I use Shea Butter in all my bars. Yes it will add hardness to your bars and it will also make a creamier lather.
If you really want to get into the science of the oils you use in your soap, start studing the fatty acid profiles of each oils. Soapcalc.net is a good place to start...
I bet you anything that it was diluted with a carrier oil then. If you were using pure fragrance oil that should have been enough to get some scent at the very least.
Rosemary and sage should be really nice together.
I don't know if you are a member of back yard chicks, but I started a soap...
how much vanilla did you use PPO (per pound of oil)?
Was this a essential oil or fragrance oil?
Was this scent tested in cold process soap by the maker? Care to say where you got i?
I use patchouli, cedar wood or black pepper to anchor my citrus essential oils too. I have read that you can...
When I was using wooden molds, I cut craft foam to fit inside my molds. You have to be really acurate when cutting it ( I used my quilting stuff to cut it) and you have to bring the soap to a pretty thick tace before you pour so it kinda limits swirling. But the soap NEVER stuck to it. Just...
My favorite stick blender has been the cheapo one from Wal Mart for $10. How deep is your pan? I'm doing 20# batches and they have been fine.
I have made liquid soap which is a HP method. But I have not made bar soap that way. You can add Sodium Lactate to make your soap easier to pour and...
I used the cheap enameled pots I got from wally world. Worked great!
Yes, I used a glass candy thermometer, Now I don't even bother with the temps. Let them cool down to room temp and you are good to go! Unless you are working with beeswax or something that will go solid below a certain...
Just a heads up, Oils By Nature is having a sale, you can get 50 pounds of Coconut oil for $37.50! Time to stock up!
http://www.oilsbynature.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OilsBN&Category_Code=FixedVegOils
Big Brown Horse- That it too cool!
I just wanted to let everyone know that there is a new Renaissance Festival opening up close to the Austin area.
Sherwood Forest Faire: I'm going to be a vendor there and do doing soap Demo's. Just trying to get the word out. My booth is Summerwood...
I should clarify, I am one of the more profitable vendors with non produce. The produce at the market just flies off the tables sometimes! I know some who bring in $600-800 in the 4 hour market time :ep But I usually have very little produce through out the year. Just some figs in the summer...
I sell my soaps(most of my biz) along with some lotions, scrubs and perfumes at our local farmer's market.
First thing you need to do is see if they will let you in. None of the ones in Houston would let me in because they already had soapmakers selling there. Or they were produce only...
I used a recipe from Catherine Failor's Book.
35 oz Coconut
13 Sweet Almond
39 oz water
13 oz Potassium Hydroxide
I'm still new to the liquid soap making (this was my first batch), but I do know that you can use some Goat's milk as a part of your liquid. But you cannot go really high like you...
Ok, I finally got around to making liquid soap! And I took pictures. Here they are!
First weigh up your oils
Then melt them until they are about 160 degrees. I used my crock pot
Then you measure you Potassium Hydroxide and water
Add you KOH to the water, these are in bigger flakes...
How old is your cocoa butter? It should smell like yummy chocolate or if it is refined, have no smell at all. If it smells bad, then your oils may have been rancid.
When making hot process, you are forcing the soap to go through the saponification much faster than you would using the Cold process method. Once the soap is "cooked", there is no active lye so you do not have to worry about the pine tar reacting with lye. Here is a link on how to make hot...
If you want to make Pine Tar soap, the easiest way is to hot process it. Unless you are experienced at soapmaking, regular cold process may be to tricky. look at the hot process directions on Millersoaps.com
I just got an e-mail from Essential Depot that their prices for Sodium Hydroxide and Potassium Hydroxide are going to go up 20-40% on Febuary 4th. Just a heads up for those who want to stock up before the price increase.
Old Fashioned, You might be really interested in this blog, she is using a hand cranked expeller machine to make her own oil.
http://uncledutchfarms.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-sunflower-oil-and-pumpkin-seed.html