jackie

Anyone use "mold cleaner"? I'm not sure what is really does. I just saw it on a retail website and was wondering about it. I'm all for making cleanup faster/better but don't want to throw money away on something that doesn't do much.

thanks. This is what I needed (and thanks for letting me know the ultramarines would be diff since I want a few of those too).

Any general guidelines on how much powdered oxide you need ppo to color a batch of soap? I realize it depends on how dark you want it or whether it's just swirling or coloring the entire batch but I'm trying to guesstimate to order colors.

I'm getting ready to place my first order for some oils to experiment with. Just 1pd amounts to play with. Here's my list:

shea butter

mango butter

palm kernel flakes

palm oil

rice bran oil

avacado oil

Anything I'm missing that you think is really good in soap (I have OO,CO and castor)?

The recipe was

45% olive oil

25% lard

25% coconut oil

5% castor

The fragrance was BCN clean cotton but like I said, it was pretty thick before I added it. I cut it yest and it was okay though I don't care for the color; has a little ash but that's no big deal to me. I even washed my hands with it (couldn't wait).

I feel more comfortable now having that first batch done but I know I still have lots and lots to learn.

I made my first batch of soap yesterday afternoon so I haven't unmolded yet. I did not color it. It went to trace really fast which seemed fine to me but then wondered if I did something wrong. It got pretty thick before I added fragrance so that wasn't it. I think it's because the lye water was 117 degrees (the tutorial said 100-120 and it was very slow cooling down; with ambient room temp of 64 I expected it to be faster)--if the lye was cooler it would slow it down; is that a correct statement? I prob should have used a cold water bath to cool it but the soap poured fine and it gelled fine (to my untrained eyes anyway). From first adding the lye water to trace, it was under 3 minutes. I used the stick blender in 30sec spurts then stirred (I only used the blender 3 times I think).

Second question:

I did not color it but it's kinda tan on its own. So do you need to make a recipe uncolored first to get an idea of what colors to expect? I guess I'm asking does the oxide color you add just blend with the natural color, like if the natural color was yellow and you added blue coloring, would your soap be green or would the blue actually come through? Don't know if I'm making any sense here.

I'll unmold either late today or in the morning. I have a good PH meter (for my winemaking) so I can check that.

I'm impressed. I haven't made my first batch yet but mine will just be plain, square, uncolored boring soap. I just hope it turns out like soap. What did you use for your colors--liquid pigment? My favorite is the last one. I'll want to find some coloring and some prettier molds than just a box.

thanks. Atleast I know it's not just me.

In the New CP soapers reference thread, along with the tutorials there is a linke for making swirls.

http://www.beauxeaux.com/swirltutorial/howtoswirl.htm

When I click on it, it says "you are not authorized to view this page". Any ideas what I need to do?

okay, I just watched two youtube videos on lining a soap mold and both people were kinda fumbling and having a hard time. They got it done but did not make it look easy. Atleast when I fumble around with it, I know I won't be the only one.

thanks. I'll check on a video. I'm not use to thinking that way because I couldn't do it with dialup internet. I recently got satellite (best I can do where I live) and I can run a video now. Can't do it alot because of limited download bandwidth allowances but I can do some.

I got my first batch (found the 100% lye drain cleaner at Lowe's) but I'll keep an eye on Essential Depot for the future. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies.

Miller's soap site has so much info it's overwhelming. I'll get through it eventually but it may be awhile. I have a beginner book (Smart Soapmaking by Anne L. Watson) and it has recipes but I wanted to try something from this board first.

I'll look for quietgirl's recipe. the one I found was a beginner soap recipe by Crafty1_AJ. I think it was posted back in 2006. It uses lard, coconut oil, and olive oil. I don't have colorant yet but I will try a small amt of fragrance (hubby is sensitive to fragrances and dislikes lots of them so I have to keep it light; much lighter than I would prefer).

I'm using a mailing box that's the right size for a 2 pound batch for my mold. Right now, getting the mold lined properly looks like one of the hardest parts. I was going to just do 1 pound but can't find a mold the right size for that.

If the first goes okay, then I'll try a Castille and let it cure as long as it needs to. There are only 2 of us so I'm already wondering what I'll do with all the soap. I don't know what the shelf life is on homemade soap (I imagine it varies based on ingredients) or the best way to package/store it to make the most of that shelf life.

If I like making soap, which I imagine I will because I seem to really like making my own stuff, I'll be ready to order some colorants (which brings up more ques about what's best for small batches--liquid pigment, powder?) and some ingredients like shea butter and palm kernel oil and fragrances. I can see the $$ racking up already.

I plan to try my first batch this weekend. I'm excited. It's always fun to try something new and different.

I found the recipe I was looking for--just took me awhile. I'm not ready to make up my own yet.

I'm looking for a recipe to try for my first batch of soap. I thought i saw a recipe that said it was good for a newbie but can't seem to find it again. Here's what I have:

coconut oil

lard

olive oil

safflower oil (24oz)

grapeseed oil (24oz)

canola oil

almond oil (only 8oz)

castor oil (only 6oz)

I was going to try Darwin's but couldn't find shea butter or palm kernel oil around here. I got my lye; gloves, goggles, even a mask, just waiting on my stick blender to arrive. I couldn't find any freezer paper but I have parchment. Still deciding on my mold but I wrote down the calc for total oils (LxWxH x.4) so I can modify the amounts but I want to keep it at 2pds or less since it's my first try.

any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

"Standard" cure time is usually quoted as 4-6 weeks. If you use a high amount of olive, that should probably be 4-6 months."

This quote is from Robin's tutorial. My question is what is considered a high amount of olive oil? and why does it need longer to cure?

For $10 I'll be happy as long it doesn't break the first time I use it. I have one of those whisk attachments for my kitchenaid hand mixer--they do come in handy.

thanks so much for the link. Don't know why I couldn't find it at that price (I saw the same one higher priced) but I just ordered it. thanks again.

Be sure to look at the information booklet inside b/c some stick blenders say not to run it longer than 5 minutes at a time. I've only run across that a couple times but it is something to consider since sometimes they can be used for long periods of time.

I was wondering about that. I saw Walmart had Kalorik for $15.88 but one of the reviewers said it says not to use it longer than 1 min straight then cool 10 mins. That didn't seem like much time to use something.

Amazon has a Proctor Silex for 15.99 but it's only 120watts where I've seen others at 200watts. Does that matter? Can't find Salton.

For 5 years I had this older braun it was a work horse and I love it! Then It caught fire & I was heart broken and had no idea what to get. So I just went with a cheap one until I did more research, but I love this one more than my braun believe it or not lol. It's proctor silex and tiger direct has them for $10 w/shipping on ebay so it's a steal!

That was a steal. Can't find that price now.

Let me know how you like the lotion base.. I'm thinking of getting some of that! I ADORE their clean cotton fragrance.... I could pour it over my head. LOL To me it smells like Gold Canyon's Clean Sheets candle....

I like the lotion base. It's not greasy at all. To me it's similar to Aveeno Active Naturals lotion which is what I was buying. I love the Clean Cotton fragrance. I haven't tried any other lotion bases for comparison. I noticed WSP has quite a few so I may try one or two of theirs next time.

I'm going to look at stick/immersion blenders when I go into town Friday. Anything I should know (power level, brands, etc)--recommendations?

No chemical suppliers without a very long drive. I see the drain cleaner is on Lowe's website so if the store doesn't have it I can have it shipped to store free. I'll be going in Fri so I'll check then. It's expensive but for my purposes should last quite awhile. This is just a hobby for me. The AAA chem had a great price but the shipping offset that if just ordering that one item. I'll keep that in mind when I need other stuff later though. Thanks for the info.

Where are you folks buying your lye? I've called every store around here that might possibly have it but none do. This is a rural area though. I was told more than once I wouldn't find it in a store anywhere around here due to meth producers liking to use lye.

Do you order it online? if so who has good prices/reas shipping?

Just a few more candles on my journey to learning cut and curl. I'm limiting the colors because I just melt it back down and reuse it. I'm way too slow though. Now that the ambient temp in my basement is cooler, the candles often cool before I'm done. I haven't had as much time to devote as I had hoped so my progress is very slow. But it's a hobby so there's no time limits.