chuck_35550

I don't but it's the boards' fault, because they are always talking about clays and mica and swirling and charcoal......thanks for the info. Steve

Thanks for the info. NG has an article about a lady who has a business making King Cake soap and she uses the original coffee fragrance but I would like to have more of a cinnamon/almond coffee cake kind of fragrance KWIM? Steve

There are some great books that go into detail about the benefits of essental oils. I would read accepted experts for the most reliable information. Look for past issues of the Saponifier for great articles on essential oils. You must be exact in your blending and measurements and understand that some eos are dangerous and or toxic. Not to mention that quality eos are expensive. Infusions are the best bang for your buck IMHO steve

I have a request to make Mardi Gras king cakes and cupcakes. I found the baby silicone molds and am searching for bright yellow jojoba beads but I'm not sure about an fo. Anyone have a suggestion? TIA steve

I sure don't want a partial gel; so plan to go all the way or not. IMHO steve

Sitting in our hotel room in the French Quarter full of red beans and rice thinking about finding a bucket of leaf lard. I've never had a silicone lined mold but I love the glass smooth sides you get from acrylic. Mostly, I love that it unmolds in seconds and easily cleaned. Being able to see is a real plus too. HTH Steve

Honestly, I have been on both sides of this track. I used to gel everything to make sure it was totally saponified (Oven Method) and to improve intensity of coloration. Now I avoid gel like the plague, because my soaps contain milk and a gel doesn't guarantee anything. I have never noticed any difference in strength of fo but I don't use eos, so I can't help you there. Seems to me that your fragrance is incorporated into the soap and there is a fair amount of heat taking place on a molecular level as the saponification process continues. We know how most of these fos and eos behave in soaping and which ones stick, morph or fade away in the course of curing. There are some fragrances that are just not going to survive the process, no matter how much you use in the batch and some that are perfect for this application. IMHO Steve

There's a good article on this in the Chickens In The Road blog. Stick the imbed to the inside of the jar while the wax is still warm and pliable and bend it to the shape of the glass and let cool. Pour your wax at a little cooler temp but not too cool or you will have jump lines in the candle. You can take one of your imbeds and put a hole through the middle and thread it on your wick. HTH Steve

My 12 oz salsa jar holds 8 fluid oz of wax and is sold as an 8 oz candle. I mix 15 oz of wax with 1 oz fo for an exact pound with no waste (little over 6%) . If I'm pouring an fo (Vanilla Voodoo) that specifically warns me to reduce the fo per centage; then that's what I do and make sure that I add back the wax to make the one pound needed. KWIM? Steve

Go to the Clarus web site www.clarussp.com/request-a-sample.phpnd click on request a sample. You can contact a rep and see about price per case. I believe you would find today's 3022 to be much better than the old blend for Gl. I heat to 190 degrees and then add color/fo blend two minutes and pour into clean warmed jars at 185 degrees and place into a covered box for slow cooling to reduce shrinkage. Talk to Melanie and ask about a price quote per case of wax. Great folks. This is the wax I use: high veggie blend container wax CSB Stasis 3022 † HTH Steve

Start with a plain jelly jar (not a wide mouth) and settle on the wax that has given you the best results (so far). Pure soy may be cheaper but a parasoy will leave more hair on your head. Paraffin gives you vivid colors, soots black and is somewhat easier to learn; whereas soy is cheaper, colors in pastels, and works well with essential oils. Customers in my area are not into the soy/paraffin issues; they just want a candle that does what it's supposed to do. Find your nearest supplier and order a kit with the wax you are interested in learning. The kit will allow you to learn without spending a ton of money or wandering around from wax to wax and wick to wick. The information on the board is invaluable but it is not meant to take away the hands on learning experience that we all have gone through. Keep it simple and stick to a few fragrances and get that down first. Stay away from high priced Hobby Lobby and look for 1-2 oz fragrance oil specials ($1.00 apiece) and use slabs or small amounts of wax for the time being. Walmart will have a cheap postal scale, buy a digital oven thermometer with the probe on a silver line and use an old glass coffee pot for melting and pouring. Please get a fire extinguisher just in case of fire and be careful with hot wax around kids and pets. Enjoy yourself and read different forums for additional information. Nothing will feel as good as your first successful candle and then you are hooked. HTH Steve

I may have a lead on a "leaf lard" source. The oleic content is supposed to be higher and the resulting quality is supposed to be different in texture.

Tennessee has discontinued my wax (big blow to my business) and have dropped several fos that were the best. I have always gotten great customer service from them and hope that they hang in there until this rough period is over. We just can't afford to lose more suppliers. Steve

There's nothing worse than looking over at your pour pot and seeing smoke and that the temp on your wax is over 200 degrees (ask me how I know). Keep your thermometer. Steve

I think you will be pleased with this mold and their other products are great too. Good luck. Steve

I believe Clarus will send a sample on request. Steve

I use the 3022 which is 70% soy and order it by the case from their warehouse. I love it and hope I don't have to switch to another wax. HTH Steve

I've done a little homework and am somewhat astounded by the fact that leaf lard (the best lard taken from internal organs and the kidney area) is going for over $11.00 per pound! The oleic content is supposed to be superior and the results are supposed to be worth the effort. Suggestions were to ask your butcher to sell you the fat and then render in a crock pot. Youtube has a few good videos and I highly recommend the blog "Chickens In The Road" for more information. HTH Steve

I bought the 2 pound acrylic mold from Soapmaker's Resource and just made my first batch of soap in it. This is a small mold that is well made and very easy to unmold and clean after using. I love it. The recipe was extremely sticky and when I tried to push the soap up and out it wouldn't budge. I followed the instructions and placed into a 170 degree oven for about 5 minutes and the soap just popped out without any blemish. I then unscrewed the bolts and washed it up and had it back together in minutes; ready for another batch. The mold gave me 7 nice bars in excess of 5 oz each. I didn't use the lid or insulate (milk soap) but it did slightly gel around the upper part of the soap. The customer service is top notch and Steve (good name) will answer your e-mails. I was able to resolve my problem with Silvermoon so it all turned out nicely. HTH Steve

It would be awfully slow IMHO. Buy a presto for $20.00 and a good digital thermometer and a set of scales.

Congratulations. How difficult is it to use mead in soapmaking? I would guess that the honey accelerates trace but would also guess you don't use a colorant or fragrance oils? Could you post some pics of these soaps? I love your creativity and that's the beauty of soapmaking to me. Happy New Year. Steve

Does anyone render their own lard? Commercial lard is hydrogenated and I was wondering if it makes such a difference in cooking; would it make a difference in the quality of soapmaking? Does anyone use commericial organic, non-hydrogenated lard? If so, where do you find the stuff and do you notice a difference in the quality of your soap? TIA Steve

The soap is beautiful but you might have to trim off your nicely textured top (if it really bothers you). I believe some folks cover their soap with plastic wrap to avoid ash and some just don't worry about it. Nice job on your soap. Steve

The original owner sold the company. His son now has a candle company called Kringle Kandles (I think). I've seen several really good candle companies with the same problems.

I didn't find anything offensive in Stella's reply and feel like she would be the first to admit a mistake. If not for people like Stella, we wouldn't have had a very important discussion on melt pool and some very core material that hopefully left all of us a little smarter about candle making. This is a good Board and everyone is encouraged to put it out there without fear of being made fun of or belittled. You're ok by me Stella, "Merry Christmas". HTH Steve