chuck_35550

Made a two pound test batch using a new formulation with FB Cucumber Melon fo. The test batch used 100% goats milk and I did a hanger swirl. Soaped at a really cool temp of 68 degrees and got a beautiful creamy white soap base that was thick but very manageable. The fo behaved beautifully and at .05 oz pp was more than strong enough and so far has stuck well in the finished product. I used a sample in the shower this morning and was pleased with the results. I can't say enough about the cucumber/melon, as it is the best one I've ever experienced. The formulation is heavy on tallow and light on the olive, so this is one I wouldn't use for delicate swirling (will soap at higher temp to see how well it works) but so far so good. Steve

Got my order (so fast it beat me to the post office) of 13 fragrances. I think the best way to describe these dupes is that they have a perfumery type quality to them. American Cream (Lush) is a light marzipan that should do well in cp soap, Champagne Snow Showers (Lush) very nice parfume type that should do nicely in cp soap, Coconut Cream Pie is strong to my nose but the notes are not well defined (will need to put it in wax), Cucumber Melon is incredible (will need large bottle for both candles and soaps), Fall Festival (MW) is very nice and spicy (can't wait to get it in wax), Jungle (Lush) is a sexy parfumery type and should be a hit in a unisex soap, Pepperberry Wreath will do the trick for something kinda peppery but not harsh (we'll see after I get it in wax), Salted Caramel is a real treat with the salt and caramel so true (not sure what I want to do with it), Skinny dip (Lush) another soap treat, Strawberry Patch (Hope there's more patch but the strawberry is excellent), Sultana (Lush) more odf the same, Supernova (Lush) fruity parfumery (needs soaping), and Witch's Brew (MW) is very nice. I don't detect complexity oob but that's ok by me. I predict that some of these are going to make excellent blending oils. They won't stand alone but they will easily blend and make other fragrances pop. I doubt there are many essential oils or vanillin used for obvious reasons (cost, easier wicking, and compatible soaping qualities). I agree with the other assessments that most customers are not going to notice a difference in the quality of ct/ht. Next up will be my order from Flaming Candle. Steve

Why bother to make it in pastille form if it melts together in transit? I would be interested to know the details of this wax (great introductory price) for future reference.

I know just how you feel CB and my business is closed. People keep asking for soap and now I have an order for a fragrance that is no longer in stock (Mediterranean Garden from AH/RE). Yardwork and soapmaking are more than my old body can take. Not to mention printing up the wrappers and all of that headache. I made a batch that went immediate soap when I added the fo (combined white tea, rain and lemon sorbet) but wrestled that bad boy into colored layers in my log mold and it turned out just fine. I've got blisters on my fingers from that adventure. I want to make a hidden peacock swirl or a hanger whirl this week-end. Steve

I started out with an hdpe slab mold and thought it was great but that was before plexiglass or silicone molds were available. The red silicone logs from Essential Depot are the best bang for your buck IMHO but for the sharpest lines and corners you can't beat the wonderful plexiglass logs from Soap Making Resource. You can see what your soap bar looks like and the log comes out so cleanly. Its so easy to stick the mold in the fridge if you don't want to gel or in the oven if you do want to gel. Now the cadillac of molds will always be Soap Hutch and probably some would vote for Brambleberry but you better be ready to spend some bucks. My hdpe slab mold got worse about sticking rather than seasoned and it never gets used. I would look at mold and cutter combinations if you don't already have a good cutter, because they just work better by design. HTH Steve

Thanks for the info. I may have to re-think the whole Lush idea.

My soap formulations have changed to accomodate whatever plans I have for the project. One of my favorites has no olive oil in it but uses beef tallow, cocoa butter, palm, Palm kernel oil, Sunflower and Castor. It bubbles like crazy and is super white without using TD. But it moves like crazy and is not the best for swirling. Slow moving formulas for swirls or other time consuming details and medium slow trace for cupcakes. I still like Quiet Girl's formula and it has quite a few ingredients but it just depends on what I intend for the soap to accomplish (shampoo bars, salt bars). Did that help? Steve

Thanks a lot. Any information is helpful but we all know you just have to work with it yourself. Steve

For some odd reason I have decided to throw my lot in with the Lush dupes. Do you have an update on where you are with those? I have never used FB and so far have 34 samples picked out but kind of afraid to pull the trigger. Steve

I like to take a really successful fragrance like Creme Brulee for a base and then add small amounts of pumpkin, ginger, spices, other vanilla type fragrances, even florals can work. Patch and Rose are great bases to add just small amounts of almost anything for a little complexity. I tend to stay away from fos that identify themselves as being very complex, because most customers won't get that from a quick sniff. Amber is another great base to build on as well. HTH Steve

High Cotton-Backwoods or Millcreek Chance-Natures Garden Love and Luck-Wholesale Supplies Jack Pot-Maybe a cannabis/patch Havana Nights-remember tobacco fos Guilty Pleasures-JS Snake Eyes means you lost Good Luck Charms: 4 leaf clovers, rabbit foot, ect

Bitter Creek North has a Sweet Tea with lemon or citrus. HTH Steve

I agree with Old Glory. The description on this fragrance varies from a sweet Southern tea with lemon to an herbal tea. The fragrance is listed as out of stock and its possible that this is one that may be taken out of the Park Hill line.

I have two long shelves over the work bench and then a rack of shelves next to the bench. The top shelf holds candle fragrances and the bottom shelf has my soap fragrances. These are the current production fragrances and are in alphabetical order. The shelves next to the bench hold fragrances for Seasonal and are grouped by supplier.

I shut my business down but there are a couple of local businesses and private customers who keep pestering me to crank it back up. The state tax and the increased cost of raw materials just made it impossbile for me to keep going. Alabama does not encourage small business. Steve

I've tried LX wicks with this wax and they do just fine but prefer cdn wicks. Zincs couldn't handle 3022 and I didn't like the look of eco wicks but they did just fine. The issue of soot on the jar is a tough one. Bakery fragrances high in vanillin and some other ingredients tend to burn off in the form of soot and unless you find a more efficient combination of wax, wick and jar through testing will have to accept a certain amount on those fragrances. The other solution would be to move on to another fragrance that doesn't soot and provides a more efficient burn. Straight sided containers do the best but really this wax will work in just about all applications. HTH Steve

Rose with a touch of gardenia and patch. Very nice.

I use the 12 oz and 16 oz salsas from another company (they are also called flint/straight sided jars) and use 18s and 20s on most fos. I use a 70-30 soy/paraffin blend which requires hotter temps for good results. The 16 oz jars can get fairly hot about mid way of the burn but if the fo is a heavy bakery blend it can't be helped. I use a 6-7% fo load. HTH Steve

Lard is hydrogenated and shouldn't go rancid if kept in a dry, cool place. Lard in a bucket ought to keep just fine but you could simply make smaller batches and fragrance your soap without worry. If you're not doing much soaping these days (neither am I) it would be better to go ahead and make the soap as usual. I ran that through soapcalc and it looks a little light on lye, you may want to double check that formula. HTH Steve

I've used heat resistant clear calk. I found some sea shell planters at Dollar Tree and used a tube of sealant and never had a problem with leakage. The pottery was glazed and they tolerated heat well. I did not wick for a complete melt pool as extra insurance against the container gettting too hot. HTH Steve

I've seen customers open and smell every jar and then buy nothing. Too many choices seems to discourage a decision at times. The best customers are the ones that only buy one fragrance that they claims is the best. It's the random request that usually gets me in trouble, "Say, don't you carry a leather or bacon candle?" and then you research and buy the oils and your're stuck. People tend to think out loud these days and never really intended to buy a bacon and leather candle, lol.

Yes. I buy my wax directly from Clarus (3022) and they are so easy to order from. Just remember that the distributors offer more than wax and without them we couldn't produce an affordable product. Too many of our old favorite suppliers have disappeared and its a shame. They were real people that we came to know and respect both in business and on a friendship basis. I would buy the wax if it were of the brand that is available locally but availablity is limited. I try to support my local suppliers whenever possible. One side note is that Clarus does not require me to buy pallets but lets me buy a case at the time. HTH Steve

I rely on sales to drive that decision. Fragrance is an unpredictable animal in this business but I sure ain't gonna kep buying and pushing it if there are no sales. Testers are so helpful, because out of bottle isn't the same as in wax. You might need any variation on an amount depending on the quality of ht and ct in the finished and or cured product. I'll make up a couple and take them around to customers and get their feedback. I have about 10 fragrances that are sure sellers year round (Creme Brulee, Royal Sugar Cookie, Muscadine, Caribbean Breeze and Black Cherry) and seasonal (Apple Jack and Peel, Vanilla Bean Noel and Hansel and Gretel's House) the others are limited to a brief time, unless they become winners. I really wanted LIttle Black Dress to sell, along with some other big time hits but they didn't. I haved seen a fragrance suddenly take off (Kudzu) and die just as quickly. Its better to have a lab full of 1 oz testers than pounds of oils that never get used IMHO. Steve

I started with AstorLite V wax (now IGI 4641A) with the metal molds and wick pins. Sometimes a little hard to get out of the molds but a very dependable paraffin votive wax. Blueberry is notorious for morphing color and according to the source, can smell plastic or artificial. Bakery Fragrances depend on vanilla, unless the formulation specifies little or no vanilla in the specs. Read those details about what kind of carrier oil is used and the amount of vanillin or vanilla and especially reviews of others. If the distributor doesn't provide you with details on site or by email or phone; go somewhere else. Most of the time you get information as to the color of the oil, the weight and other important info that decides the use of what color or no color. Creme Brulee is a very heavy and yellow to tan colored candle that I don't color because it really doesn't work well with color and looks ok, in my opinion. Those small amounts of wax are going to harden pretty quick and you could come back and heat your remaining wax a little hotter and do your repour after you finish filling all of them up and you should get a pretty good bond. The heavy fragrance oil may need to be stirred all through the time you are pouring to insure that you have a good suspension. The fragrance oil is suspended in the wax and never blends (you can tell by looking at it). HTH Steve