cmzaha

We we first started out believe it or not but we we received a large order from a FDA inspector. and never actually knew if it was for personal or inspection. It was very weird but the order actually went to the FDA facility, and my daughter was a nervous wreck. Fortunately we never heard a word back. So I assumed she received a free inspection and passed muster. We just never knew. This was over 10 yrs ago. They can find you.

It takes thousands of dollars and years of testing to get a product certified and most of use small producers simply cannot afford such. I have a soap and a fantastic balm I always wanted to have certified but it will never happen in my lifetime. 

Not knowing where you are located, if Costco is available they are the best for Pure Light OO. 

I know I am very late to the party with this answer and if you are still around to see this answer Saramarah I have to ask how long you cured your bars before using? Many times a long cure of up to 6 months will fix even a lye heavy soap which I would be very doubtful yours was. You strained your lye solution so you would not have any undissolved lye in your soap and you had a huge superfat. Soap dries from the outside in, so many times, especially with any type of milks the middle can still have an odd smell to it, it does not mean it is a lye smell, and it can take 6 months or more for a chunky cut soap to dry all the way through the bar.

Also, many new soapmakers do not always distinguish a true zap which is the feel of touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue. It will not really hurt you but give a jolt. For zap testing soap, wet your finger rub it across the soap then touch your finger to your tongue, followed by rinsing your mouth. If you do have a live lye crystal you really do not want to get it on your tongue. The same if you have liquid pooling on your soap Do Not directly zap test it, even if it is some oil pooling it very well could have some very alkaline liquid mixed with it, so wait at least 3 days before zap testing any soap or any pooling liquid if you think you have to test pooling liquid. I personally never test pooling liquid if it does not reabsorb I wipe it off. Sorry that is another topic...

Remember you did not allow for the fat in your coconut milk and depending on the type of coconut milk it can be an pretty high addition of superfat, but you also added in extra coconut fat, so really when using coconut milk you would allow for the extra fat, coconut oil and water. There is a very good article here on how to calculate this https://classicbells.com/soap/nutritionLabel.asp. I would not have scrapped the soap, but grated it up and added to a low superfatted soap batter as confetti. By low superfat I am talking a 2% superfatted soap. 

Your coffee bars are gorgeous. Have you tried using soy wax in your vegan formula? I know several soapmakers over at SMF (hope it is okay to mention another forum) are having good luck replacing palm with soy wax if you are not opposed to soy. 

Calendula makes an excellent base for lotions, salves and creams. If you have sensitive skin Calendula Oil would be ideal for you, it's even gentle enough that it can be used on babies to treat diaper rash.

Calendula is an excellent anti inflammatory and antiseptic making it beneficial to sore, inflamed itchy skin conditions. It promotes healing, increases collagen production and cell regeneration. It also aids in the reduction of scars making it ideal for many skin conditions.

Calendula is commonly used for acne, eczema, psoriasis, diaper rash, dry chapped skin and other rashes. It is a wonderful oil to have on hand at all times.

Place your calendula petals in a tea strainer or cheese cloth and place in a Mason jar with your oil. You can set it in a sunny window and let the sun do the work or you can simmer the oil for about 30 minutes (don't let it burn) and then store for several weeks to get a good infusion. Your formula is too high in lauric acid for little people's skin IMHO but it could be allergies to other ingredients. Infants and cancer patients typically tolerate about 5 to 7 percent lauric and definitely no fragrance. HTH

Steve

Since some can be allergic to Calendula (such as me) I find a carrot infused oil is very nice. I 100% agree with the low percent of lauric and myristic. I keep my lauric in most soaps around 10'ish and lower for sensitive skin. My experience selling at City of Hope is cancer patients certainly cannot use much harsher than what Chuck states above. Do remember Palm Kernel is not the same as Palm. Palm kernel is high in lauric and Palm oil has a negligible amount. Palm and coconut are very cleansing in soap

I love tumeric for yellow and paprika for a peachy orange.

I like the creamy look of ungelled soap so do not let many of my soap gel. Most go in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Not at all trying to ruin anyone's parade but....totally not good for your septic system if you have one to be putting FO or EO into your septic system We have a septic company and we love people like this that do this to their systems but believe me if your on the other end you will not love the cost of a new one! Lol

I can believe that my mom has a septic system and we are all very very careful what goes down it. They are expensive to replace. We have such bad plumbing at our house I run as little as possible even down our city system. I go to so many farmer markets I carry a small spray bottle of our room deodorizer and spray as I go in! I now have a couple of other vendors doing the same.

Thankyou everyone. I don't usually play with embeds but was happy how they worked out. LOL, took me a year to use the little ginger babies...I made them last year thinking I would use them for embeds in soaps last Christmas. Just a little slow here! Today I am going to make one more batch of gingerbread babies and hope they sell this year.

OMG, little toilet bombs you could sell in cute little tubes, aimed towards new couples who are embarrassed of going to the bathroom with their significant other around would be sooooo awesome!! I know that's not the direction of this it's but I could totally see my 18 year old self wishing for one! LOL

The Soap Kitchen in Pasadena, CA sells "Nature Calls" which are eo drops to use in the toilet before and/or after use. They come in 6ml bottles so you can carry them with you.

I am using Mica's still always have. Natures Garden has liquid colorants now that work in CP soap that I see a lot of soapers using. Welcome Back! Missed you!!!

I still use mostly natural colorants, but I do use some of NG's and they work well. Also B&B has some great bright colors. I love their Bubblegum pink

I'm a bit concerned with my sales and would like to know how everyone is doing at Craft Fairs this fall? What I'm mainly interested in is the sales of container candles, wickless candles and other wax products! I've noticed that my sales have been down quite a bit this fall compared to previous years. It's almost like people aren't even interested in handcrafted candles anymore! Could it be the economy or could it be the competition from all the discount stores, dollar stores or big company home parties? I'm really stumped to say the least. This year my sales are up in my CP. It's like everyone wants handcrafted soap and no candles. I've noticed a decline is Craft Fairs in the past, a lot of lookers and not a lot of buyers:( Your opinions, Thanks....

I have been selling B&B products including cp and mp soap for 5 yrs at farmer markets and we have seen a big decrease this year. Unlike many, I really do believe a lot has to do with economic issues. I just lost several regular customers at one of my markets, from a City of Hope layoff. People are still losing jobs. There is a lot of distrust and un-rest these days in our gov. All of the vendors, even food vendors, are down in sales this year. One of my markets has been going for 20 yrs and he is down 35% in vendors, we used to be 3 accross down the street for 3 blocks, now setup is mostly 2 deep down the middle of the street, and he used to have a waiting list. Some of the former vendors I have spoken with just did not want to tie up their money anymore to make product. We have seen a decrease on our website of 30% this mostly stemming from regular customers that have lost jobs. It is really frightening for my daughter since she relies on her site for income. After losing our asphalt company her husband never found another job (but that is another story).

Thankyou, I made the little gingerbread men last year and never got around to using them.

A couple of my new Christmas soaps. Gingerbread & Vanilla with Lemon Bundt Cake Layer. Red & Green is Oak Barrel Cider. We still have to get the eyes and mouth on the gingerbread babies

Nkennedy took down the pics and apologized and I give her credit for sticking it out and trying to make amends. We all make mistakes of one type or another. I see the same graphics for sale on many sites, since artists are usually allowed to upload to more than one site. Unless you purchase an exclusive use, which is quite costly, you really only own the rights to use the image under their contract aggreement. This is why we have all our graphics done for us by a great graphic artist, but realistically if someone did steal our graphic other than issuing an order to take it down we could not afford the attorney fees to fight it. Which is why copyright does not mean a lot to many. Who have the exta $250 an hr for attorney fees to fight such....

These are hard to beat

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-kd7000-silver.html

edited to add - if you do go with this one (and TON of people here use these) be sure to get the power adapter also

This is the one I use and it works wonderfully

Oh pics please!! I'd love to see them.

You used kokum in your recipe. I have never used it so I don't have any experience. Would you mind sharing what benefits/qualities it brings to soap? or to a shaving soap?

Did you end up HPing everything in one batch or did you split them into one for KOH and one for NAOH?

I did not hp, I cp'ed both lyes together. I used kokum butter to add some hardness and it is what I had for hard butter at this time. Kokum butter is supposed to add healing quality to products but who knows. I do not believe all I read and I purchased the kokum from a co-op because it has no noticable fragance to it such as raw coco butter. Been using it up in soap because I do not like the grainess of the kokum, even when tempered it still gets a little grainy

That sounds like a winner! Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately I can't keep tea tree around as its highly poisonous to my housecats. But I think I think I may try the rosemary, lavender, spearmint, and use sage and or basil. Can you tell I am dying to buy them and try them out!!

I have to ask why you cannot keep tea tree with cats? I have cats and have used tea tree for years. They cannot get to it and any spills the cats are removed from the area until it is well cleaned. Have not lost a cat yet except to a damn coyote. Just do not let them lick it up or use it on them. My cats will not get near my soap and do not actually go near the eo cabinet

Just a heads up that if you were to CP that lye combo you will get softer cream type soap. At least Babs mentioned to me thats what she got. Thats why I went with a 80/20% split for my CPHP. The 80/20 worked out perfect for a hard bar in CPHP.

My bars are very firm and the lather is looking promising.

Peppermint, Lavender, Patchouli

Carolyn-- you reminded me that I used some Tussah silk in the lye solution too. I'm using silk instead of clay.

I like your recipe too.

Mine is just my first try so I make tweak it more or even swap oils. Depends on how it works out.

You know I only wanted to make a simple shaving soap as just one part of my soap offerings. Turns out making shaving soap has been one I have worked the hardest at. I have been making shaving soap since last year but have thrown out those recipes. This one is taking me in a new direction and I want to get it right. I don't want a regular soap with clay in it. I want a real top notch professional shaving soap a wet shaver oficionado will appreciate.

I am with you on this. I have a stack of recipes that are shaving soap rejects. Fortunetly I don't throw all away. I just grate them up and add them into my extra scrubby mud bars, which is a great way to get rid of rejects.

I made my first batch of shaving soap this past weekend using both NaOH and KOH. This time I HP'd did them both together in the same crockpot with my recipe. I guess I want to find out for myself which method is better, HP'ing the two lyes together in the same pot, or seperately and blending together at the end.

I added my glycerin after the cook. I used my new PVC pipe mold to make round soaps. I used a 80/20% lye formulation NaOH being the higher proportion. The soap is nice and firm and cut really well. Its curing now. Only time will tell if it turns out good. I also bought a new shaving brush to test out the lather. I wanted a decent one so I got the one that is featured from Badger and Blade at West Coast Shaving. Just got it today. I can't wait to try it out!

Will post pics when I get off work tonight.

I went with: 50% Tallow, 20% palm oil, 10% stearic acid, 10% avocado oil, 10% castor oil. I also used aloe vera juice as my liquid. Its a recipe I tweaked from another soapers recipe Babs was kind enough to share. I used avocado oil instead of sunflower because I wanted to make an avocodo and aloe shaving soap. I also used 1oz pp glycerin at the end of the cook as well as some FO.

I went with 25% stearic, 20% lard, 19% palm, 15% pko, 8% Kokum, 8% Avocado & 5% Castor added in pureed avocado, coconut milk & Silk. 1 oz glycerin was added to my hot oils. Next time I am going to add the glycerin before pouring and see if it thins the batter, which I thought of after I had already dumped it in the oil. I soaped this at 130 both lye and oil and all the stearic stayed melted. This batch was CP. Next week I am going to try the 2 seperate batches and see if I notice a difference. 60% NaOH & 40% KOH

They will actually work the same.

I use cupcake wrappers, cedar seeds, a large pinecone and two wicks.

Is there a certain size wick that will work better than another. When my daughter thought she was going to make candles she purchased a lot of supplies and found she hated making candles (lol, tried to tell her before she bought everything) so now I have 25 lbs of soy wax waiting to be used. I made a few firestarters, just for her, last year and they seem okay but maybe I can improve them. I did put in 2 wicks but just used any that were in her box. Thanks

Here's an idea of what I might do. My colour scheme is red, turquoise and lime. I am going to have an 'L' table setup (the other table is the venue's). That table will have dipped bears on it. Also, I'll be using a slightly larger table (theirs is 8 ft mine is 6) for the melts, smaller for the bears.

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I do have more little bins (lots) another shelf like the one pictures and some larger red bins to work with if anything needs to be changed. I like having the melts in the bins for organization but I feel having some on the table encourages touching, Kwim?

Thoughts?

A very nice clean setup. Only thing I would change if using some elevation to bring product closer to the customers eye. Maybe you could stairstep the bins using some covered boards, boxes, small crates etc