Shar

Gosh, for me making cp soap is so much easier and quicker, and get much prettier bars. The Only time I do oven process hp is for my coconot scented soap or if a fragrance oil causes my soap to seize, then I just stick the pot in warm oven and after it gels I pour it in the mold. With this new batch of coconut from yesterday, after smelling the soap today, I think I will go back to cooking the soap longer like before because the fragrance doesn't smell as good as my previous batch. I'm thinking that maybe the lye was still active and affected the scent a little. I've been reading good reviews on Sweetcakes Strawberry, going to have to try it sometime! Oh I love TSW Provence, and sure hate that they are not restocking all those great oils. That one is sure a favorite, and such a nice clean scent. Maybe somebody will dupe it. I know how you like Cajun's oils..if you like citrusy scents their Hurricane Daiquiri is great! Sells out evertime I make it! I had to make a new batch again yesterday..Hope you have an awesome week too, and happy soaping!

The Perfect Man NG Aqua Di Gio Bonsai

As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".. I soaped 5 batches today, and one was my coconut fragrance that I oven hot processed. This time I stick blended to thick trace, put stainless steel pot of soap with lid on in 180 degree oven. I decided I was only going to cook for 30 minutes. I did check it at 15 min. and the soap had risen to almost the top of the pot, so I stirred it down. Put it back in the oven, and I took it out 15 min. later stirred really well and added my fo and stirred like crazy. Plopped it in the mold, still ugly like when I cooked it for a longer period of time. I did add sodium lactate, but I should probably increase my water amount too to help stay more fluid, but will probably result in warped bars..Another thing is I use my slab mold, and should probably use my log mold instead so I can scrape off the fugly top. Anyway at least it smells good:) I will keep experimenting..I'll try coconut lime verbena next time.

I did, I've got a gel pad that you put in the freezer, or you can put it in the microwave and use as a heating pad. I wish I could find a good pain cream though. I turned in around 8:00 that evening, and slept like a baby,lol..

Very good point! I have some of those mats that lock together, and forgot to pack them..I bet I remember next time, because I really needed them on that asphault.

Thanks! Yes, got to be thankful for any increase! I was in a lot of pain from being on my feet all day, but it was well worth it! Reminds me that I need more knee surgery soon. Every step got to be excrutiating throbbing pain. We started setting up at 5:30 and couldn't break down until 4pm, and it was pretty much nonstop buyers left and right from 9-3. I've got several invites to upcoming events, Churches, schools that I'm going to look into, but usually don't skip out on my regularly Saturday market unless it is an event with lots of traffic.

Wow, now I'm craving pumpkin cheesecake! Those look scrumptious enough to eat! You better put up a sign so somebody don't take a bite out of 'em! Lol! Drooling.....

August Longest yard sale, it rained each day and sales were better this year compared to last. We had our Fall festival this past Saturday, 120 vendors..25% increase in sales this year, sold most all the lotion (wish I had taken more), and sold out of several soaps, took a large variety. it was a scorcher last year, and temps were in mid 60's this time..definately more shoppers this time around. I'm sure hoping for all of us that the economy improves!

What about for a morphing fo such as coconut? In this short of cooking time is the lye neutralized enough that it won't cause the scent to morph?

I love black and white together in soap..Elegant and classy looking! Great job!

I agree with Old Glory, and I like to brew some tea bags also to use for my liquid. You can add the lye to the brewed tea after it cools. Usually turns my soap greenish brown.

I was going to share a link, but just noticed some copyright jargon, and was unsure about leaving it posted. There's a lot of tutorials on the net, and videos on youtube that are helpful. I prefer the oven, as I like using stainless steel pots with handles. Easier to pour the batter in the mold. My crock is heavier and bulky. I rarely hp unless the fragrance oil a morpher or seizer.

Soap is my first love, so no worries,lol:) I'd have a lot of upset customers if I did that.. with all the soap and lotion making I never had time to dabble in the wax, but always wanted to.. having fun experimenting..I had to give up my day job after having knee surgery in March and now have more play time:) I have osteoarthritis and was suffering with pain over the last year. Exploratory arthroscopic surgery was done and my knee cap had shifted, so the surgeon did a lateral release, took physical therapy for 6 weeks, and still in pain. Ortho Dr. told me last monday that there is still too much pressure on my kneecap, and will have to have more surgery.arghh! I'm putting it off for now..with holidays coming up, I don't want to go through it again right now... As far as candles go, nope,nope don't want to go there after researching,lol..too much testing, time, and money involved..I'd like to make decent melts for Christmas gifts though as most of my family have the electric warmers. I will probably hoard most of tnem for my house though!

have been wanting to try making wax melts for many years, and I finally ordered some wax recently, and I must say it might be more addicting than making soap! I love it! The first supplier wax I ordered was Tennesee Candles Celestial votive wax..I only got 4 lbs. to test out, and see if I could get a nice throwing melt. I used 2 lbs. Of wax to begin with and melted in my presto pot. I used I ounce fo/ppo wax as instructed, and melted wax at 185 degrees. I then ladeled my wax into pouring pot that was on my tared out scale, added fo and thoroughly stirred, and poured into molds. I waited a couple days and tested the spicy apples and peaches in my warmers- one is a plate style and the other is a scentsy. It was throwing very lightly. Not very pleased with my results..sooo I researched quite a bit on this forum and had a lightbulb moment when I read a thread that Chandlerwicks commented on about making sure that the temperature stays at the 185 temp when mixing in the fo so that it binds to the wax. THANK YOU CHANDLERWICKS!!! . I realized that my cold pouring pot and cold fo was probably the problem for my weak throw- Causing a drop in temp and the fo not properly binding. I had 2 lbs. Of wax left to experiment... I heated the wax in the presto pot to 190 degrees, and while the wax was melting, I had a pot of boiling water to heat up my pouring pot. I measured out the amount of fo into a small glass measuring cup, and heated some water in microwave, and then placed my cup of fo into this water bath to keep it warm. It worked! Much better throw now:) Thanks to all of you that contribute on this board, for it really is a wealth of knowledge! I had to order some supplies from NG, and couldn't resist trying more wax,lol!! It's on the way:) I ordered palm pillar wax and NG soy (which is suppose to be 415.. Any tips for blending these two? Could I do a 50/50 blend? With the palm, the directions are to melt to 210 degrees, and 415 should be melted at 185. Please advise..

I'm liking CS Brandied Pear, sale ends in a couple more days. Great fall fragrance and it's a strong fragrance imo.

Thanks for the update Kelly. Looks about the same color, still pretty. BCN strawberry jam turned brown, but wasn't impressed with the scent retention in cp. Been a long time since i've tried it in soap though.. I've read good reviews on S weetcakes version, but haven't ordered any yet.

How's the strawberry holding up?

Gypsy rose is my favorite rose, and was hoping FB would dupe it! I'll have to order some:) It does accelerate a bit, so I don't discount the water. I usually stick blend pink colorant in with my oils before adding my lye solution It's Nice and strong, and sticks great! MW gypsy rose sells better than any other rose that I've soaped. In fact I've sold out again and need go make a new batch.

Thanks you, RWV! Great to hear there is a dupe that's strong! I just got in 4 lbs. from Tennessee, but sometimes they don't have it in stock, so it's so nice to know I can buy it elsewhere. Checked out SWC website and a little cheaper as well:)

Let us know how it soaps, and how it smells in the soap after curing a bit. I hope mine keeps blossoming:) I hate to waste fo's, so if it doesn't go over well with my customer base I plan on doctoring it up with MW gypsy rose, pomegranate fo, and mac apple maybe. I agree that it needs a name change.

I recently ordered some during the last sale, and they ship in plastic bottles, so had to transfer them to glass. I got lavender, lmongrass, peppermint, and patchouli. I do prefer Nd's dark patchouli , but FB's smells good too especially for the price! They all smelled of good quality oob imo.

My recipe contains a high % of hard oils, which traces fast, used coconut milk too, and I think I discounted the water at 33% in soap calc. Easy fo to work with, batter was nice and fluid at pour. I'm kinda hesitant to order from TSW right now, as I'm not sure what is going on with this company lately. Waiting to hear positive news, and restocking oils, answering calls and emails etc..It's a shame, as they have some quality fo's. I'm almost out of Provence, and haven't heard of a good replacement for it.

My soaps have been curing for about a week now, and Japanese Cherry blossom is holding up great! no fading at this point..I'm happy with this one so far! Be prepared for some acceleration if you soap this one and discount the water. I used 4 colors for swirling and also goat milk in the recipe. Next time I'll use full water. Rose Jam smells better than when I initially cut it, but is just too light for my taste, and is very light on the rose scent..will see how others take to it. It was so easy to soap, no acceleration whatsoever. Coconut Lime Verbena is holding up great as well,but I did use a high % of fo in the sample bar. I still may hp this one and add a little coconut fo. Very sexy for her- medium scent strength in the curing soap, but seems to be lacking some notes the original has imo..will have to see how it smells at cure.

I've been using it for a while in cp soap. No A or D, scent sticks great and customers say it is a good dupe of the original.