Soap Makers Help!

[TammyTX]

There is a poison ivy "prevention" soap with jewelweed. Is that it?

....I've been away from the board for a while but after making a batch of soap today (for the first time in months) I thought I'd pop in. Love that swirl on the chocolate/mint! How pretty!! Mine usually end up looking like mud.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

It is jewelweed. I found a few recipes for it. I'll try some next weekend. Also on my priority list are...Oswego tea (bee balm), Love Spell and a 2nd batch of Moisturizing bar (the nurses are snatching this one up!). Has anyone ever done a Bee Balm (Monarda) soap?

I just ordered 12 holiday fragrance oils. If I soap every weekend for 12 weeks they'll be ready in time for holiday craft shows. That is if my friends and family don't buy or sell them all before hand. lol

Funny thing...Cinnamon Chai was one of my favorites and it's far slower than all the rest. Coconut lime isn't flying off the shelf either:/

Most popular so far are Moisturizing bar, Coffe scrub, Rosemary Mint and Lavendar Orange. Chocolate Mint Swirl hasn't cured enough yet. But I expect it to sell quickly when it does.

What are your favorite holiday soaps?

 

[flgardengirl]

When will your chocolate mint soap be cured enough? I think I need to buy a few bars LOL!

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Chocolate mint swirl will be ready by Sept 1st. Anyone who wants soap can pm me anytime.

 

[cybercat]

Hi everyone its been a dogs age since I have stopped by. Wow you all have been very busy soaping. They all look great. I just got my first order of FO's from Southern Soapers. 7 total 1oz each. Since they are 1 state away shipping was real reasonable. So far I have only soaped the Mint & Herbs but wow is all I can say. I did not want a 1 scent mint so this was a good option. I only soap RTCP with a 3 oil base and salt. Not selling this is all for me and hubby. Will be doing next FO probably tonight the Sangre de Drago. Wish I had some red to color it but thats is OK. Learn one thing at a time. It will be my 5th batch so I am not in a rush.

I do have a question. i need a new scale any recomendations? I was going to get one last week but can not make up my mind. So any suggestions would be good.

Thanks.

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
Was reading back came across this post. You do not want to use fresh rosemary in soap. It will not hold its color and it will be very scratchy no matter how you put it in. We had a talk about it on The Dish. Those that have used the herb powder said it was still rough on the skin. The infussed oil should be older than a week more like a month and shaken daily. You can use the fresh mint in the soap and the infussed oil of rosemary and mint will be nice but do not expect much to come threw. Unless you use the Fo also. That SS fo I mention in last post is mint and rosemary with a lavendar back to it. Real nice.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Thanks for the info..but, too late. The soap is a success and I need to make a 2nd batch. I will take your comments into consideration though and improve as I go

 

[Sooner]

Quote:
You can do it either way. Personally, I use all milk for my liquid when making milk soap--no water. If you go slow, and keep the temp down, it does not have to turn brown...but it takes practice. Plan on a few brown batches while you learn how to work the properties of milk in soap.

Some people, to avoid messing with the volatile nature of all-milk soap, do what you're describing, and add the milk in at trace. That will decrease the browning factor, but it also decreases the amount of milk in your soap. Personally, I prefer the milk being the total liquid in the soap formula, no water. For a really low-risk way to add milk to soap, you could add powdered milk at trace, also.

If enough people would be interested, I'd be happy to do a couple of picture tutorials posted here. People could follow along? It would just be a very basic recipe, and it would probably be better to start with plain water, and then move on to working with milk.

How about a fresh cucumber soap lesson?

Yes!!!!!! I would like tofollow along?

I would love to try this. I have just completed my first batch last night!!!

 

[cybercat]

Does Coconut milk burn like goats milk? I know freezing goats milk or cows milk into ice cubes and then icing down the outside of your lye bucket and pouring lye in real slow works for keeping the burn down. But coconut milk not being made of the same thing i.e. fats ect would you need same process?

 

[Morgaine]

It will turn brown if you are not carefull, but go slow, use chilled milk and you can use coconut milk as 100% of your liquid. And ime coconut milk turns out lighter than gm.