TallTayl

Have you looked into Square? (Squareup.com)

No fees and very competitive processing fees. I love using it at fairs and such. cc's are a breeze.

Does your soap formula contain oils/butters high in stearic acid?

Nice soap! thanks for sharing that. I have a bordeaux mica. What happens if you don't color it? I take it you are using strawberry puree, how much do you do for each batch? I roughly make 5-6lb batches. Do you scent it strawberry? I have some nice Peaks strawberry I was thinking of using. Totally excited now to do this. Also good to know about the seeds, I was going to add some cranberry seeds but if it is enough already I won't bother.

Without additional color, the pink would be a grey/tan. This has happens IME with most fruit in soap.

I'll have to look back on my notes, but IIRC it was 1 oz puree per lb of soap. I did a bit of an additional water discount to account for the strawberry puree. Also, I learned after one unfortunate batch to stick blend the cream into the liquid oil before adding it to the soap pot. Waiting until trace to add the dairy can result in clumps of cream forming in the traced soap. The clumps create lye heavy bits in the finished soap. Adding the cream to the liquid oil before it hits the soap pot smooths it all out.

This one is fragranced with a combination of BB Champagne and MMS Strawberries & Champagne 50:50.

Adding more seeds would make this one a bit tooooooo scratchy I think.

I love cream in soap - pretty much any dairy. I use yogurt, sour cream, heavy cream. It's all good. My usual SF is 7% and like BarbaraAl and Kitn do not adjust for the extra SF. Never have had any trouble with it.

@jeana: strawberries are very nice with cream. I make a strawberries and cream soap and use a little kaolin clay and a very little bit of colorona bordeaux mica to keep the color. the little seeds can be a bit exfoliating.

http://cart.candlesupply.com/Tube-Loaf-Insert-Molds-c-385.html

I have the star and the daisy. They work well for CP for me.

I agree with Monvi33, Sage & Pom is very nice in CP soap, lotion, solid shampoo and conditioner. I have not tried it in candles yet, but it is much better in products than OOB IMO.

As for a good rose, I have fallen in love with Peaks Rose Bouquet and don't want to look elsewhere - it's that good IMO.

I've used a zester to remove only the colored part (not the pith). pulverize them very well or they will become scratchy in the final soap. You won't smell much if any citrus after it hits the lye solution, but if using citrus EO's you may get a bit of a scent anchor from the zest.

A better use of the citrus peels, IMO, is infused in vinegar to use as a surface cleaner. Citrus and vinegar cut grease and grime like nobody's business!

Get a nice big glass jar (the bigger the better), fill it with white vinegar and the peels as they accumulate. Let them steep a good long while (2 weeks is good, a month is better). Shake them once in a while to agitate. When you need to clean your kitchen dilute the infused vinegar with water in a spray bottle and go to town.

There are other additions/variations to this formula, but it works very well as-is too.

Also check out your local Barnes & Noble booksellers. Those around here are in the process of closing. Furnishings are included in the liquidation sale.

If it's a bubbly scent, I wonder if there's a bit of Champagne, like the one from Brambleberry, in it. I love it alone and as a blender with anything fruity to add some sparkly.

There's also a soda bubbly one from Daystar that I can't think of at the moment. I thought it was Paradise, but the description doesn't match my memory.

For the others, not sure...

Thanks for all the tips. Just one more question.

Can this liquid soap be scented after all completed, as the pre-made bases are? In case I am not asking that question right..........if I made 1 gallon total of unscented liquid soap and wanted to make so many bottles of one scent and then another scent? Does that make any sense?:rolleyes2

Your question makes perfect sense

Yes, you can fragrance and color after it's all completed and diluted. Some fragrances and EO's may affect the clarity or thickness/thinness of the dilution though. You'll need to experiment with your collection to see how well it plays with your LS.

You have some good instincts Ms. Stella. Now we need to add to your "naughty FO" toolbox.

When an FO starts that kind of a reaction, I usually let it gel in the pot, then when it's good and flowy I glop it into the mold. The texture may end up a little off, but it's usually fine.

I hate to HP and hate to rebatch even more. I've learned to test new FO's in teensy amounts to see how they will act in CP. Just pour 1-2 oz of raw soap from another batch into a smallish mold (a dixie cup will do, or if you have one, a silicone muffin pan). Add a few drops of the FO to that and see what happens. I did a marathon 46 FO's a while back and only used 2lbs of total soap to test them all.

if an FO is prone to seizing, lecithin usually helps slow the reaction for the next batch. Even the lecithin gel caps found in the vitamin aisle work. Puncture about a teaspoon worth per oz of FO right into the FO. I'd add the FO after incorporating the lye solution, then only whisk the FO in.

Would Freund Container have something close?

http://www.freundcontainer.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_29117

I could not find a photo of the 4 or 8 oz HDPE snaploc that's about 1/2 way down the page.

Pretty cool idea! Love it.

I would be concerned about the uncured Fimo material leaching into the soap.

RTV silicone would be a bit less$ oz for oz, and most likely much safer. Just MHO.

Here's something I did for a simple, quick package for refills. I could punch holes in the top to hang them. These sat in a cute tin near a soap display with choices of themed drawstring bags to put them into.

I always thought it was because people were less likely to drop the candle when sniffing only the lid. When you sniff the lid, often the candle itself stays safely on the shelf - especially with little ones who feel the need to handle everything with slippery hands.

I wonder if some of it has to do with the batch of wax. I'd used LX14's very successfully until my latest wax shipment.

This batch (well to be fair this wax with an FO I had not tested before) seems more brittle than previous batches.

i mostly soap, but also do some parasoy containers and soy votives.

I love their Lime Cooler. Fresh and strong. It discolors slightly in CP.

AJP is nice. Not very complex, but strong in soy

Coconut lime - light on the coconut and faded in CP for me

Coconut lime verbena - light on the coconut. strong on the lime

Hansel & Gretel's House - Nice in soy around the holidays

Honeysuckle Jasmine - strong floral A's & heats in CP

Lovespell - strong in soy and CP

Pumpkin Souffle - excellent in soy during fall & winter months

sage & Pom - great in CP. pretty nice in soy

Pear Glace - didn't like it enough OOB to soap or make candles out of it

Violet Lime - very strong in CP. Strong on the violet, much less lime.

Lavender - very strong on the herbal. Nice though.

For new FO's that I've not read any reviews of I'll usually do a single bar test to see how it behaves. Just save a couple of oz of raw soap from a usual batch and add a few drops of the FO to it in a silicone muffin pan.

I tested 45 FO's like this a couple of months ago and blogged to make sure I remembered everything . Used every single silicone mold I had, but was sure worth the effort! It's about time to do the next 45...

I have a front loader (older Maytag workhorse, not necessarily HE). Powdered versions don't work well for me. I find clumps of it undissolved. This happened with powdered commercial brands too

I now make liquid 1% sf CO using KOH. Love it. No snotty texture. Easy to dispense. Great way to re-use old detergent bottles and fool DH into using home-made detergent! Works well at the sink for dishes too.

I still do a vinegar rinse with whatever EO/FO makes me smile that day because I love the feel and hate fabric softeners.

crock pot here too.

Sometimes I'll get it starting to gel, then just insulate it overnight in a closed oven wrapped in blankets. It's ready to dilute or store by morning.

How small? I've gone with 16 oz of oils with no problem.

brudil18 - how totally clever are you!? I'm going to adopt that PDQ. You get all the credit of course. :smiley2:

People tend to be fascinated with it. They can finger sign and get an e-receipt complete with a GPS pinpoint map of where the charge was made.

It's far less risky for the customer than taking an impression or a card or writing the numbers down IMO. Plus, the charge is either approved or declined immediately, so it's less risky for the merchant.

I'm in the square club.

Had ProPay, which did allow for calling in charges at shows, but it took way too long. I dreaded processing slips at the end of a craft show. Invariably would have a couple of problems that forced me to phone customers to straighten it all out.

So far Square is all that and a bag of chips in my book.