Soap Makers Help!

[MullersLaneFarm]

Here's hoping for just a little rain and no T-storm. Do you have sides on your tent so rain can't blow in? It is rainy Saturdays that I'm grateful we have an indoor FM.

ANISE EO ... yep, that's a strong one! Are you advertising it as a hunting/fishing soap? My anise plant is growing well this year.

EO/FO
Birdbrain gave a good explanation of the differences between the two.

On usage, it really depends on the type and quality of EO or FO. I use about .5 oz of either EO or FO per pound oil (PPO) in my recipe. (say you're making a soap recipe that calls for a total of 5 lbs of oil, I use 2.5 oz of EO or FO).

Some EO, I will use less ppo and some I have to use more ppo. Same goes with FOs.

The floral FOs are apt to seize your soap, but there are 'hot' EOs that will do the same (like clove and others).

I have to be careful when I use Lavender EO. I believed what I was told years ago and used lavender 'neat' (no dilution) and have become sensitized to it. Yuzu, while I love the scent gives me terrible headaches.

How do you know which to use? The ones your sniffer likes the best!

Dude, it's ALWAYS worth the time ... just to satisfy your curiosity. Who knows, maybe the flowers will impart a bit of color .... do you have the light colored honeysuckle (wild) or the darker orange kind (cultivated)? I love the wild stuff the best. Brings back wonderful memories of my youth.

You're going to have to talk more about this charcoal ... please!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Yep, hunting soap. We hunt and we know a bunch of hunters. This area also has a bunch just in general so I think it will sell well.

 

[dude92627]

i read up on honeysuckle and it turns out it is worth a little effort to experiment with...here is the link i found;

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/Japanese_Honeysuckle.htm

 

[TM Chickens]

Dude: What kind of bamboo do you use? Would all types of bamboo work for making charcoal?

 

[dude92627]

From what i've read it doesn't seem to be a certain variety, as much as the age of the bamboo stand...it has to be at least 5 yrs old. i have seen certain sites that said they only used a certain type (i'll have to go back thru my notes to find the name). then again i've seen a research doctor in japan making the char out of chop sticks. if you have some growing near you and you know how to make charcoal try it. just be sure to get it heated up to between 800 & 1,000 degrees to get the full effects from it.

i saw a soap recipe that called for using rain or distilled water. if you filter your water thru bamboo charcoal it will come out a mineral water...which activated charcoal won't do...this stuff has 35 minerals in it...which is why you need a 5 yr old stand...did that help?

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Welcome to the thread, MrsCountryChick! Be sure to keep us informed of your progress!

chiknwhisperer - I'm hoping for good weather for you!


Hey, I have a question . . .

I'm making the soap for this wedding. The bride selected 2 varieties of soap, one of which is the TSW Yuzu Japanese Grapefruit. In the last batch of that I made, it faded out pretty quickly, even though I soaped it at the recommended .7 oz/ppo. The Lemon Verbena, by contrast, holds strong at .5 oz/ppo. I'm thinking that the Yuzu needs an anchor of some kind. What would you recommend that wouldn't change the scent? I do have some things here that I can use - bentonite clay, grapefruit peel, an ounce of litsea, oatmeal - but I don't want to change the scent and the bride doesn't want any exfoliants in this batch. Whatchathink?

 

[Morgaine]

I would use the clay and bump it up to .9 oz ppo. Litsea eo might also work, though it does have it's own scent nad adds to the cost.

Quote:

 

[Morgaine]

Oh, I would also drop you castor to clsoer to 5% because too much castor can eat up your scent.

 

[dude92627]

has anyone tried making their own eo? after reading about the honeysuckle...i googled on...found a site that makes jasmine oil and was selling at $6,000 a liter...wow...does that sound right???

let me see...35 baht to the dollar....so 6,000 x 35 = 210,000 baht...a liter.
a thai makes around 5,000 baht a month, so that;s 60,000 baht a year. divide that into 210,000 and it comes out to about 3.5 yrs wages...i might be making my own eo.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
OK, dropping the castor is easy enough and perhaps that's part of the problem. The reviews on this FO suggested it was long lasting. Only one person commented that they had fading. I've also read that a high concentration of palm will also eat up a fragrance, though as you know, I tend to keep palm down in my recipe.

I would like to try to avoid adding the litsea if I can, for the very reason that the cost would rise. Clay is inexpensive and I do have plenty of the grapefruit peel if I want to use that as well.