chuck_35550

Well that being said, embeds just love to float to the top. I pour a thin layer on the bottom of the mold and spritz with alcohol and then when that layer is firm, spritz the imbeds and spritz the soap and tack the imbeds in place and then do your overpour. Its tricky business. Don't be afraid to spritz but don't drown it either. HTH Steve

Too much oatmeal IMHO. I use 1 tbl pp of oils in cp and its too much for that type of soap. You use collodial oatmeal or oat flour. I've had good luck with using old fashioned oatmeal in a coffee grinder and get a very fine flour out of it. I would look at the recommended % of fo for mp before using a tbs pp of base and you use 92% alcohol, which you can find at wally world not regular rubbing alcohol. You might look for a fine mist spritzer, I have a regular mister and its a little heavy handed for the job. HTH Steve

wonder if you could get a sieve and strain those out and start over? I would try sprinkling some on the top and let them sink and then sprinkle a few more times as it sets. Just an idea. HTH Steve

Kind of an update, now that its been weeks since I poured these testers. I have Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake burning in my office and its very light and at best a cinnamon and not much else. The Bear Claws is kind of strong for a room but not in a good way, just a burnt sugar kind of fragrance but no one has ever said they smell like bear claws or pumpkin cheesecake. The Gourmet Sugar Cookie, I like but nobody else does. It is light and has a play dough kind of smell but at times I kind of get it and its ok. The Cafe Vienna is a kick butt ct with mostly a coffee, the Zuke Bread reminds me of ky and its not much alone but would be fine with some apple or something else kind of fruity. I think the coffee fragrances are going to be the best bet but I did get some compiments on the mixed Vanilla Hazelnut/Mocha. I haven't tried any of the other ones and probably won't bother; as I have MW Royale Sugar Cookie coming and some other touted fos. HTH Steve

I had our accountant to draw up an LLC and got a Federal and State tax number. I file my taxes each month on line and include the tax in the price of the product (you're not supposed to do that) it is a pain in the rear. Our state demands a state license, county license and a city license for any city that you sell in. I paid the accountant to keep up with it for a while and then they told me I could do it myself. I still let them do my taxes. My greatest concern was keeping it totally separate from my home and other business. I have a bank account that keeps all that money separate and never mix the two. Its really not worth it but I still hang in there; you never know. HTH

You've been using this wax for three years and haven't had success with it or this is something that has recently started (like a bad batch of wax)? If you are interested, I use a parasoy blend from Clarus and get great results. HTH Steve

Seems like we would fall more into the smudge category rather than a fingerprint or much less a footprint. Mass production on the other hand, needs to take some responsibility but when has that ever happened? I have an Iphone (even though I know its made by slave labor in China) and eat meat (that has been raised and slaughtered in an inhumane manner) but what can you do? Pay more for an Iphone and more for meat? If I quit using palm in my soap, will that save a part of the rain forest on Borneo? So maybe we could start a fund and begin leasing land in Borneo and save it from annihilation? Could you say that candle making is a green anything? I mean do people really need candles unless the power goes out? Can't we live with fake soap and do away with artisan soaps and products? we're getting priced out of the market anyway, so what diff does it make? Steve

Blending complex fragrancs is tough. The initial pour is vibrant but only the top or middle notes hit my nose. Then after a cure time the ct may only contain dominant notes and some notes may fade away ( bummer). The burn may reactivate some of those lost notes and progressive burns bring out the full effect. So the trick, is to create a balance that brings out the bouquet in the ct and then the ht deepens the effect and you have success. I made a blend of ky peppermint patty, ah/re sweet amber musk and a straight sandalwood. Too bad I couldn' bottle that initial fragrance but as it cured the chocolate became brittle and somewhat artificial and the mint faded away. The amber and sandalwood only added a slight dimension to the overall ct. Disappointing but helpful. So forget the peppermint patty and maybe use belgian chocolate and a nice clean peppermint but hang on to the amber and sandalwood. Who knows? Steve

I once poured into thick juice glasses (thick should work, right?) and they cracked and all but exploded. I still have them in a bin somewhere. Just say no.

I hate you had this negative experience before you had a chance to make some soap. I use AAA or Chemical Depot for my lye supply; that's what they do for a living mostly. The lye is a bead type that is sent in special bottles with a safey cap and is very easy to use and store. It might be nice if you could take a soap making class locally or find a soaper in the area who would let you come over and learn the art. Lye is kind of like poop, once it gets on something, it gets on everything and so you were wise in chunking the whole box. Order your lye from one of the above and I think youll get a better result. HTH Steve

So beautiful.

I hate to ask stupid questions but would that be a buttermilk mp base?

Ah/re

I have that oil on hand and its close. Sorry I mentioned NG 7Up Pound Cake but frankly there isn't much out there.

Its exciting to see a group of people enter into a community effort to create something new and unique. The American spirit if you will. I think that all of us harbors a secret hope that we will accidentally or on purpose; discover a technique that will give us some form of reward. I hope you come up with a fragrance oil that everybody will go gaga over but if you don't......16 pages? Damn. Steve

NG 7up pound cake is a classic. Wonderful Ct/ht and will fill up your house. Reasonably priced. HTH Steve

Today is the last day free shipping on $75.

I bought 8 oz bottles of Cuban Coffee Bean, Chocolate Truffle, Pumpkin Brulee, Cinnamon Sticks,2 oz bottles of Holly Jolly Christmas and Polar Express.

So it smells like Slatkins?

Just colored wax poured into molds, mostly. Pretty simple.

A 12oz salsa jar with shiny gold lid. I have a ton of 16oz salsa jars that don't sell.

Thanks! Drat, I knew shoulda picked up the Acorn. Can't wait to try them out.

That's good to know Joy. I respect anyone with years of experience and would figure that you know what you're doing. What kind of wax are you using?

No. One of the greatest tragedies was their reformulation of Frangelico. I sold a lot of the dead on version and the replacement smelled like perfume. I still have a pound of it in the back of the rack. I would dearly love to be able to drive 45 minutes to pick stuff up.