TallTayl

I use between 3% and 8% depending on what FO i am using. the majority are at 6%. I don't like adding 8% but have a couple that need that little extra. I add a layer of colored and scented chunks to the tops just about all of my candles. Some i have silicone molds to fancy them up a little (like pumpkins, citrus slices, flowers, etc depending on the theme). I started adding colored bits to the beeswax candles so i could tell them apart when making for summer Faire. People loved the color, so i began to add them on the soy tins too. I just love the burst of colors. The displays really stand out with little shots of extra color. A little worried about color bleed as the soy tins sit out on display in summer, but it's worth the risk (and extra work).

Beautiful kitties I would have put the wicks closer together. I aim for one at each 1/3 imaginary line, if that makes sense. Example, if the container is 4.5 inches wide, i start with wicks roughly 1.5 inches from the sides. That leaves 1.5 inches between them. Seems they burn a little more evenly when i do this.

I have been playing with EcoSoya PB in C3 as embeds. It does make me need to wick up, but the throw of the combined wax is super. I am right around 10% PB embeds to C3. Stella turned me on to CDN wicks too. Most of the time they are 100% perfect. On a couple of big, heavy containers i use square braid cotton primed with high melt point wax. One day i will finish testing square braid in all of my other tins. Sure would make life simpler

The green box with the number is for "Likes" of your posts. When people click the "Like This" blue button at the bottom right corner of any post you write this number increases. It's kinda line Facebook likes.

I have watched that video over and over and over. I love her hub and spoke system. If only i were willing to sacrifice so much space for one. Well, and if i sold that many taper pair! Those frames get heavy!

I would love to see your dipping system! I hand dip hundreds of colored beeswax chime candles and dread it. Have seen a few Youtube videos of various dipping racks and think i would dread it less with a better system. A good dipping system would make the bayberry candle-making process less frustrating too.

Most of the commercially available bubble powders are a mix of SLS, various fillers, dyes and anti caking agents. Well, and fragrance. SLSa is not in most common bubble powders because it costs roughly 5 times more than SLS, is in short supply and requires more to get the same effect. SLS is a very efficient flash foamer needing a super small % to give the Hollywood bubbles people think makes a good bath. We never know the exact % of each ingredient in commercial products, so it is a gamble to use them in our own products. Plus, most formulas change with market conditions, so what is in a box one month may be different from what is in the box with the next batch. I'm with JCandle in that if i am making a product i should use the right ingredients from the get go. It saves no money to try lots of inexpensive ingredients that don't work out.

Well, the only way for you to find out if it works in your formula is to try Powdered bubble bath contains many different ingredients depending on the manufacturer. Read up on all of them and figure out if they are compatible with your goal. I google every single ingredient in pre-blends and learn about every interaction. It takes time, but is worth it. The more you learn, the easier formulation becomes. There is no single answer to a formulating problem. If your goal is to ever gift or one day sell your things, you will need to become an expert on what chemical compounds are in things, and WHY they are in there.

Are you looking for the flash foaming that SLSa provides? It is unlikely that you will find a raw ingredient like SLSa at a grocery store.

Plenty, but most are difficult to source. SCI, DLSS, SLS, SLeS. The question is.... Why do you want to replace SLSa? The effect of each sub will be different.

I have wanted to try pottery for, well since i was younger than my daughter. I dreamed of having a wheel and kiln so i could surround myself with gorgeous earthenware. Then reality struck. It is frustrating! And every step of the process has something that can go wrong ruin the work. Those two little vases survived by sheer luck I think During the first 8 week session i learned a lot about myself. I kept making the same mistakes over and over. Got frustrated. Over thought. Wondered what i was doing there where all those other women made such beautiful pieces effortlessly. Took 2 weeks off because of how the class was structured (throw as much as you can for 6 weeks. Trim for week 7. glaze week 8) sat at the wheel fresh this week and realized i was holding my hands slightly askew. A tiny 1/4 inch difference between my fingertip placement was making it really hard to pull walls! Adjusted that and all of a sudden the walls pulled the way they should. So long story longer I am looking at wheels again. And looking at hand building pieces until then. Pinterest and Youtube are dangerous places for me! If you have a studio near by that offers classes i whole heartedly encourage you to try. At least try once.

Only a couple pieces made it into the kiln for glaze firing before i made it to class this week. Not a great camera pic. I'll take a few real ones with the good camera some time later today. Just got so excited about how the colors turned out. You never know what you're gonna get. Worked on pitchers as the class lesson.

Try Fresh Squeezed Orange from NG if you don't mind some FO. I blend with it, so i don't know how it holds as just a single note orange. In blends it definitely holds its own. There are an awful lot of suggestions/swear by tricks for "anchoring". I am about to do a mythbusting experiment using orange eo to post about "anchors". Should be interesting...

Jc is right. On FB search "bath" and half a dozen come up. Search "bubble" and another half dozen show up. All are useful to join.

Sodium lactate is not a surfactant, so no, it will not be a good sub. Plus, sodium lactate is used at very low percentages. SLSa, SLS, SCI would all be examples of solid forms of surfactants. You may like some more than others. I would take a quick look at SwiftCraftyMonkey.blogspot.com and search for surfactants for ideas. Some people use simple melting butter bath truffle blends for the frosting. For instance, citric acid, baking soda and a hard butter like cocoa butter. If you are on facebook there a re quite a few groups that have recipes for stuff like this.

You could try your current recipe, substituting powdered surfactant (like SLSa) in place of the powdered sugar. Not sure it would be a 1:1 substitution, but a little experimentation would give you a good idea. I use powdered surfactants in place of things like Cream of Tartar in bubble bars, etc. too.

Here they are all packaged ready to go out with tomorrow's pick up. Top flower is solid shampoo. Bottom flower is solid conditioner. Then the color effect nail polish. I hope the friends love them!

Personally, i'd find a better bath frosting recipe. Sugar draws moisture. Moisture + Sugar = mold. The photos i have seen show mold growing between the bottom of the frosting and the top of the cupcake part. Definitely not something i would be comfortable with. as a customer, i would not look forward to dropping a heaping bit of confectioners sugar into my bath tub. Nor would i want to buy a cute cupcake bath product to throw half of it away. Just my $.02.

Solid hair care products are fab for people who: Don't like excess packaging, Don't like to ship water, or Travel. No water=no TSA restrictions. The little flowers in that mold weigh about .7 ounces. In liquid form (which you can turn these into at home) each flower makes over 16 ounces of traditional thickness conditioner. Used as-is in solid form each lasts me about a month or more for my shoulder blade length hair.

The pink mold holds a special batch of solid hair conditioner bars for some special friends. The scent is a blend inspired by The Hobbit: Honey Meade, Tobacco, Pepperberry, Berries and green grass. Shampoo bars to match are about to be made. The nail polish is for the same group, also with a hobbit theme. It is a water-based polymer that i have been working on for years. it's non-toxic, non-flammable, and has nearly no odor. I have applied it while in a car and on a plane and nobody around knew the bottle was even open! Bonus: it dries really, really fast. For this special polish i had to choose a special colorant: COLOR SHIFTING MICA!!! Inspired by the Arkenstone, at first glance it looks like a plain white color. When you look closer you see a light purple sheen. When applied it color shifts from light pinkish purple to nearly invisible in certain lights.

Lol, i feel you in the temp issues. i live near Chicago. My shop was below 50 degrees recently. When you can see your breath it is time to turn UP the melters and leave them ON!

I usually hit the tops with the heat gun before the over pour. I can totally see the overpour over ice cold wax cooling with cracks.

It is a really good idea to use appropriate preservatives in water based products, like sprays. Bacteria, mold, fungi, etc. grow in a bottle of spray, and later are easy to spread all over a room when spraying it from the bottle. If wanting to use alcohol as a preservative, it takes over 20% of a high proof alcohol to do the job. You would want to use something like a perfumers alcohol in that case. Alcohols also help to emulsify most fragrances.

Not usually. Though, some frosting recipes loaded with confectioner sugar i have seen DO mold. Rather than preserve those, i would choose a more shelf stable, tub friendly formula.

Cracking all the way through, or just a few surface cracks?