rougemarie

I need just a teensy bit amount of peppermint/spearmint EO to make some lip balm but I cannot justify ordering from etail suppliers now since that's all I need. Any idea where I can find this locally? Second, for lip balm, which one's better, peppermint/spearmint? any idea? Thanks!

O.k. I tried Robin's method and it works on one of the batches that I color using liquid M&P colorant. However, ran into another problem of coloring a batch using cocoa powder: the powder does not color the batch uniformly, I got clumps of cocoa here and there. Any tricks to avoid this? Should I thin the cocoa powder with a little bit of oil? but if I do that, wouldn't it throw the balance between the existing oil-lye?

I did that, my batches are small, 1-2 lbs max, but I do use deep bowls. Maybe I'll take a good care not to move my SB up/down.

Many thanks, Robin. I think it all made perfect sense: I usually emulsify until it reached the consistency of thin salad dressing/aioli but then when I put my FO in, I still SB it. Next time I'll definitely just hand-stir the FO and see if this make a difference. I also found that when I SB, depending on the combination of my oil, I've got tons of tiny bubbles in my soap esp. after I cut it. Any idea on how I can reduce this as well? Thanks

I've got some problem in swirling and I wonder if anyone could help me out. I soap using olive oil, palm, pko, and traces of luxury oils (like avocado/castor) and each time I'm having problem with swirling because the batch gets too thick at trace. I use normal amount of water/no water discount (lye * 2.33), and some FO that has been tested not to seize, but when I stick blend the batch, it won't come to trace until suddenly, I've got trace then it's moving very quickly. Do you think the temperature has something to do with this? Should I lower it? (I think it should be around 120F. Sometimes, I have room temperature oil + hot lye-->right after mixing with water). On the other hand, if I keep the trace thin, the soap actually separates into oily part & chunky lye part. Any suggestions? thanks!

thanks y'all for the tips on oatmeal, blender, etc. I've got a box of oatmeal sitting around somewhere and I'll start blending

I thought colloidal oatmeal is a very fine powder/talk type of oatmeal that you can purchase in the pharmacy otc (for poison ivy soak)? In that case, how can it be scrubby? I think I must be thinking of another type of oatmeal, don't I? Another question: how much oatmeal do you put into your soap ppo? or just eye-ball it to the desired degree of scrubbiness? Thanks in advance!

I think y'all get the idea: just put your herbs in muslin bag/tea bag/ even coffee filter will do so long as it is hold shut with something. Also one more point: make sure the bottle you're using is leak proof! If you purchase olive oil at Wal-Mart like I do (it's Wal-Mart's own brand of generic OO), the glass bottle that it comes in with has a nice stopper/plastic spout that is leak proof. With the oil tossing & turning in the trunk, you don't want it leaking. So far, it never happened to me. Good luck & let me know how it works for you!

I've got a piggy-back question on colloidal oatmeal: can you put it in soap? if so, what effect will it have? will it kill the bubble? thanks!

I recently infused a bunch of herbs using empty tea bags, available at Japanese grocery or else (it's paper tea bag, but empty, so you can fill it with herbs of your choice). Next, I use an empty bottle of Olive oil (I bought mine at Walmart & being a hobbyist, I never need more than a bottle or two per week), put the herb packets in, fill with oil of choice and leave it in the trunk of my car for a week. Where I live & work, we do not have covered parking so my car is practically baking all night/day long in TX heat. It works wonder! No more straining, no more waiting for crock pot, no stirring (the bottle practically tossed & turned in the car), no rancid oil due to direct sun-light, etc. and the oil is just right on the bottle ready to be poured

Thanks cheryl & Texasbrat for the replies. I use 30% olive oil, 30% coconut, 30% palm oil, 5% castor and 5% canola. I also use full amount of water suggested by the MMS lye calculator (use about 2% lye discount). I've had good success with this recipe CPed. I didn't get a chance to add my EO/FO/Color on the milk batch, it went ricing so quickly that I didn't think of adding anything. I will try this again tomorrow, but perhaps without the milk to see if the HP method is going well by itself.

Yes, I did & followed the direction to the T on this website: http://www.candletech.com/hpsoap/ And everything goes very well, my soap even reached the thick mashed potato/vaseline-like stage (which I believed is the last stage before molding, it turned somewhat translucent & silky), and I would have mold it by then had I not planned to put the goat's milk in. I poured the milk & stirred and quickly the soap turned into clumps of waxy mass swimming in oil (much like the applesauce stage, but it's much much rough-er/clumpier). The milk that I poured in is in room temperature (I let it sit on the counter for about 30-45 mins, and I'm absolutely sure that it hasn't gone bad/rancid). Any thoughts of why this happened? P.S. edited to include the website

I followed the direction above just now (I cooked my soap in a crock pot, so far going so good) and waited until the waxy/vaseline stage to add the milk, then it riced on me very badly in fact, the batch was separating: there were waxy bits swimming in oil. I put it in the crock for for about an hour longer or so and I didn't think it was going anywhere, so I tossed it. Even when it cooled down in the trash can, I can see that the waxy stuff stays solid and the oil do not mix. What did I do wrong? I only add about 1.5 oz of milk (and I think I discount my water around that much too).

when you say "after the cook" which stage are you referring to? Is it the vaseline/mashed potato stage? or slightly before that? Some clarification would be appreciated, thanks

wow, the soaps indeed look excellent! I'll see if I can infest on a crockpot anytime soon (the one I've got is more for nachos cheese, it's so small). I also appeals to me that I can use regular loaf pan for HP.