JanetsCandles

Lavender Honey scented Melt and Pour soaps. I used goat's milk and clear bases. Seems I only get to do this sort of stuff late at night anymore. It's after midnight here.

You can make your own yogurt, too. It's actually fairly easy to do, and you get even more control over what is in it. I seem to remember that you can use goats milk in it, too, instead of cows milk.

Yaley seems to be losing contracts with a lot of groups lately. Jo Ann fabrics carries it, but only online. I've been wondering what is going on.

I actually use a local company's yogurt. Full fat stuff. I haven't tried the low calorie stuff, but it may have sorbitol or other ingredients like that in it, just as a warning.

I use 1 oz per pound of oils

I love mine. I use it for cooking as well as the stuff for soaping. DH got it for me last Christmas when I was complaining that I kept getting freezer burned meat. Haven't had a problem since. The vacuum is good in it, but if you have an air leak in the bag (either from a fold or something like that) it doesn't suck out as much air and you have to either reseat the bag or just seal it as is. Either way works fine. I do use mine for brown sugar, too, but if you vacuum it in a bag, it compresses the sugar into a boulder. I need to try it in a container instead.

Yep, plain yogurt. I add mine either at trace or with the other oils, either works well. Nothing special to do with it. I've got a set of bars, unwrapped, that I've had for over 6 months (private supply at this point, made a bigger batch later for sale) and it is absolutely gorgeous. No DOS, nothing.

Are you asking why I put yogurt in soap? I do use it in cp because it helps with moisturizing skin as well. I like the way it makes my skin feel for sure. PMM, Yes, mine is a vacuum sealer, but it has issues when you're using a more liquid type food in it. So I didn't use the vacuum portion on this batch. It wanted to just suck it all out.

I figured I would start a thread on how to save yourself some time and money. I work primarily candles, but do at least one or two batches of CP soap every month. So for me, it's difficult to keep certain perishable ingredients around for a long time. I'm talking about veggie purees that you may want to use in soaps for color, or liquids that have to be sealed and refrigerated, but don't have a long shelf life once they have been opened. With the exception of oils, many of our ingredients can be frozen for around a year, sometimes longer. This becomes an excellent idea for a new soaper, or someone like me that doesn't do it often, or even for those people who buy in super bulk and want a bit longer to use their ingredients. Milks, liquid teas, coffee, beer, etc. can be frozen in ice cube trays or silicone cupcake liners, then removed from the molds and put into a labeled ziploc freezer bag. When you want to make soap with the ingredient, weigh out the desired amount of iced cubes and thaw in a covered bowl or pitcher before using. You can boil the beer before freezing so you have one less step before actually using the ingredient. These are packages of yogurt that I have weighed out into different amounts and sealed into kitchen saver bags. I heat sealed sections of the bags into an approximate 2x3 inch section, leaving one side open at the "top" for adding the yogurt. There is approximately 2 lbs of yogurt here. I wrote on each individual pack what was in it, how much, and on the flip side, the date. When I want to use a packet, I simply cut it off the row (the kitchen saver sealer thing has a wider heat seal strip than my heat sealer, so it gives plenty of space to cut between the packets without opening the neighboring packet), thaw overnight, and use like normal the following day in my soap. You would do the same with fruit or veggie purees. Do you guys have any other ideas for bulk storage and preservation of your soaping supplies?

I actually make my own molds for CP. A lot of it depends on what I am aiming to do. I've got a favorite log mold out of HDPE, and a wooden slab style mold that I use for certain types of swirls. May also start using it for my GM and Honey CP soaps to reduce the heating. Hubby is trying to talk me into selling the molds, in a supplier sense of the word, but I dunno yet. He'd be the one helping make them (my plans for it, but just don't really have the time myself), but still a decent amount of work on my part for it.

LOL! That would be a great addition here

I know usually people would choose green for an apple/mint combination, but I wanted to do a set of reddish-pink, gold, and beige for the soap. I made goats milk and honey soap for the combination. It also has calendula in it. Even after immediately refrigerating it, it partially gelled. The last two are a bit blurry from the lighting and my hands not being overly steady tonight. But it should show well enough.

Thanks, guys! Last day of the show today. Got quite a few special orders from it (different colors on a couple), and got the store that hosted us to ask if they could purchase all of the leftovers. Heck yeah!

I am posting pictures of some of the new candles I have been busting my butt to make over the last couple weeks. These are for a show at a furniture store locally this weekend. It's more of a "high fashion style" type show. Hoping I do OK there. First time doing one like this. First is one of my newer styles "Impressions". It is unscented, and no, that isn't paint. The two jars are "Falling Leaves" and my favorites out of the jar candles this time around. The round pillars are "Orange Clove". Hoping that these go over well.

I personally offer the ability to do that with a candle, but they must contact me first, and I make sure that they know candles with an untested blend have a lead time of 4-6 weeks because of that. Needless to say, most people just choose a scent I already have.

I'm seconding what Steve said. Castile is a very slow moving recipe. A stick blender does help, but you could still be there a while. Also, make sure you don't have what's known as "false trace." You shouldn't have anything looking like separate layer on top of your mix, it should be the same color all the way through when you are mixing.

I keep mine around 200 for the paraffin, and 210 or so for the palm. I don't add FO or color in the vat (I don't want to have to clean it all up between batches, and sometimes I'm working more than one batch at a time.)

Don't up and quit just because of this thread. That goes for anyone wanting to try out soy. Some people have the knack for it and it works out beautifully. (I am not one of them... but hey, I have my talents in other directions lol.) Who knows, you might have better results with it. Won't know until you try!

I'm already a wholesaler for some of my local shops, but had a weird question come across Etsy today. A lady asked me if I would be willing to wholesale some of my owls to her for her terrarium projects. She plans on reselling them at craft shows, etc. (That made me a bit nervous, but figured I could talk to her to see what exactly she needed.) I said sure, but needed to check up on her resale number. Lady has no idea what a resale number is. Or a tax ID number. At this point I am not sure I will be willing to sell to her wholesale at all. Just something seems off. I figure she's probably doing this as a side business sort of thing, but there is a lot worrying me about selling to a customer at wholesale pricing if they aren't in business legally. Have you guys ever encountered anything like this? Am I reading the situation wrong?

I messaged you, Miss Barbara. Think I might be able to help you out.

http://www.soap-making-resource.com/saponification-table.html Here's a good starting guide for you. It also explains a lot of what the chart means. There is a resource thread already on the forum for beginners in cp soaping. It has a LOT of good information for you to use.

It looks as if they were discontinued. You could contact Anchor Hocking and see if they could point you to a supplier for that jar. It would be able to tell you if they discontinued it as well.

I'm another "lurker" of sorts. I read all the postings, but don't always post, either because of time constraints, scatter brained me, or just didn't have anything relevant to say. But I absolutely love the forum. I've met some very awesome people through here, and I'm starting to see you guys as family. And oh, the ideas and the learning and the inspiration... just awesome. So Alan, thank you very very much for the opportunity you've given us. And I'll second the part about if there ever becomes a point where you need a chip in type thing, please please let us know. I will be helping out if I'm at all able.

I've had glue dots come off. I have been using RTV silicone (I got it at Harbor Freight) to seal my wicks down. They work just fine.