Soap Makers Help!

[Morgaine]

So far my three batches made with yogurt have all turned out perfectly! I did the Oatmeal, milk and honey one, a cucumber melon one and one Morroccan mint one. I am going to do anyother lemon verbena one. I gave out some of the first soaps that had cured out to some of the teachers at ds school. I got so many compliments and two have offered to buy some from me.

Can't wait to see how everyones elses soaps turn out.

Backyard Buddies, let me know how the fragrences from sweet cakes does. I have used BrambleBerry.com and like them alot, but was interested in sweet cakes too.

Excuse my spelling today, even on a good day it's not very good, but I have a monster cold and really don't feel like going over it.

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
Slice it while it's still relatively soft (but not too soft), then cure for three to six weeks, depending on water content.

How were the cans insulated? Could it possibly have gotten a little overheated?

two weeks today.. what will it look like when it is done? any different or just harder?

 

[Morgaine]

The bars will get harder and harder as they cure and will even shrink.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I did it!!! My soap is curing right now! Probably the hardest part of the whole thing was getting the dang drums of oil open and stirred without making a mess.

That and cleaning up afterwards.

It was pretty simple. I measured and mixed my lye and wandered off to watch Meet the Press. By then, the lye/water had cooled enough that I could start preparing the oils. While watching MTP, I lined my soap mold (desk drawer) and read up on a few minor things I wanted to be on top of. The oils melted quickly but I did have to use the sink bath method to cool them to match the lye. Didn't take all that long. With the stick blender, the soap traced pretty quickly. I tossed in the ground up buds (mouse poo as Ninja calls it

) and the lavender EO. I may end up being sorry about it, but I cut down the amount of EO, just because it smelled sooooo strong. I probably used closer to .3 oz. EO/lb of oils. Maybe even less. I'm not real big on strong scents, so if this one holds OK, I may even cut it down further next time. It just seems that all the recommendations for .5 oz./lb is a bit high. Am I wrong on that?

The one mistake I did make was not having a spoon ready to stir in the EOs and ended up using the stick blender. It thickened pretty quickly that way, but did mix in well. Will that be a problem? It poured fine.

If all goes well, I'll try another batch on Tuesday or Wednesday.

chiknwhisperer - Did you start your batch yet?

 

[smom1976]

cool!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Sorry Morgaine. I missed this question earlier. I will do that. I haven't tried the Sweetcakes fragrances yet. I'm still so new at this I'm not so sure that I have an opinion on what is good yet, but I'll do my best to describe what I think so far. The lavender scent has already faded some since yesterday or perhaps I'm just getting used to it. I think I like it better today than I did yesterday.

I unmolded my soap today and cut them. Despite my lack of straight cutting, they look pretty darn good! I'll trim them up some more later. I can't believe how easy this is!

Oh, and I bought some goat milk at Trader Joe's today. So, I'll probably work that into one of my recipes I make later this week.

What do you all do for your Apple Jack and Peel recipes? I think I'll make that one next, perhaps tomorrow.

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
Sorry Morgaine. I missed this question earlier. I will do that. I haven't tried the Sweetcakes fragrances yet. I'm still so new at this I'm not so sure that I have an opinion on what is good yet, but I'll do my best to describe what I think so far. The lavender scent has already faded some since yesterday or perhaps I'm just getting used to it. I think I like it better today than I did yesterday.

I unmolded my soap today and cut them. Despite my lack of straight cutting, they look pretty darn good! I'll trim them up some more later. I can't believe how easy this is!

Oh, and I bought some goat milk at Trader Joe's today. So, I'll probably work that into one of my recipes I make later this week.

What do you all do for your Apple Jack and Peel recipes? I think I'll make that one next, perhaps tomorrow.

I use APPLE CIDER in place of my distilled water for my apple jack peel...it comes out ok...kind of cloudy sometimes but still nice soap. Not my favorite...but does sell well. I also put poppy seeds in it. I've got 3 customers who beat my door down for it ALL men?!?

I had to share my FIND...50 lbs of coconut OIL for half the price!! WHOO HOO
http://www.soaperschoice.com/cgi-so....cgi?query_price_low_range=0&cart_id=$cart_id I was purchasing all my base oils from Sweet Cakes who went up in price from $38 for a 25lb bucket to $53 for the 25lb!! URGH...now I've switched suppliers. The Palm Oil is cheaper too!!

Just wanted to share my bargain!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Ahhh! That's good to know. I was afraid that I had selected too many 'girly' scents so I'm glad to know there's one that the guys will like as well. I'm not trying to sell these on the Net like some of you guys do but they will be sold. Other than personal use and gifts for family and friends, the soap will be used exclusively to offer at church to help support the garden we maintain to feed the poor. We're trying to make the garden self-sustaining so that it doesn't cost the church any funds they could use for other ministries. The ultimate goal is to try to use something from the garden in every bar of soap.

The recipe I used for the lavender bar was the Soap Essentials Bar II from the Soapmakers Companion. I'd like to branch out and try other ones as well, but only have Olive Oil, Coconut, Palm, Castor, Avocado, and Canola Oils thus far. Since I was fronting the entire cost, I had to keep it to these few items.

Any ideas or suggestions?

It's good to know that items other than distilled water can be used. Very creative, Cheeptrick!

Quote:
That's exactly where I ordered my oils, per the recommendation of Ninja. I purchased the 50 lb pails of the coconut and palm oils for the precise reason that it was soooo cheap! Even with the high shipping costs, I did better ordering from Soaperschoice (Columbus Foods) than if I had gone to a bulk supplier locally.

When they ship your order, don't freak out. UPS had tagged those larger containers as an 'exception'. They appeared to be hung up in the system, but they arrived right on time with the smaller boxes. I was very happy with the service I received from ALL of the companies I ordered from.

 

[cheeptrick]

.double post

 

[cheeptrick]

BYBuddies...that is so wonderful of you to foot the cost...I think you should SELL at least 1/2 your stock to pay for the materials at least. That way you can donate to the garden and still come out ahead. CHECK craigslist too...soapers who start out and realize they got in over their heads and sell their supplies in a last ditch to get out from under the costs.

I donate to the Community Kitchen my 'older' stock that did not sell quickly...and my end pieces/shavings are used in a confetti bar of basic soap. This bar is HUGE and folks go nuts for it. It's a very interesting bar.

Does your church have an annual craft show? I bet they would 'pray' to have your soap there!

My male customers like the citrus and LAVENDER too...

My experience is Coconut, Palm and Olive is the best most cost effective bar. I have substitued the 1/3 Olive oil with Canola in a few batches but the bar lacked hardness and lather. That soap essentials bar is really the best.
IMO