Soap Makers Help!

[tamsflock]

Thanks.. I had fun making it.. It is very addicting

Gonna try a few new things with the new batch, popping the molds in the freezer to see if they might come out easier..

 

[ChicksterJo]

Is anyone else soaping? I made a batch yesterday. I am seriously thinking about getting one of those kelsei molds but they are so pricey. I am just tired of cutting my bars individually lol.

 

[Morgaine]

This is a good single wire cutter.
http://www.soapies-supplies.com/shop/soap-cutter-system/

And this is the one I have that I just LOVE!!
http://www.forcraftssake.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_8&products_id=20

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Quote:
They are pricey, but they are well worth the investment. I bought my first one (a 30-bar mold) new from Rita almost 10 years ago and it is going as strong today as it was the day I got it. There have been other molds that have tried to mimic the Kelsei mold but the material used is thinner, or the dividers don't sit in slots in the frame and they seem to warped so easily.

Today, I have two 30-bar and two 42-bar molds that allows me to make over 30 lb of soap at a time.

It really saves time, imho, with making soap. You see, I love putting the soap together, but once it is out of the mold, the 'work' begins for me. I don't mind beveling so much, but I never did like cutting (even with a wire cutter) and I detest wrapping!!! Having the Kelsei mold just saved me a huge amount of time. Pull it out of the mold, let it sit a day or two, bevel it, then let it sit until I decide I want to wrap it (usually 2 months later when I'm running out of that fragrance!)

 

[Morgaine]

I have to say, I LOVE cutting soap, lol. It's one of my favorite parts :0) But I detest bagging and tagging soap. I usually wait till just before a show, put on Buffy and wrap a couple hundred bars that day.

I hated cutting soap before getting the wire cutter though. I could never get it straight or even and it drove me crazy

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Quote:
You're just weird, Morgaine!!

 

[ChicksterJo]

There's a sale with the Kelsei molds so that's why I have been

over them. I will have to see what kind of "extra" money (whoever heard of such a thing) I have..I hope the sale doesn't end before I make a decision.

btw, I just had to tell you ladies!! I used my lard soap today (it was the third one I ever made) and it is so good!! I think I should make another lard soap batch soon. It left my skin feeling a little..umm smoother? I love it and it is just shy of 3 weeks old. So I will see how it gets in 3 more weeks.

eta: I love my OO/coconut oil too but lately I have been adding castor oil to see what kind of properties it will add. I hope it's good lol. I think I have almost 90 bars curing and I'm fitting to make more tomorrow if I have time. Geesh what am I going to do with all them bars.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

My first two years of soaping I went back and forth using lard & tallow, then replacing with palm, then back again. No matter how hard I tried various oils with palm oil, I just couldn't get the synergy that I found with my lard soaps.
I sold as much of the palm oil I had (and ended up using a bunch of it in cooking) and went to lard and lard/tallow (plus other oils) blends and have never looked back

Back then (late 1990's, early 00's) even the mention of a soaper using an Animal Oil (originally dubbed AO on the yahoo Tallow_Soapers list) was berated and shunned on soaping lists. No one wanted to mention that they used AO, much less LIKED using AO .... I created my yahoo group Tallow_soapers I think in 2002 ... maybe '03 or '01 ... who care!

Then came along the phenomenal Emu Oil!!! Wooo Hooo!! Folks that habitually put down AO were praising Emu Oil. Folks didn't realize that it was an oil that came from a Bird and that the bird DIDN'T have liposuction. The VO/AO line got kind of blurred about then.

class is dismissed

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
You're just weird, Morgaine!!

I use palm and like it, but have made and liked a lot of soaps with lard. My shaving soap has lard in it. Sadly a lot of people here are still grossed out by it even though they eat it

I think people are ok with emu oil because they are so far removed from where things come from.

 

[WomanInTheWoods]

Quote:
I am so glad I missed that drama... I love my AO soaps!~ I've used tallow from suet I rendered myself since the first batch. I've only gone 100% VO with one batch, and that was mainly coconut oil.
Thanks for fighting the good fight for us AO'ers, Cindi~ I'm a member of your TS yahoo group & have been enjoying reading it.

BTW, my uncle & my dad both use to raise emus. They're really awesome~ the eggs are so beautiful. I've actually still got some of the oil Dad harvested from his birds. I use it very sparingly, usually reserving for burns. Really good stuff, but super expensive! Did you all know that emus are actually a red meat? I grew up on emu burgers... lol

ChicksterJo~ I've got a list of soaps I want to make & it's not getting shorter nearly fast enough! I'm hoping I can get all set up today to soap tonight. My family is loving the shampoo bars I made a couple weeks back, but I'm not 100% happy with them and want to make another, tweaked batch. I also want to make more shave bars. We all love the ones I made for my brother, but I'm not so much loving smelling like Bay Rum! We ladies want our own shave bars! I also want to make a blue/cream swirled bar for my sister's housewarming, a honeysuckle for my mother, candy cane scented white/red for Christmas, the list goes on & on & on.... lol

Morgaine~ I'd love cutting soap too if I got to play with your toy!!! Dang! lol

My MIL was here for my dh's b-day last night. She pushed me a bit further into the "she's nuts" category after seeing just how much soap I have. Oh well...