Soap Makers Help!

[Renee']

My mold is ready, it literally goes from liquid to thick clumps in about 30 seconds.

I do know the difference between EO and FO but I didn't know there was a difference in oils for the cold and hot processes.

Always learning, thanks for the help everyone.

I have some oils from an on-line place (can't remember the name right now) but it was recommended on this forum. I'm going to use my recipe and add the "good" EO and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Renee

 

[beaglady]

It also depends what the EO is. Spice EO's like clove and cinnamon are notorious for accellerating trace. So does rose geranium. Citrus, lavender and patchouli EO's plan nicely, but others don't

 

[Bettacreek]

Melt and pour is different from hot process. Melt and pour is premade soap (typically glycerine) that can just be heated and molded. The fragrance oils can be made for a lot of different things. I found that melt and pour fragrance isn't always going to work in homemade lye soap, depending on what kind. Even fragrance oils from candle manufacturers aren't always going to work in candles. Basically, you most likely cannot buy fragrance oils locally for cp soap.

 

[yinepu]

My mold is ready, it literally goes from liquid to thick clumps in about 30 seconds.

I do know the difference between EO and FO but I didn't know there was a difference in oils for the cold and hot processes.

Always learning, thanks for the help everyone.

I have some oils from an on-line place (can't remember the name right now) but it was recommended on this forum. I'm going to use my recipe and add the "good" EO and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Renee

It also depends what the EO is. Spice EO's like clove and cinnamon are notorious for accellerating trace. So does rose geranium. Citrus, lavender and patchouli EO's plan nicely, but others don't

And, unfortunately not all brands of EO's are created equal

You may be able to use one brand of EO without any issues... then try the same kind or "fragrance" of EO from another brand and have issues. Most of that depends on the manufacturing process and what they are using as a "base"
Plus depending on the manufacturer, the oils can vary from batch to batch depending on season or their quality controls.

So it's always best to test a fragrance or EO before you end up wasting all the ingredients on a bad batch of soap.

as a note:
usually if you type the brand name into google as well as "soapmaking" or "cold process" along with the oil name you can find reviews

 

[Bettacreek]

There shouldn't BE any base oils in essential oils. If they do, it's just a cheap knock-off to lower their costs and still charge you an arm and a leg. Plants can certainly change quality though!

 

[yinepu]

There shouldn't BE any base oils in essential oils. If they do, it's just a cheap knock-off to lower their costs and still charge you an arm and a leg. Plants can certainly change quality though!

but a lot of companies sell EO's as being pure when in fact they aren't... which was my point

You can't go by the labeling so testing is your best bet

edited to add:

There are a few companies which also sell different "grades" of EO's.. if you compare their prices they will vary because they are "diluted" depending on the intended use
I dealt with one company back in the early 90's who sold them as "Therapeutic", "Manufacturers", and "Hobby" grade
The "Manufacturers" grade was their "most pure" with "Hobby" grade being partially diluted and "Therapeutic" being already diluted quite a bit for use on a person.
They wouldn't tell you the difference unless you called them and asked.. But I am sure most people who didn't know the difference would buy the "Hobby" grade thinking they were getting "Manufacturer" grade.
After I inquired about their oils I decided to just buy incense blanks from them and skip their EO's

So buying EO's is certainly a case of "let the buyer beware" because even some of the companies which claim their oils are pure are selling diluted oils instead

 

[bloodhoundmom]

New to the forum. Just to introduce myself I have been making soaps for about 5 years. I have been selling my soap for about 3 years mostly to my friends but sell at the local farmers market in the summer.
I'm a nurse part time and working on a skin care line for cancer patients. Glad to find some crazy soap people here too,. I came here looking for chicken owners and found soapmakers too,.
Funny how soaping and chickens go together.
Ruby
Synergy Soapworks

 

[bockbock2008]

Welcome Ruby! I've only been at it a little over a year but have about 15 batches or so under my belt (wish it were more but time's limited). Chickens, soaping, canning, quilting and alot more all go together and there is alot of information and help here on BYC.

 

[gabrielle1976]

Hi everyone . Im just starting to get things togher for trying soap for the first time. I watched probly 10 hours from soap queen tv and you tube videos and have read probly another 10 hours worth of stuff. I bought my scale from brambleberry and it got here in two days it was awsome. I plan to slowly get the rest of the stuff I need to make soap and the ingredents over the next month or so as I read more and watch more videos. One thing I havent seen alot of is basic easy beginners soap recipies. I have found sevral recipies but not many or any that are nice simple beggeners , anyone thats been soaping for a while have a nice simple begginers recipie for when I get down to actually makeing soap?

 

[ParadisePoultry]

I can't recommend enough the Soaping101 channel on youtube. Catherine has been posting soaping videos for over a year now, and they are excellent. She also has a Bastille recipe that's very easy and simple. She is also on FB under Soaping 101. You will learn a lot from her videos.