Carrie

Some great step by step directions can be found at http://millersoap.com/ That site has so much to offer everyone, but especially those new to soaping. I have read that site time and again and every time I learn something new. Make sure you run every recipe thru a lye calculator. Never trust someone elses calculations. There is also a tutorial by RobinInOr here at CandleTech, a step by step with pictures. I have been soaping for a little over 2 years but am far from qualified yet to teach or tutor. Another great source of information is this board. The search feature has it's flaws but if you tell it to show posts instead of threads you can find little tidbits of info, then click on the thread for more info. Sometimes I still search a keyword like "silk" just to see what else I can find.

LMAO! Oh! Me! Pick me! Was it me? Was it, huh, huh?

Here's my take on this. July 5th you make your first batch of CP and it's oily on top. July 23rd you make a failed milk soap that ends up gloopy. July 25th you make a salt soap that needs to be rebatched. July 30th you want to make a facial bar with neem oil. August 2nd you think your soaps are good enough to sell. I'd say that you still have a bit more work ahead of you before you should sell your soaps. You have 4 batches of good soap and at least 3 batches of bad soap. Until your percentage of good to bad gets better, I'd say more R&D is in order. Just my opinion.

Well excuse me for being incorrect. By looking at the ingredients it doesn't look like soap. INCI: Glycerin, Distilled Water, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate. The only thing that looks like a soap ingredient is the sodium cocoyl isethionate. That must be what makes is so incredibly drying to my skin. The cleansing properties of coconut oil.

Try qosmedix.com. They sell about 10 different kinds.

FBB is not a cleansing product.

Sorry, I've never used oxides but I've had great luck using Kangaroo Blue Black Aussie Clay for black swirls. I mixed mine with Olive Oil then added to the soap for swirling.

To me, the VBN smells just like Sugar Babies, remember those candies? I don't need any right now but I highly recommend Wendy and her oils.

Reason to buy?

Two and a half years ago my skin was so dry during the winter that my knuckles were cracking and bleeding, my legs were so dry I'd scratch them at night and make them bleed. I was making candles and reading this forum and I went to the classifieds and begged for help. Kimberly and Elizabeth came to my rescue and I got soaps and whipped butters from each of them. Within a couple of days my skin was so much better I decided I'd better start making the stuff. The rest is history.

Ummm, Monoi is just coconut oil that has been infused with gardenia flowers and sometimes FO is added. I can't figure out why anyone would buy deoderized monoi. That would be to infuse the scent of the flower and then remove the scent of the flower.

Yeah, I still have the feeling it's the salt. Mine did the same thing, looked like they would cut until about 1/2 way thru, then they broke.

MA, I had a cabinet maker here make me a wooden slab mold, like the Misty Creek, only the guides for the cutter were cut with a very thin blade. That makes it so the blade doesn't have any play when in the slot. He is very very busy (building season) so I'm hoping I get the mold soon. I'll let you know how the thin slots work when I finally get it.

Your pictures look exactly like the salt bars I made in the kelsei, after I tried to cut them in half.

I know this one. Do a shea butter co-op. Your hands will never feel better. Other than that...Drink enough water each day, wear gloves when using cleaners, use a quality soap and a quality lotion, get enough oils in your diet. There is no miracle cure for dry hands.

I would say the crumblyness was from the salt. Salt bars get rock hard and crumble if not cut while still hot. Just a guess though. I'd try it again without the salt or make it in a kelsei mold. Good luck.

I keep seeing people post that the heat melts the lye. I think the chemical reaction heats the water but the lye itself is breaking down the silk and dissolving it, not the heat. The heat is a by product of the chemical reactions of lye and water and/or lye and silk.

So...Does anyone really know? Does the silk melt from the heat of the lye water mixture or does the lye actually break it down chemically? My bet is on the chemical reaction. Sorry, editing to say this should have been posted in the soap section.

I put the lye in the water, stir, then add the silk. I stir the lye mixture occasionally until it's at the right temp. Any undisolved lye gets taken care of with the SB.

Try Rice Bran Oil instead.

I mix with comfort blend.

Becky is Just Scent.

Go to an online supply store like staples and click on ink/toner then click on Samsung then click on the CLP-510 series and it will show you the inks. Yikes. almost $80 each. You might try Quill.com. It's a sister company of staples but I find many items for much less.

Wasn't it eugenia that said she shipped something to France and it took months. I just shipped a package to Canada in a flat rate box. I'll be curious to see how long it takes.

I put soap in muslin bags for the shower all the time. I always have at least one hanging up in there. I hadn't thought of adding bath tea stuff to the bag also. It'd be worth a try. I have a soap planer so I take ugly soaps, plane them and put them in bags. The soap is still good just now no one can see that it was ugly.