debratant

I have been wanting a wire soap cutter since forever.  I finally ordered this one from etsy.  I just wanted a single cutter....and this

one is awesome!  I like that you can adjust the thickness of your soap.  I finally after all these years, have straight bars!!!

So I tried my hand at Pine Tar after Chefmom posted her soap of the month.

Here is mine.  I did have to deviate a bit from the recipe....but it came out GREAT!

So I did whimp out and added an ounce of Lavender to this batch....and I can still smell the lavender AND the pine. 

But....as grossed out as I thought it smelled when I first made it.... I am LOVING this soap in the shower! 

It is way too early to be using it....but I saved an end piece and it's been over a week and I had to try it.

I love the scent and my husband likes it too.  So I'm happy!  

I started with 4627 comfort blend and still use that one. I did try out some soy...and I just couldn't get the results I wanted and I didn't care

for how it looked with the bloom.  I admit,  I didn't stick with it to try to work thru those issues.  I like a strong scented jar candle....and at the time, I didn't want to be bothered with repours so 4627 was a natural choice for me.  I didn't really have a concern about soy vs paraffin.  I'd always burned paraffin, so wasn't a difference to me personally.  I do love the wax, but I don't like working with it.   I also use 4625 with 4627 for my tarts...and I use 1343 for pillars.

On my quest for a mottling container blend....I have a new slab of 2530H from candle wic....I'm hoping to try to pour some tomorrow.  I've had it for several months but just haven't had the time to get to it.  I guess I will have to just do repours lol.  I also decided to try their CBL 129.  If it is near as good as my 4627 I may switch to that....just for the ease of working with it.  

I finally made this soap last night.  I had to change up a few of your ingredients because I didn't have.  I subbed the WM shortening for Lard and used sweet almond

oil instead of avocado.  I had to play around with the percentages on soap calc to get the qualities almost like yours.

So, when I mixed the pine tar with the water...initially I thought....good lord....I can't do it!   Having never smelled pine tar....I was quite taken aback and started wondering

how the hell is my husband going to like this?  He complains about half the soaps I make and the smell of them.  NO WAY will he like this.  I kept going back and huffing it while my stuff was cooling down LOL.   Sooooo....I added 1 oz of lavender essential oil to the oils....am I proud of myself?  NOPE.  I should have just left it alone....next time I will.

It went fine.  I had everything ready to go...and you are not kidding....it moves quick.  I got it all in the mold pretty smoothly actually....until I scraped the bowl...there was only a bit left but I clumped it on there.  I used my tall skinny silicone mold and it fit perfectly in that but the center bowed a bit before I could get my books on the side of it to keep it straight....it was already setting up and was quite warm so my center is a bit bowed, but who cares.  By the time I finished cleaning up my area....that mold was quite hot.   No cracks though....and I was able to unmold and cut it today when I came home from work.  

I did add 2 TBLS of salt to my lye water....which probably helped with being able to unmold this quick.  Usually my soap is still a bit soft in this mold and I have to wait a few days.

Next time...I will just let the pine tar be the scent instead of wimping out and adding something.  It still smells good....and I tried an end piece and the

bubbles and creamyness  are amazing!

They are BOTH gorgeous!  

I would try a different wick.  I've had one of my favorite fragrances that I adore...just simply will NOT burn in a candle for me.  It makes a great Tart....but I can't get that

FO to burn at all in a candle.    The one I am talking about is cracklin birch from Natures Garden.  It makes a great soap though LOL.

I would try a hotter burning wick....zincs tend to burn cooler....so that's where I would start

I will take December if no one else is signing up Vicky!  

Awesome soap of the month Candy!  They look GREAT! 

These are stunning Vicky!  You are very talented!  

Moonstar

I opened the can of Pine Tar (I found the same one in Chefmom's picture) and my husband, brother in law and I all took a sniff. 

It curled our nose hairs back LOL.  It had a pungent aroma to me right out of the can....definitely smell pine notes and earth.  I am betting once it gets in soap

it will be great.    When my husband goes up to Kenora Canada for hunting each year....he says the pine smell is soooo strong up there.  He

always takes pine branches and rubs it on himself to help mask his scent.   He has this spray stuff he buys to spray his clothes....think it's called "essence of fall"....but

it's supposed to make you smell like the earth....he's always told me I should make a scented soap that smells like that.  

I was able to get the pine tar.   I'm going to attempt your recipe this weekend.  

I do not have sodium lactate....is that part necessary?  

Do you mind if I ask what type of candles you are making?  Containers, Pillars, Votives?   How long have you been running the business using the wax from Michael's?

Your post heading sounds urgent....like you are mid order and need a quick wax replacement.

Candybee...I had no idea that the chemistry store oils were lebermuth oils. The soap Hawaiian Tropic I made a week ago was their oil.  I have had 4oz bottles just sitting in my cabinet for several years that  I've never used up until last week.  

What oils of theirs do you recommend?  I love them for the fact that the bottles I have are all amber glass.  I don't like the plastic anymore and the constant need to burp the oils when the bottle sucks in

Thank you

Cannabis and Rose Petals from Backwoods.....my pink colorant morphed into a dark orange, but it's all good

Hawaiian Tropic from The Chemistry Store

Backwoods Lilac

These are awesome Chuck!!!

Absolutely stunning as usual!  I really LOVE the first bar with the oats on top.  Not sure how you achieved that coloring, but it's amazing!

I love the colors too.  Are these nurture colorants CandyBee?

Very pretty bars

Very nice looking soap Sherry, thanks so much for doing this!

I have been without internet for a week....and was dying to know the answer....thanks Chefmom!  

When I make my batch...I won't be using sodium lactate...don't have it....but I do always add salt to my lye water

Now I just need to go get pine tar lol.

This is absolutely gorgeous!  Thanks SO much for sharing this Chefmom!  

Edited to add...what exactly does pine tar smell like?  My husband is a hunter....I'm wondering if he would like this for hunting 

season.  Is it piney smelling?  We both LOVE the smell of woodsy pine tree.

OMG these are so CUTE!  

As usual, these are amazing looking Candybee!

All of them are so great...so colorful!  Glad  you are liking the VS....may have to try some someday