wookie130

I actually bought one of these a while back...I can't remember the scent, but it was an orangeish-colored "foodie" fragrance. I HATE admitting this, but the candle wasn't half bad at all...nice cold throw, good burn, and strong hot throw. Not bad at all for a cheap discount store candle!!!

Wine can be used as the liquid in your soap, but all of the alcohol content will need to evaporate before it can really be used. It will definitely need to be boiled for a while on your stove to accomplish this, and yes, I'd freeze it to the slushy stage right before SLOWLY adding your lye to it. It will STINK to high heaven when you're dissolving your lye in it, but that does dissipate after the soap is poured into your mold, and even more so while the soap cures.

As far as champagne goes, you will need to let your bottle sit out and open for 3 or 4 days, making it very flat. Then, boil away, freeze it to a slush, and proceed.

I too have always used the squeeze bottles! Wal-Mart sells opaque-ish/semi clear ones in their kitchen gadgets aisle, right next to the regular yellow/red ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles.

What I don't do, is your elaborate pattern!!! But, I'm about to!!!!!

Thanks so much for sharing your swirling techniques! They've always been to die for!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you referring to The Scent Review?

www.thescentreview.com

Drewsmom, that recipe sounds really great too!!!

To answer the question about olive oil, I just use the cheapo "Great Value" off-brand stuff from Wal-Mart. I have no clue as to whether this makes a difference in a lye/ soap calculator in terms of different varieties of olive oil, but I've had good results.

Oh, and I'll definitely throw some castor oil into the mix! I do like my bubbles!!!

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I just want to try something really basic and inexpensive...for once! :smiley2: I like using shea butter, palm, and apricot kernel oil in soap, but the shipping is too much $$$ sometimes for me.

Thanks again!

I'm trying to throw together an inexpensive and very basic "grocery store" recipe for CP soap, and I'd like to hear from anyone who uses a very similiar recipe. I've run in through a couple of lye calculators, and it looks decent for hardness, conditioning, bubbliness, creaminess, what have you, but I'd like to hear some comments from some REAL LIVE EXPERTS!!!!!! :smiley2:

Here it goes, and believe me, it's not fancy!!!

24 oz. Olive oil

12 oz. Coconut oil

12 oz. Lard

6.75 oz lye / 17.9 oz water (5% superfatted)

What do you think? Does anyone use a similar or the same recipe? If so, how is it for a good every day bath soap? Drying? Not bubbly enough? I'd appreciate any feedback or comments. Thanks!

Can I just tell you right now, up front, without offending you that most of the folks here started with the same idea. Fun? YES, but cost effective? NO!!!!!!!!

The investment of time and money into these hobbies is beyond comprehension so if you're looking for cheap candles, buy them from your supplier for life.

I already know you won't believe me (or won't care, even if you do) but you can't say you weren't warned when the UPS man knows your name and your credit cards start smoking every time there's a new supplier on the boards everyone is raving about or a new fragrance (or 50) to test out.

I TOTALLY second this!!!!!!!! It is not cost effective, but certainly is more fun!

Wow! Really? I will certainly try that! The instructions for the wax were saying to add the FO at 130-135, but I'll try adding it hotter. Thanks for the tip! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Oh, that is a good suggestion! It really does help to add the FO at a hotter temp, as it does bind better with your wax. Maybe this is all it will take to help your situation!

Just marvelous! Well done!!!!

Ooh, I do believe that's gorgeous!!!!!!! Congrats!

I used to use C-3 as well, and loved CD wicks.

I now have to switch soy waxes, and was contemplating GB 415, which is a 100% soy wax, and have heard that ECO wicks (and LX) work well.

I actually have wished I had never started this hobby. I thought I'd have a better selection of scents I like instead of relying on what the local stores had that I didn't care for most of, and they'd be cheaper to make than spending $15 for a pillar or container bought ready-made. But I have spent FAR MORE on supplies, time, and frustration trying to make good candles than I would've spent on outright buying good candles. Not to mention the space in my home taken up, and the time spent on this when I could've been doing other enjoyable activities. This is definitely a love/hate relationship. The silver lining is that I give away my various scented creations as birthday and Christmas gifts, so I'm not spending still more money there.

I totally hear you. I stopped making candles for 4 years because of the expense, and I just started to buy them...

Now, I am realizing that I wasn't really giving myself enough credit. While there are good manufactured candles out there, and nice hand-crafted candles available as well, I never have gotten the satisfaction burning any of them that I get from burning one I slaved on for two hours making in my kitchen. I miss the process...the mad scientist aspect was always kind of fun. And once I found something that really worked, and I could share the end-result with friends and family. There's no accomplishment or fun involved when I burn my store-bought candles. And quite frankly, when I was making candles, I did work hard to create something that surpassed the quality of product one can find just anywhere.

But I DEFINITELY get the love/hate thing. :rolleyes2

If I don't Love it I won't make it...they can buy it at the Grocery Store.

I'm with you there. If I hate it, I won't go to another's expense to gag myself in my own kitchen, thank you very much!

I personally hate Patchouli, Hemp, Nag Champa, or anything else that smells like a head shop.

I'm not terribly fond of my kitchen reeking anything remotely like pine needles or balsam wreaths. Yuck!!!!!!!

Come to think of it, I really don't like too many florals. I LOVE LILAC, however. Gorgeous, gorgeous, lovely!!!!!!!!!

When I used the C-3 wax, I always used CD wicks with good luck as well. It helps to "wick up", or use the next size larger wick with really heavy oils, as sometimes your wick can drown out while burning if the fragrance oil is quite potent. Ahhh, the days of testing. And who is ever done? :smiley2:

It's been a long while for me since I've actually made any candles, but I'm trying to get back in the saddle again! Some of my former favorite suppliers were:

ICS / Snowtop

Millcreek

Nature's Garden

Peaks

Bittercreek South

Lonestar

Just Scent

I haven't made candles in a long time, and I'm slowly gearing back up to begin making them again, but I was always a very loyal customer of Becky's from JS. It's probably in my top 3 suppliers. I can honestly say that I've tried MANY MANY MANY of her oils, and while most are fabulous (I used to use C-3 Naturewax, which is soy, but now have to switch due to shipping issues), there was the occassional dud, as anyone who tests fragrances can vouch for from any company.

I'm doing this from memory, so hopefully I'm listing these correctly, but some of my JS favs used to be:

*Chestnuts & Brown Sugar

*Blueberry Cheesecake

*Orange Clove

*Spiced Cranberry

*Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing

Oh, there were so many others, and I can't remember them off the top of my head.

And yes, as far as scents go, I'm definitely a foodie.

I'm just re-entering into the chandling world after a 4-year hiatus. I'm currently on the prowl for suppliers, but I'm thinking after all of the hoopla on Mr. Missy's, I'll steer clear!

ICS 's cin buns are great, but I do also love Just Scent's Cinnamon Roll with Vanilla icing...it's divine!

I also love JS. Many of my favorite scents and good throwers come from Becky. Personally, I find their Cinnamon Rolls with Van. Frosting is the best around...STRONG!!!! I am using a parasoy (JS's 50-50, actually), and JS oils work wonderfully in it. I will occassionally sample and test an oil that won't have as much "oomph" to it, but the same goes with any other company I've tried.

Oh, I'm a bakery fanatic.

Peaks-

Frosted Carrot Cake

Lemon Pound Cake

German Chocolate Cake

Just Scent-

Pumpkin Nog

Blueberry Cheesecake

Orange Chiffon Cake

Country Kitchen

Nana's Old Fashioned Apple Butter

Chestnuts and Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar Pecan

My Mama's Blueberry Cobbler

Nature's Garden-

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Snowtop-

Baked Apples

BCS-

Sissy's Sugar Cookies

Oh, I'm a die-hard FOHO!!!

Love those cute tee's, btw.

My favorite scents change weekly. Then I have to try more. Then it changes again. Damn. Yeah, big-time FOHO here. LOL

Pumpkin Pie Special is actually a nice oil. I'd give it a try in whatever wax.

I've found some nice oils from BCN and BCS, and some that didn't work well at all in soy. They have such a wide variety, that I'd definitely purchase a sample pack or two to see if there are some scents that have been tested in soy that will work for you personally.

I use Reddiglo dye chips with C-3, and end up with vibrant color...similar to what I'd achieve in paraffin with the same product...that's one of the benefits of C-3...it colors a bit more easily than most soys.

I highly doubt that any other manufacturer of soy wax and soy blends are infringing on Mike Richards original soy wax formulation at this point...his was the original Cargill C-1 wax formula. Things have been tweeked so much from there, that I'm trusting that all the patent and legalities have been ironed out. Heck, I e-mailed the Soyawax (Mike's company) about a month ago with a question on how his wax compared to another brand's performance, and his e-mail didn't contain any bitter undertones of feeling ripped off by other companies producing similiar if not identical products.

Interesting topic, but I'm trusting that the "big guys" have it worked out.