chuck_35550

You know that fragrance was one of my favorite from Yankme and they discontinued it. I bought a pound several years ago and still have nearly a pound today. I had the js version and thought it was super but nobody liked it. I had the same problem with ky plumberry and just can't understand why berry scents don't do so well in my neck of the woods. How about Plum Rum Punch? HTH Steve

Thanks guys, so far the color is sticking and so is the fragrance. Steve

I like to pour my wax to the last drop with none left over and each candle having pretty much the same fill line. I add one ounce of fo to 15 ounces of wax which is a tad over 6% load and works out exactly 8 ounces per jar. So if the fo is too strong for that formula I just add the extra ounces of wax, easy peasy. HTH Steve

I've been selling candles for over 6 years now and rarely use more than 7% load. Some fos (Candle Coccoon) you have to reduce the load or they would just overpower the entire block. I guess my customer base doesn't go for burnt nose hairs, so it gets down to personal preference and the bottom line IMHO. I may pay a little more for a really good fo but it pays me back in the long run. Steve

Wow, thanks Babs. I wonder if they have combinations for their different collections? Steve

If I could kinda slip in here, shampoo bars usually have a higher percentage of castor and tend to be soft. This is what I picked up when first trying recipes on different sites that were labeled as "shampoo bars". Melt and pour are syndet based but some brands claim to use natural non-drying ingredients that won't offend the "all natural" crowd. So if you are wondering what's the difference; it would be a recipe with a really high bubbly/creamy numbers combined that gives the appearance of shampoo in a soap bar that you can use all over the head and body. IMHO Steve

The cake is Lemon Pound Cake (KY) and the frosting is Birthday Cake(AH/RE) the cake was supposed to have been violet but oh well and the frosting is Princess Pink (celestial) I used td with 2 oz gm and vanilla stabilizer with the fos. The imbeds are Amaretta Nog and it all smells pretty yummy. Thanks for looking. Steve

Beautiful as usual. Nice to see you Babs. Steve

You're talking $20.00 at Walmart and prolly about $5.00 to $10.00 to install a spout for a way to melt 7-8 pounds of wax in a heartbeat. I do hate the teflon cause eventually it flakes in your wax but by that time you've gotten more than your money's worth. Trust me, would I lie to you? Steve

I'll try and post some pics tonight. I may try my first soap cake tonight too. Steve

I don't know what kind of wax you're using (I admire the 415 user) but seems like you have the testing down just fine. I use an 18cdn in the 12 oz salsa and a 16cdn in the 16 oz salsa. The jar configuration in the 12 oz is a square and the 16 oz is tall and more rectangular; so the heat is concentrated differently. I get great mp in my 70/30 soy blend with a 6-7% fo load. HTH Steve

Do you mean wet spots (loss of adhesion from jar wall)? The masons are thicker glass than the jellies but more than likely you have shrinkage and you could slow that down by placing in a large cardboard box and covering with an old quilt or blanket. Place the jars far enough apart that they don't effect each others cooling. HTH Steve

Too much fo load. Take 15% of your 464 and mix it with 85% of your 6006. This will give you a rough 50-50 mix which should burn just fine. Pour at about 185 degrees into room temp jars and wick with a cd 10 and go up. You should get great adhesion and good ct/ht but be aware that the adhesion has a tendency to let go after awhile and will lose its grip after a couple of burns. Forget curing for a week but obviously the longer the candle sits the better. You should be able to get what you need with a 6% fo load or even 7% but wouldn't go higher than that. Too expensive for no diff in results with good fos. IMHO Steve

I no longer use my presto for wax but store my palm oil for soap making. Both my presto and my turkey fryer have spigots and they work flawlessly. I put fine mesh over the interior spigot hole to keep trash out and never have a problem with it stopping up. I tare out my coffee carafe and pour wax into it and weigh it out and leave it on one of my double burners with an oven probe thermometer in it to monitor temp. This gives me more than enough time to stir in fo and color and then get my jars wicked and pour on my scale and I'm done. The spigot is very easy to install and my presto has never leaked in 6 years. Go to the hardware store and get a drill bit for punching through the aluminum and a spigot and some J&B weld and the next day you are ready to go. There are some instructions on the net just plug in presto pot spigot and you should get it. I don't have the steady hands to ladle wax (tried it and it was too messy). HTH Steve

Not too bad for a first effort. I used a tbl of td in my oils and vanilla stabilizer in my fos and celestial princess pink and violet. The cake was lemon pound cake (it turrned a lemony color) and the icing was birthday cake (looks kinda strawberry). I placed a bing cherry on top (VanYulay in Amaretta Nog) and a teddy bear or hearts at the base. Sprinkled with irredescent pink glitter and purple jojoba beads and placed in a box covered by a blanket. The cupcakes are still soft and will need some more time to firm and so far the colors have not morphed. I used a large star tip and a bag to pipe on the frosting and it looks ok. I think the recipe needs work and maybe a size smaller on the tip. I should have waited on my fos that do not discolor and not so full of vanilla but you know how that works. They smell wonderful and not the worst but hopefully I can improve. It was fun. Steve

You are correct.

When I make 100% gm soap this is what do: measure out your gm into a cup and pour into a small stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl down into a pan of ice cubes and clip a thermometer to the side of the bowl. Measure out the lye and begin slowly pouring into the gm and watching the temp. As the mixture approaches 100 degrees stop adding the lye until it cools back down and resume adding lye. The result will be a lemon yellow mixture that resembles custard. Pour into your oils and then place in your mold and do not insulate. My soap only tans if I use an fo with vanilla or cinnamon but you should be aware that gm will cause acceleration with some fos. I usually don't try to swirl but you can if you keep your temp down. HTH Steve

I had this experience with a case of wax. I took pics and sent them to the supplier who filed a claim against UPS. I received a case and was not required to ship back the damaged wax. I was real upset when the box showed up all torn and the wax was stained with oil. I was real happy that with two cases of wax for the price of one though. Suppliers want to make it right (in most cases) so don't think badly about Lone Star. HTH Steve

Good idea. Lord knows I've spent a bajillion dollars to get all the stuff to make these critters and if the soap isn't right; well that's not good. Appreciate the help. Steve

TCS has a pretty good version. I haven't checked with them in a long time due to their stock problems. HTH Steve

I have a pound of Spiced Apples and Peaches that is just sitting. None of my customers like it. I've tried blending it and still can't sell it. You are welcome to it. Steve

That's interesting to know Scented. I may have to give it a go and see what it does for me.

I've never had good luck using sugar in my recipe. I'm not sure I want the soap to move too fast as part of the batter will be waiting for me to finish pouring the molds and then whipping the rest for frosting. I have picked out fos that don't accelerate or discolor and plan on using vanilla stabilizer and td to improve the appearance. I tried to formulate a recipe that would set nice and hard but didn't want brittle. So you think the oo is too high in relation to the cb or just too high in general? I use castor in my regular soaps at an average of 5% but wanted to cut some of my cost down. I guess I'll just have to test and see what happens. Thanks for the feedback, Steve

See, I don't like lard but love tallow. There's something about the feel and texture I like when using tallow. I've never used rbo and was curious why someone would use both oils when they seem to be similar but after reading some posts it seems that rbo makes for a harder bar and is good for older skin. Steve

I've got plenty of soaps drying on the racks for the season but this cupcake/soapcake stuff has kind of taken me over. My customers really want to order for gifts and realistically I know this is going to take talent. I swirl ok and mostly do goat milk soaps but maybe with the new mold I can get some better results. This wouldn't have happened if I stayed away from youtube, lol. Steve