I've used table salt before but now use sea salts in mine.

50% coconut oil and 50% salt isn't making sense to me. What are you using for the other 50% oils? I have a couple different ones I make but one of them is 80% coconut and 20% canola with salt equal to oil weigh. HTH and PM me if you have any questions.

Why is it when someone asks for a recipe and gets told to do some research (even to search this very forum), they get snippy? Let's see, I've been making soaps for over 3 years now, have spent thousands of dollars in supplies and equiptment, countless hours on research and testing....here's my main recipe handed to you on a silver platter! You can look through the forums...I'm always one to help out and give tips, advice, pointers but call KFC and ask them for their secret recipe and I bet you're told "fat chance" too.

BayouSome has them, .12 if you order 100. They're awesome to work with and fast on shipping. HTH

I'm not seeing that they carry it now.

Just be prepared to work super fast or you WILL have soap on a stick. That was my result with my 1st batch. I make it a lot now so I know, but just giving you fair warning.