Soap Makers Help!

[Morgaine]

BB- Those soaps are Gorgeous! I love hte color contrast and the marbley look. Good Job

With the Tea Tree & Shea I used full water no discount since I'd never made that recipe. I discounted this one, it was very very easy to soap. The soap was still hot as I was cutting it too. I think it was a combo discouting and the pumice, which was a very fine grade, so fine in fact that next time Dh was it courcer. This stuff would make a great face scrub. I used four heaping tablespoons for 4 lb oil.

So you did like the Tea Tree soap? Did you find it drying?

I'm making 2 OMH and 1 more Dragon's Blood this morning and then tonight I'll do 3 Rosemary and mints since I'm out of those for the Farmer's Market.

I have to place another order at CF. I have enough co to get me through this week, but I'm low. I also need more Shea butter and RBO. I really though 50#'s CO would have lasted longer. But that's all right, just means I've been selling a lot of soap. I'm making DH design the Soap Shop with room to carry the 55 gallon drums. Future Planning!

 

[Morgaine]

Any one here near Glenwood, IA? There is a renaissance festival on Aug 29, 10a.-6pm. Booth fee is $30. They are looking for vendors. PM and I'll give you their contact info.

 

[katiesarahsmom]

Thanks for all the info! I'll have to give it a try!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Thanks Morgaine - It turned out pretty close to what I was aiming for. If it holds this way, I'll be happy. I was aiming for the colors you see in a sandalwood carving which is why I pulled it toward the beige with the milk and then added the FRC to add the red tones.

I loved the tea tree soap! I didn't get to use it my usual 3 days in a row for testing because someone had taken it out of the shower (probably hubby for shaving). I was afraid it would be drying with the full coconut, but the 20% SF shea left a nice moisturizing base on my skin all day. Nice bubbles, too. I can't wait to see what it's like a few days in a row!

Your soap shop sounds so fun! When you buy the larger containers, how do you dispense them? Do you keep them in the big containers or transfer to smaller containers for easier dispensing? I just bought a 35lb of the castor. Wow that stuff comes out slooooooow!

 

[Morgaine]

Lucky for me, Dh works in a shop were they get all their in drums too, so he's going to help get it all set up so that all should have to do is turn a valve to get it into a smaller easier to use container. The coconut will be melted right away and put into 50# buckets to store. Same with the palm, though I want to see if I can buy a pallet of the stuff I get now from HEB.

We're working on plans now and as soon as the house is done we will start constuction on it. I'm looking at a 15"x20" or maybe even a 20"x24" space. It'll have water and power too. A mini kitchen as well. I wish I could pay for with soap profits right now, but my sales aren't that high (YET!! Think positive right) so we will loan the money to they company.

I'm really glad you liked the soap. It seems to go against all the "rules" of soap making but it makes for a good soap. Follow the same recipe. but add the same amount of salt as you did coconut oil and that's a salt bar. Personally I think I prefer the bars with out salt now.

For the castor, we set the big cube up on the end of the table and then filled the old 7# contains I had. Castor is soooo slow coming out of the little valve. I find it much easier to pour when I want to soap.

Shelly you pour in 8# batches right? What size is you slab mold? I'm thinking of moving up to bigger molds and I'm looking at some slab ones. I'm just not sure how much space they take. The mold would hold 13#'s of oils. The web site doesn't list them either.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Morgaine -

That size of a soap shop would be a DREAM!!! It'd be great to have all the drying racks, storage racks, a single place for all the FOs/EO's, additives, work table, etc, etc, etc. I can't wait to see the pix!!!

I also opted to refill my 7lb. castor containers rather than using the slow-pokey spigot in the 35lb. container. It'll make soaping much easier.

A slab mold that held 13 lbs. of oils (I assume you're not talking about 13 lbs of soap, right?) would be pretty big, I would think. The mold I'm using is 10.5" X 13" and makes 32 - 35 bars of soap, depending on how accurate I am with my cutting. If I do it right, I aim for 33 bars at a cut weight of between 4.7 - 5.6 ounces, depending on water discount. I'm just a smidgen under 8 lbs. in my batch - 125 ounces of oils.

In my slab, I cut 3 - 13" logs that measure 8.5 cm in width, then cut each log into the slices. It's the thickness of the slices that makes the difference in weight. With your Tank, you wouldn't have the differences that I get with my hand cutting.

There are some advantages to making larger batches. The biggest advantage would be that it takes you less time overall to make a single big batch than several smaller batches. The biggest downside that I can see would be having a pot large enough to not only hold all those oils but not too deep that you couldn't still use your stick blender.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Egads! If this soap I made today works out, it'll be a miracle!

I decided late this afternoon that I was going to make a batch of plumeria soap. I discounted the water a little bit because I often find that my oils cool down before my lye and I simply add an equivalent amount on ice cubes to bring the lye temp down.

Well, I got busy making dinner and completely forgot that I had discounted. I had prepared a container with FRC and another with turmeric, thinking that a white, pink, and yellow swirl would look nice.

Within a minute or so after I added the FO, I knew I was in trouble. Yup - soap on a stick.

I had already scooped out the two parts into the colored containers, so there was no going back. I quickly stirred those two, then went back to my now quite thick pot full of soap. I had no choice but to smash it into my mold, bit by bit, stirring as best as I could. In the end, I got a big piece of plastic wrap and smashed it down as hard as I could.

Worse comes to worse, I'll make a confetti batch. I have no intention of re-batching if I can help it.

Stay tuned . . .

 

[Morgaine]

Oh man I hope it turns out. Don't give up yet, it might still work. I've been surprised more times than I've been disappointed.

If it's real rough looking, just call it rustic!

So who is planning their fall line right now? I'm trying to get about 5 fall scents added and besides Apple Jack Peel, I have no clue what to add. Any suggestions?

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[chiknwhisperer]

I can use a ll the same suggestions you r looking for lol

 

[ametauss]

I'm going to do a Pumpkin Ale shampoo bar, Pine, and an Oatmeal spice.

Still hunting for a good pine EO/FO... anyone have suggestions??

Morgaine -- do you use real apple peels in your soap?? That sounds sort of interesting...

Anyone use Key Limes to make soap?? I got a bunch of key limes and they're now drying up due to not being used fast enough and I thought I would put them in the food processor peel and all and add them to soap but wondered about the acidic nature of key limes and soap....