Soap Makers Help!

[chiknwhisperer]

My DH looks at me and he goes " is it blub ,blub, blub or cluck, cluck , cluck?"

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
OK, I'll check the prices and such on the rice bran, almond oil, maybe cocoa butter, etc. I am also looking into trying palm kernel but have also been held off by the 50 lb. size. On the upside, even after 6+ months of soaping, my coconut and palm oils I bought in the 50 lb. size are still half full. However, that's one more 50 lb. container I need to find a spot for! My house is on the small side. Right now I have containers all over my dining room!

No, they don't stay there. It's only when I'm soaping that they come in and get in the way.

Ninja mentioned a bulk buy at one point, which might be an interesting thing to do with the palm kernel.

I haven't yet decided where to order my fragrances from. I've not yet ordered from Brambleberry but have heard good things about them. I've gotten my other fragrances at Camden Grey and Sweetcakes. I agree with Lemon Verbena - it's a HUGE seller in my line. I got that fragrance from Camden Grey. People especially like it with the poppy seeds. Lavender always sells well, as does Rosemary & Lavender.

I have some cucumber that I've not yet used. I'm waiting on the cucumber harvest so that I can actually put some of the garden into the bars.

I also like citrus scents. What are some favorites? Grapefruit sounds fun, perhaps tangerine? I can harvest some fruit from the garden and dry some peels to add to the soap.

Someone here mentioned a "Clean Cotton" scent. Where was that from?

I've had a request for cinnamon, mint, and cherry almond scents, so if anyone has experience with those, please share.

What else?

With the outstanding orders, I really need to get some stuff going right away!

 

[Morgaine]

I have Almond from Wholesale Supplies Plus and it has a very cherry scent to me out of the bottle that mellows out some in the finished soap but is still there. Some have said it smells like Jergens lotion(I'm not sure, haven't smelled it my self)

Cinnamon EO smells *just* like red hots candies. It is a cheaper EO and you use a tiny amount of it, but you have to becareful cause it heats up Fast! And it can be a sensitizer in some people. But I do like it.

I haven't tried Sweet cakes, but have heard good things about them. They have a lot of dupe scents.

from camden grey I got Lime Margarita (smells just like Sprite, tickels your nose and everything), Sun Ripe raspberry(Smelled fake a syrupy to me out of the bottle, better in soap but not a fav of mine. DH though loves it, says he want's to eat it whenever he smells it) And Oatmeal, Milk and Honey(theirs has a spice note that is very dominate and not what I wanted. I renamed it Grandma's Kitchen and people like. It is one of the bars I sent in for the swap.)

On Kathy Millers site on her link page there is a link to the Scent review boars. Maybe check that out before you order. I would post the link to the site but it is another forum.

http://www.millersoap.com/soaplinks.html

 

[Morgaine]

OMG!

I just got an order for 110 BARS!

I'm making bars for all the kids in Chris' school to give their mom's for mother's day. I'm going to just put ingredients on the lable and the kids are going to decorate them for their moms. DH has got some building to do, I need more molds!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Congrats Morgaine!!

Where do you ge aloevera juice form? Do you get it from a health food store? The one I have here sucks. They don't hardly carry anything.

 

[Morgaine]

I got mine from Sam's club. I don't think I'll get it again, but I do think that it has label appeal if your selling. It also makes your soap slightly yellow for a while then slowly fades back to white. I've seen aloe powder but have never used it, any soapers here ever used it?

I'm soaping Almond and oatmeal today.

 

[NanaKat]

Walgreens carries Aloe vera Juice in gallong jugs.
I buy aloe vera juice and most of my oils from SoapCrafters.Com.
They have palm kernal flakes in a 5 pound bucket (ice cream bucket size).
Their prices are very reasonable and shipping is very fast.
They have a nice variety list of fragrances.

The palm kernal flakes are easy to measure and give a nice lather to the bar. The bar doesn't seem to dry the skin as much as coconut.

I love to add cocoa butter and shea butter. I like Almond oil and beeswax. I like Safflower oil better than Corn or Soybean.

I've used grapefruit and orange oils as well as extracts in soaps. Tea Tree oil and Lemongrass also impart a citrus scent and mix well with other citrus oils.

Made Citrus Honey Oatmeal and Citrus Honey Almond soaps this week.
Both smell wonderful. Posted a recipe for my Tropical Cooler on the recipe thread. It has loads of citrus and dried Tangerine.

Save on Scents.com has a nice Honey Almond in 1 oz bottles. They advertize as wholesale fragrance oils, body oils and supplies. I bought a bunch on EBAY last year.

 

[Morgaine]

I'm delivering more soaps to the health food store today. She wants Buttemilk and Grits(my breakfast bar ) and Lavender and Oatmeal.

I'm making a splurge and I'm buying the Bed and Breakfast Guest bar set from For Crafts Sake. I'm working on getting some local B&B's.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Morgaine

So cool about your 110 bar order!!! I order PK flakes from CF and always have some to resell if you want to try a bit.

RBO and me don't get along for the same reason that palm & I don't get along. The palmitic FA is too much for my nearly 50 skin.

CW - love, love LOVE that dragon bar!

NanaKat, PK & coconut have almost identical fatty acid profiles so react almost identical in soap. For year a lot of lye calculators listed PK with a lower NaOH conversion so a lot of folks believed (and still believe) that PK wasn't as drying. I totally agree about Safflower oil! It is lighter in color than corn but the reason I won't soap without it is the high linoleic FA (that is, if you DON'T get the HO safflower!)

Been down with pnuemonia and then having IE problems for the past few weeks. I'm still around though!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Morgaine - That is just too AWESOME about your order!!!

Alrighty. I just placed an order at Soaper's Choice. I ordered:
Almond Oil
Castor Oil
Cocoa Butter
Palm Kernel Flakes
Rice Bran Oil

I've been fiddling with recipes at SoapCalc. I'm working on getting a harder more bubbly bar without sacrificing conditioning or making the cleansing increase too much.

I'm going to make my fragrance purchase a little later. I just registered at the Scent Review Board so I can do some reading and learning before I finalize my purchases. I'm just so overwhelmed by all the options out there and often feel that I'm flying blind. I look forward to reading and participating in the discussions.

In the meantime, do any of you have a preference between the BB Vanilla Vanilla (Cybilla FO) or the Vanilla Select? The price is pretty close.