RobinInOR

You can also make them in the small dixie cup is it 3 oz? 2 oz? Can't rememeber - the wax coated paper stands up to heat better than the all plastic. They fit into a flower pot holder perfectly.

And if you do heat it, make sure to keep the temp as low as possible. Some preservatives are destroyed by heat above 100-110.

Not HP, but I just used it in CP - it does make a really nice bar of soap. Not sure if the higher temps of HP will give it a beef smell or not, but I didn't find it acted any differently than palm.

Yeah, it's a recipe that uses the assumption that adding oils afterwards, that aren't part of the lye calculation, is the "superfat" oil.

I don't really believe in that method for CP, so when I see that, I guess at a wieght, add it to the calculation, and see if it changes the lye amount. It's not wrong, just not a particularly chemically accurate way of doing superfat in CP.

It has a relatively high % of olive so it will be softer than others. The color change - if you were using dyes they are FD&C colors and they are sensitive to the pH of the solution, so they can change color on you. A blue can turn to purple, for instance.

As long as it looks like it's solidifying, not oozing weird stuff, just let it sit. I have a high % of hard oils in my recipe and after cutting I can still dent it with my finger. 1 oz of FO for that much oil is OK, but more than I use - some FOs can "soften" a recipe as well I've noticed.

A year ago someone posted a picture of him at a conference Unfortunately I don't know from personal experience

What about listing your favorite oils to use?

Rice Bran, Castor cuz I can use them in so many products. Meadowfoam because it's an Oregon specialty oil

What tools you could not live without?

Stick Blender of course - no way am I going to stir by hand I've got 2.

A tool that is unecessary, but you love?

I buy palm & PKO in gallon buckets - and they work great as mixing containers - I can make soap and toss them aside - clean them out later - I have a ton of them. They would probably hold a 6-8# batch easily.

Your favorite soap scent, additives, etc?

It keeps changing - right now there are 2 (I even brought both with me this week on my business trip) Peak's Honeysuckle, and Sweetcakes Verbena.

Additive - buttermilk.

What about, soap cutters, bevelers, etc? Do you have one, do you want one...do you care? I use a straight soap cutter and/or a knife.

Miter box and stainless pastry blade. I don't bevel, tho DH made me a beveler. If I need to get rid of a sharp edge, I either just use my fingernail or a vegetable peeler.

I like tabbing my own - have always done it. For votives, I prime the wick, then cut a bunch out to the correct length - I've got marks on the paper covering my work area.

Then I just line up the tabs on the table and stuff and crimp. A crimper bends the base less than a regular needle nose. But even if it's bent - I use a BIG glob of hot glue on it so it doesn't really matter.

Dr P gives great service! His oils are excellent quality and he really knows his stuff.

(He's also very cute, with a cute wife, and drives a hummer )

Very nice blend of colors!

They are harder to wick relative to straight round jars - sometimes it takes a bit more testing to get a wick that will melt the corners and not leave a lot of hangup. Otherwise they're easier than some - at least the diameter is the same all the way .

Pull out the yellow pages and start calling all the different companies that write for multiple companies. It can be tricky to find - some states are easier than others. Some companies will write for B&B but not candles, some are the other way around. I've seen ranges of prices from $250 - $1200 a year.

I only offer 1 size at the moment - 9 oz balmoral. But I'm getting comments that they wish I'd carry a smaller jar. So if I continue to do containers I might do the 4.5 oz balmoral, maybe even instead.

One of the standard sites to go learn is http://millersoap.com Learn all that and you'll be an expert in no time.

Another pretty good site is done by the owner of Brambleberry - http://teachsoap.com

Anyone else run across some good tutorials?

We'll try to get the acronym list back up. In the meantime:

M&P - melt and pour. It's a detergent base that's very easy to use - you don't have to work with lye since the soap is already "made". Melt, color, fragrance, pour - you can do a lot of nice things.

CP - cold process - you are mixing oils and lye to make soap, and the chemical reaction is supported by it's own heat generation. Saponification isn't quite done when you pour into the mold.

HP - hot process - similar - you mix oil and lye, but you cook the mix all that way through saponification until it's done.

Would be an interesting experiment - I don't see anything in there that would affect too much at that low of a percentage.

Except the Red 3 - that's not approved for cosmetics, so if you follow the cosmetic rules, I'd avoid the ones with red in them (which probably means orange, red, purple). The yellow and blue is fine.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opa-col2.html#table3A

Remember the FDC dyes might change color on you in CP - they are sensitive to a high pH solution.

Alan fixed it. At the moment only a moderator can start a poll, until he sees if there are any other consequences. But it might open up later to others starting.

Oh, and I voted CP

Yeah, it will take Alan a bit to hit all the different setting - there's a ton more to this board than the last. Oh well

Well that's weird. Let me see if I did something wrong. Or I'll put it on the list for Alan... hmmm

Had to practice with the new polling feature

What's your favorite product to make? There's so many possibilities - if it's "other", what is it?

Love those molds - looking good!

Perfect color Anita - look great with those molds! And your camo turned out great too!

That's really pretty Sara. Maybe your blue reacted w/ a yellower oil to make the green Whatever did it, worked out really well!

I think anything fruity would work really well in a lava gloss. How about grape?

Hi Tammie! Some soaps can be softer than others. It really does harden up quite a bit over time. Eventually you want it hard enough so you can't dent it with your finger. The harder the bar, the longer it lasts

Welcome home folks! Look at the nice new shiny place Alan has decked out for us