chuck_35550

I bought one of those large fishing tackle boxes that has about 5 drawers in it to store wicks. I label the outside of the drawer and all you have to do is pull out the drawer with the wick you need when you want it. Wicks from different suppliers do not always look alike. I have cd wicks that are the same size but look totally different in thickness. HTH. Steve

Excellent explanation on this subject. I would be interested to hear from Top (where is he anyway) to see if he might expand the explanation a bit more. I have never had DOS but then and again I don't use formulas with high amounts of short shelf life oils. I had totally forgotten the glycerin element in this equation and that in itself is very interesting. Thanks MissMori

If you'll hang on, I intend to start using some "Liquid Gel Tone" colors from TKB. I got rain slicker yellow, relay race red and others. So we'll see how that turns out. I looked for colorants that are stable in high ph soap and that won't bleed. HTH. Steve

Oh dear. I just did the same thing and so far the soap smells like rotten play dough. The soap does a great job but it smells awful. I used some left over lavender from Green Leaf and it is approved for soapmaking but it is gross. The soap is about 3 weeks old now and smells no better than the day it was made. All my other gm soaps even out after about a week and there is no noticeable gm smell.

Pumpkin Spice from Alabaster Candle Supply. Been using it for years now.

That's what makes me so unsure about true and not false trace is soaping at cooler temps and using the sb. I can see where using a whisk would be more reliable and you wouldn't have to worry about separation. I always watch the temp when working the batter and normally it jumps two to four degrees when fully incorporated. I guess it will just have to be gut instinct and stop being so anal about the whole thing. Thanks for your help. Steve

Just turned out some pumpkin spice bars and they are so wonderful. I keep smelling my hands. I used half goats milk and half and half for my lye water and they are the nicest yellow that will turn an orangish brown and look like nice big blocks of pumpkin. I had a customer ask whether he was supposed to eat it or wash with it. Love the fall fos. Got my colorants in today. I have log mold all ready to do a mantra swirl. Wish me luck.

You could make your own with free fat the butcher or buy it at any close by soap distributor. HTH Steve

Yup me too.

There is a good video of this on youtube. It is a spanish speaking video but the lady does both the mantra and the hanger swirl. She is very fast and her batter is very thin. Its amazing. Type in hanger swirl (I think) HTH Steve

They tested out about the same but I liked the neater appearance of the cd wick. The eco wick always looked messier IMHO. HTH Steve

It would seem that is not the only consideration with this decision. It is all molds rolled into one and clean up should be a real breeze and unless I become a mass marketing soap king; it should be more than I will ever need. Thanks Scented for the positive remarks. You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Steve

I am having difficulty judging when to stop stick blending my batter at thin trace. By the time I am satisfied the oils are fully incorporated there is little or no time left to swirl. Top has pointed out that my formulas leave little time for the window of opportunity and suggested that I leave out castor, in order to slow the saponification process down. Does anyone have a tip or two about this aspect of swirling? Thanks, Steve

The cocoa butter is a vegetable version of tallow. It lends hardness but also takes some of the harshness out of formula. All of the oils in this recipe are pretty pricey these days, unless you buy in bulk. MissMori is absolutely right in urging you to experiment and think outside of the box but I think you will find that some components of soapmaking remain constant. I guarantee you that when we swap recipes that everybody in here automatically begins to tinker. Its part of the obsession to find the perfect recipe. Personally, I don't like seeds, stems, flowers, coffee beans in my soap but other people do. You are sastisfied with your castile but you are looking for something different. My recipe was just a suggestion. I like beef tallow in my soap, don't care for lard, not crazy about Crisco; go figure. HTH Steve

How about: 20% OO 23% CO 30% PO 5% Castor 5% SAO 17% Cocoa Butter

There are some good threads under goats milk castile. Sounds like most everyone had a good experience using gm. HTH Steve

I knew you were going to jump in there, since you have one. Oh yeah, Rich sent me a list of the new Craftline molds. The CraftLine equivalent of the Bella is the Anna Jo. These new CraftLine combination molds are called Über Molds and each size has been named, in this case the Anna Jo. It is a Combination 18-Bar Divider Mold with 2.5" x 3.5" compartments that are 4" deep, 3-Log Mold with 3.5" wide x 4" deep x 16.25" long chambers, 4-Log Mold with 2.5" wide x 4" deep x 16.25" long chambers, Slab Mold with 11.5" wide x 4" deep x 16.75" chamber I want it real bad but its a budget killer.

I believe that is the former Crisa tumbler that Libbey bought out. I loved that container because of the wall thickness and the way it burned so evenly. I used a cd10 in that container and it was good for nearly every fo I tried in it (I use a 70/30 soy blend). You used to could get these great tin lids for em and then they disappeared. You can rest your head at night, because these suckers ain't gonna break from too much heat.

Thanks Barbara for the info. I can't wait to get my order (Monday I hope) and maybe try a mantra swirl or a hanger swirl. Trying to decide on a Soaphutch mold (18 bar hdpe) and a tank or maybe just selling all my worldly possessions and living in a cave making soap. Somebody give me a boost over the side about the mold insanity.

I quit using color a long time ago. My customers have never even asked for a specialty order with color. I do color for a wholesale account but could probably talk them into not having color. I use liquid dye and it really doesn't matter to me but dropping a few drops beats having to spend the extra time making sure the chips dissolve. HTH. Steve

I use a single heating element to set my pour pot on with an oven thermometer (long silver cord) to monitor the temp. Others people use griddles or other similar types of heating elements to keep their wax at a constant temp. The wax I use (70/30 soy) doesn't adhere well to the jar as it gets cooler. HTH. Steve

Wow you sure make beautiful soap!

The reason why I don't post pics of my soap. Wouldn't dare, lol. Just artistic and beautiful.

Point well taken. Thanks, Steve

lol. The pops are powder and the rest are gels and liquid. I couldn't resist trying the powders just in case. It IS insane because this was the tail end of a half-dozen orders for fall fos, wicks, warning labels and I still need wax. I may take my new toys and camp out at Babs' house so she can teach me how to swirl! Any bumps on the gels or liquids? Thanks, Steve