MissMori

Gel looks kinda like Vasoline. It has a transparent quality to it. Go ahead, you can peek. If it's gelled all the way to the corners, you can take off the towel. If the corners look creamy and the middle looks like Vasoline, it hasn't gelled all the way to the corners. Nothing wrong with the soap. You will see a difference in color, where it gelled and didn't gel. If you want it to gel all the way to the corners, put the towel back on and even the comforter. I like to gel my soaps, it's just my preference. I also like to cool slowly. When I get a complete gel, I take off the insulation and turn off the heating pad (if used.) I keep the soap covered to hold in some of the heat.

The saponification process is exothermic... it creates heat. The mold will get warm unless you take steps to prevent it (ie. putting it in the refrigerator or freezer, removing insulation, placing it in front of a fan.) How warm or hot depends on which oils you use and what you used for fragrance. Also depends on the temperature of your oils/lye when mixed and how thick the trace was when poured into the mold. Warm is good... means it is saponifying. HOT may not be good. Over heated soap can separate and you either will get a layer of liquid top or bottom outside the soap or you can get pockets of liquid inside the soap (tiny or large.) If you see a volcano in the middle of the soap, basically an area that comes up like a peak, then it got warm/hot. Not so warm as to necessarily ruin the soap, but warm enough to give you a peak. Take a peek. If it looks like it gelled all the way to the corners, remove the insulation, even the lid if you like. Let it cool and then cut. I usually keep my soap insulated, even on a heating pad, until it gels to the corners. Then I remove the insulation, turn off the heating pad and let cool. By letting it gel to the corners I know that it has fully saponified and I won't get two toned soap. You don't have to gel, it's not necessary, just my preference. Edited to say: If I was rambling, sorry, I have a fever and the meds haven't kicked in yet.

Thanks... good thing it wasn't a snake.

I just purchased from a supplier many people use. I noticed at check out, where I got the total for the order, shipping & handling charges and taxes, that there was a line for "donation." I searched the site and couldn't find who the donation goes to or anything regarding the cause. I will admit I didn't look at every page of the website, they don't have a faq page, but I checked all the pages that make sense. Anyway, there's wasn't a way to opt out of the donation on the order confirmation page. There may have been a place to opt out on a prior page... check out process was several pages long, perhaps 8 pages. I am distracted, I have 2 kids running around at the moment, so it could have been there, but I didn't see an opt out. Not being able to order without donating makes me uneasy. It was tiny, rounded to the nearest dollar. I have no way of knowing if this is the usual practice. Other than rounding to the nearest dollar, how do they decide what the donation should be? More importantly, who is the donation going to?

I ordered from them last week... order came very quickly in a USPS flat rate box.

Non-stick is a no no with cp and hp. The NaOH will react with the coating. Any stainless steal pot or PP plastic. If you decide on PP, make sure it will withstand the temperature. They are not all the same. Some can only withstand 150F or so, others are safe up to 260F, and still others can be put in an autoclave or microwave.

Not the easiest to line and if you make one long log of soap, it may not be the easiest soap to pull out of the mold. A better design may be to have a removable bottom so that you can push the soap out of the mold. If you are doing 2 soaps at one time, would you be able to secure the liner to the divider for both sides? KWIM?

Awe inspiring!

Maybe it's that new invisible pigment.

I've heard of waxed paper being used. Make sure the wax is not the side against the soap. The wax will saponify and it will be very difficult to get the paper off the soap.

Granite sounds so pretty! I have some purple granite salt soap. Not fugly, but not the prettiest soap either. I'm not sold on salt bars yet. What's the big deal?

Welcome Cherry.

Thanks for the link Sliver. And thanks for the etsy suggestion. My search begins!

Good idea, but inhaling through the mouth might not be better. I made a Cool Citrus Basil soap today and it's making my throat burn... but then I have horrendous acid reflux.

I need to start thinking about a logo, labels, and branding for my soon to be business. I don't want to do it myself. My creativity stops at soap. Does anyone have a graphic designer they worked with that is flexible, creative, and won't charge a fortune? I don't even know where to start.

You have to know that they do it, because they are lazy and figure they will never be found out. Here's what I want to know... how do you find out someone is stealing images or text from your site?

:laugh2:I wanna know! There are subscription services that allow you to purchase images for exclusive use... a bit pricey and it doesn't prevent anyone from using the image that purchased it as non-exclusive use prior to your purchase.

You can cphp any recipe for soap. I don't use sugar in any of my soaps and rarely do a true hp, but use more water. Check during the cook to make sure it's not getting too dry. You can add more if you think it is drying out.

Give 'em a sniff. If they don't smell rancid or off in any way, they should be fine. I'm going to make an embarrassing and shameful confession... I have coconut oil that is 7 years old, stored at room temp for all that time, and it is fine. The more refined the oil, the longer the shelf life. Your babassu and stearic should be fine. Cocoa butter, depends on if it was RBD or "virgin". I can't tell you about the ceytl alcohol.

I wanted to add, you can use any of the natural colorants... I'd skip the paprika or cinnamon though.

I'd try some apricot kernel oil, perhaps in place of some of the castor. 25% castor is really high. For color, maybe an infusion of comfrey root powder for a grey/purple hue. Infuse 2 to 3 teaspoons in 4oz of oil and then strain the oil before using in soap.

Do you mean plastic molds with multiple cavities? Not made of silicone by some other plastic, generally white? Yes, it is ok to use these, but a couple of hints... don't soap too hot or put in an oven. They will warp and may distort the designs. Also, it is helpful to either wipe the interior with a little mineral oil to aid in the unmolding or use recipe that gets hard quickly. Too much water in the recipe and the soap may be hard to get out of the mold.

Then there's the 3.5 X cost figure. Everyone along the way is going to add on their profit. If you can sell 1000 candles for 2x cost, but only a few at 4x cost, which is of more value to you? Where is the greater profit for you? Where is your time better spent? Don't price your self so low that you don't make a profit or so high that you price yourself out of the market. The message being, know your market.

Functionally, yes, the melt point is the only difference. In soap it can be a wee bit harder. I've tried both and sought out 105F or 109F as well, can't remember which it was. I'd say that between the 76F and 92F you may notice a bit of a difference in hardness, but nothing MAJOR. Just my experience. I get super hard bars using 76F, so don't bother looking for paying for the 92F. Honestly, if you think the 76F isn't giving you hard enough soap, there are things you can do. Increase the amount of oils that produce a hard bar of soap (coconut, pko, etc.) or use a bit of beeswax or stearic acid, add some salt to your lye water (1 tsp to 1 tblsp.)

I'd love to see reviews from soapers on these. I've been a little less than impressed with fragrances from candle supplies, even the ones that say they are b&b safe.