GailC

I don't usually make any soap pretty enough to show here, but I made this glycerin soap yesterday, and left it on the table. This morning, I walked into the kitchen, and the soap was all aglow in the sunlight. (I added dried calendula to the rectangular bars; left it out of the kids' soaps.)

I remember the can of bacon grease always sitting by the stove. Now, I use cooking spray. Ah, the good old days. I just wouldn't want to list motor oil or bacon grease in my ingredients on a soap label!

I need to learn to embrace the browns and tans, because I've made two batches of cp soap so far; one was tan and one is turning browner even as we speak. I've learned that yes, vanilla does indeed turn your soap a lovely brown color, especially if you are as generous in the amount used as I was. But so many people like the vanilla fragrance. And I will say that the soap certainly looks homemade. :smiley2:

Thanks, everyone. Yes, I've decided I'd better not try the cocoa powder. Thanks for the link for rebatching. I will just have a small amount, so will just melt it in the microwave. Or, I may just give away the scraps for samples. (to my friends and family.) Sounds much easier! Thanks for the Nature's garden tip also, Steve. I'm trying to use the skin safe fragrance oil I already have on hand since I'm 61 and probably only have twenty good years or so to use it all up. :smiley2: I did buy some more Lavender Vanilla FO from the Candlemaker's store though. I had a 1 oz sample of that, and used it in a batch of M&P and boy, it smells so wonderful, I had to get some more.

So....what if I trim the soap bars to make them rectangular, remelt the scraps, add a little cocoa butter, and a spoonful of cocoa powder? I've been searching "rebatch" and trying to figure out how to do it, and thought, why not just experiment a little with the scraps of soap?

I used 'Vanilla Smoothie' from Indiana Candle Supply. It said 'skin safe' but the site doesn't have any info on recommended usage amounts. I also used a one ounce sample of Brambleberry's Vanilla Oak. They have a fragrance calculator; you're supposed to enter the amount of ounces you want to scent. I don't know if that is just the amount of oils, or if you include the ounces of water you'll use. Which would make quite a difference in total ounces of soap to scent. Another thing about this batch of soap; it was as smooth and shiny on the sides and bottom as M&P soap. So different from my first batch. I really like how it turned out so far. I don't mind the brown. Really looks homemade! Now to wait and see how it works as soap! I would like to make a pretty color of CP soap one of these days though...instead of brown and tan.

I bought a silicone loaf pan from Goodwill for 99 cents! Of course, the sides bowed out when I poured in the soap, so I had the bright idea to use rubber bands around the pan, as you can see, with mixed results. The soap slipped right out of the pan this time. And I didn't have to wait a few days. YAY! Thanks to whoever recommended mineral oil. Also this batch looks smoother than the last one. I used less olive oil, and added sweet almond oil to my recipe, plus a few other little changes. I wasn't satisfied with the strength of the scent last time, so this time I used 1.5 oz of FP per pound of oil (vanilla). Then I worried I'd used too much. When I peeked during gelling, I was astonished to see the loaves had turned dark brown! I was further astonished when I cut it and the inside was much lighter. Kind of cool, really, but the bars are so uneven...I'm debating whether I should try to trim the sides. The bar on the top left I just left out, and didn't cover it, what a difference between gelled and ungelled! (The brown bar on the top is the end of the loaf.) The specks in the soap are dried chamomile. So my questions...what's the maximum amount of FO you use per pound. I don't use essential oil, since I'm trying to use up some of the vast amounts of FO I've bought for candles. Since I used 20% olive oil, do you think possibly this soap will be cured enough in 4 weeks? I'm having a fundraiser for a friend with cancer on April 21. Do you think all that vanilla FO is what turned the outside of the loaves so dark, or is it just something that happens during gelling? Well, I'm off to cut the other loaf! Hoping it doesn't turn out as uneven as a loaf of Velveeta when I cut it. :smiley2: But hey, I didn't do half bad on the first one.

I tried my soap finally yesterday. It has a very nice lather and I think a silky feel, so I am pleased with my first batch. It's been 5 weeks and I haven't made any since, but now I'm in the mood to try another batch and tweak my recipe a little, because I bought some more oils. Although maybe I shouldn't mess with success.

I know nothing about polymer clay, and have no idea how you did what you did; but what you did was awesome!

Thank you; I wondered what people would think of them. I took all the photos I'm using, so I don't have to worry about copyright laws. I just finished one and am working on another. My neighbor bought the butterfly one for her little girl, whose favorite colors are purple and yellow.

What a masterpiece! The touches of red just set it off; of course red is my favorite color too.

I went way overboard last summer and bought pounds and pounds of buttons off ebay, plus got a bunch of my Mom's old buttons. Now that I'm no longer making button necklaces, I wanted to figure out something else to do with them. I found lots of various kinds of wall art with trees, using buttons for the leaves. Since I cannot draw, I didn't want to attempt to paint a tree with bare branches. I used a photo I took at Brown County Indiana. I was sitting on a bench and looked above me where all these bare branches were swaying in the breeze. So I took a picture. Changed the color to sepia for this attempt at button art.

I made four candles the other day; same batch, two with wood wicks; two with ECO wicks. The ECO wicked candles had perfect smooth tops; the wood wicked candless' tops both cracked and sunk in a little along one side of the wood wick.

Have any of you used the wood wicks from WSP? I made a couple of candles for my daughter and me. She said hers burned fine the first time; I haven't checked with her to see how it did the second time she lit it. Mine, however, barely burns. Just a feeble little flame, if you can even call it that. Eventually, the flame dies out. Probably because of the wick barely burning, the melt pool is not very wide, making a hole in the candle, and wasting much of the wax around the perimeter. I use GW444 soy wax, and size 4 wood wick for a 3" diameter container.

I don't have the answer Jackie, but the same experience only a little did stick to the mold. I bought a silicone loaf mold from BB. I expected it to pop out easier also. I think my soap was too soft still.

Have you cut yours yet, kc? I think I rushed things a bit. Had a dickens of a time getting the soap out of a silicone mold. It sure didn't just "pop out." And here is the result. Not exactly what I envisioned; I think they look kind of crude. Or rustic...maybe that's a better word. Sounds better anyway.

Wow! What a great job you did. Your soap looks wonderful.

My daughter finds a lot of unique ingredients at the International stores she frequents, and just now gave me a few ounces of tumeric. I also bought some kelp powder which I haven't tried yet. Do any of you use spices like paprika, dill, etc. to color your soap? I found a blog where someone used curry powder, chili powder and other kitchen spices. http://thesageblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/ Here's the page with the tumeric powder soap and others. http://thesageblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/page/3/

Oh, wow, kc. I'm impressed. That's your very first batch? You made the top so pretty. I just globbed mine in the mold. I like the color of yours too. I'm going to try pink next time. I bought some burgundy oxide. Hopefully that will work better than the liquid green dye which didn't do anything.

Well I used to say "Glad Wrap" referring to any plastic wrap, until I started reading so many soap making posts; so I'm trying to switch to "Saran Wrap." How about "Jello" for gelatin, and Kleenex for tissue. I never say "I need a tissue" or "Could I borrow a Puffs?" Funny though, we don't call all toilet paper "Charmin".

No, I'm not peeking, honest! I took that picture before I bundled my soap up and put it to bed.

Well, here is mine. I used Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Flakes, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil and Shea Butter. Green Tea FO and dried Hyssop. I can't wait to see what it looks like when I slice it. I hope it doesn't have the dreaded partial gel. I wanted to see the difference in gelled and ungelled,, so I didn't cover the soaps in the individual molds.

Stella, you made me laugh out loud. I was going to PM you. My supplies came from Bramble Berry this morning, and I made the soap this afternoon. I was a little anxious to get started. I think everything went alright, except I tried to dye the soap green with some liquid dye, but it never did change color. It was kind of a beige color. Oops....sorry kcdelong, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

I made my first cold process soap today too! Oh my, hope you're alright now. I had on a eyeshield/facemask because I didn't have goggles, but my daughter had a hazmat kit with the mask in it. I felt like a mad scientist. I'm anxious to see how it turns out, aren't you? Boy the stick blender sure made the soap trace quickly. I thought it looked like cake batter as I was pouring it into the molds. Guess we can celebrate our one year anniversary together next year.

Another vote for The Candlemaker's Store. I ordered some from Mill Creek once, and didn't like that I had to peel little round papers off the top of each sticker individually. Too tedious for me. TCS wick stickers come in sheets of 25 or so, with the stickers sandwiched between two squares of glossy paper.You just lift off a corner of the paper, stick your wicker on the sticker and pull. Northstar Candle has the same kind as TCS, but I never order from them anymore.