jackie

When I told a friend I was starting to make soap--the first thing she asked was--do you have some cute soap molds? So I was thinking people preferred that look. Apparently not all.

I was thinking of trying the egg yolks next time--how much do you add--I was thinking 1 ppo? My OMH hardened fairly quickly but then I measured the oatmeal before I ground it so prob didn't add nearly as much.

I'm not selling. It's just for family and friends. I didn't like the feel of the block soap in my hand--maybe I need to bevel it more or maybe needs to be cut smaller for me (I have small hands). So I really wanted to try the oval to see which I prefer. That's nice to know though--friends might like the block better. It does prob look more "handmade". I can't cut straight even with scoring. Would love a silicone slab mold with removeable dividers but the only ones I've seen were square--I'd want rectangle (and I've wondered how hard it is to get the dividers in there because it would have to be a tight fit).

thanks. I just ordered one to try--it's just plain oval shape but if it works well, I would get others. Thanks alot.

any reason for mineral oil specifically as opposed to any other oil? I have spray food grade silicone.

Will the plastic molds like the Milky Way molds work with CP soap (without lining)?

I didn't see Candlewic in the CP fragrances sticky so has anyone tried their f/o's in CP?

How much jojoba beads do you need to add to cp soap for a mild exfoliant?

Beautiful. You have enough pretty colors in there to offset the tan. You are talented at decorating.

I'm wondering since it's not really their product--they're just distributing it and putting their label--how much that effects what has to be listed. I wouldn't buy something that just had a cigar band on it.

thanks for the idea. Makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks. I'm making up a wishlist for BCN and that will be on my next order. I try to wait till I have enough to justify shipping. I keep buying more and more stuff--I gotta quit and soon.

Thanks Chris.

Am I wrong in my line of thinking here--(I like numbers so bear with me)

If I use half a can of GM (I make small batches), according to the can that's 12 grams of fat. A 2pd batch is 907 grams of oils (rounded). So I'm adding 1.3% more fat (12/907). Should that be similar to a superfat if I wasn't using milk, in theory at least?

note: I prob should have included the 6oz concentrated GM in the total but it's still 1.3%

I love vanilla fragrance but I'm just not keen on brownish soap so I've avoided it--will TD get rid of the discoloration or just lighten it a bit? BCN claims they have a vanilla stabilizer that works in CP soaps--anyone tried it?

Thanks for the info. There's also no way to account for using milk in your soap when doing soapcalc comparisons--that has fat content also.

The soaps are from 5 weeks to 8 weeks old. I have good scales and ck the calibration before use. I was thinking of omitting the coconut since all the others had it in there at anywhere from 15 to 25 percent.

I think I'll try the PKO and babassu instead. That would give a comparison to see if it's the coconut. Then if that's better, I can increase the superfat in the next batch and see what that does. Thanks.

My first soaps have all felt good going on but there's a dry feeling after I rinse so I put a recipe thru soapcalc increasing the superfat (prev were 5%). The lye number went down but the moisturizing number stayed the same. So how do you decide what to superfat at? Is it just trial and error?

The prev recipes I tried was a beginner recipe, quiet girls and Kat's creamy bubbles).

I'm trying to formulate one of my own now. Here's what I have so far:

Palm 25%

Babassu 5%

coconut 20%--should this be lower maybe?

olive 40%

castor 5%

Almond 5%

Suggestions?

I'm not sure what it should smell like but I don't have the most sensitive smell. My husband does though. Maybe I'll get him to give it a sniff after it's cured.

I made a 2 pd batch facial soap of OMH Goatsmilk and it went surprisingly well. My first milk soap and my first venture beyond the recipes I've found there.

I used frozen goatsmilk, 2 tbs honey and 2 tbsp finely ground oatmeal. I didn't color or add an f/o but I would have had plenty of time to play with it. I expected some acceleration from the sugars.

I put it in the freezer overnight then let it sit on the counter a couple days before unmolding. I was surprised how easily it slid out of the mold. It has no coconut or PKO--I was expecting a sticky mess. It's mainly light olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil with a little each of castor, babassu, avacado oil and shea butter. But then this is only my 4th batch so I don't really know what to expect.

It's a nice creamy color and the oatmeal appears to be throughout the bars but it has no real fragrance to it. I was hoping the honey smell would come through but it didn't. I think I can smell a touch of the oatmeal but not much of anything really.

I cut it today. Can't wait to see how it turns out after curing. I figure it may take longer to cure and prob won't lather much. It is a facial soap though so it just needs to be moisturizing.

I'm going to try adding some toussah silk for the first time. Does anyone weigh the amount they add? I'm looking for suggestions. I can weigh down to .01grams. I was thinking .2gr ppo but really have no idea.

That baseball card box looks perfect. I might have to order one of those (I keep finding more and more stuff to spend money on).

Does the beer scent come through?

thanks. I wish we had a Hobby Lobby or any crafts store around here--we don't. I didn't think of ebay and I've never used Etsy.

Any good sources for mini size molds to use for imbeds (diff shapes, maybe letters, etc)?

This is very interesting. I'm looking to do a good facial soap. Do you sub buttermilk for all the water? I assume you add the eggs at light trace--too hot and you'd have cooked eggs, unless you do room temp soaping. How did it end up smelling (you mentioned an ammonia smell at first)?