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Been soaping since 2005. I still enjoy the play of trying new techniques and the customers who have become friends.

I also like Cracklin Birch. It is earthy enough to be masculine yet enough spice to work for fall. I haven't used the other scents you are thinking about. I like pear and pumpkin but I think of them as September. They don't do well for me the closer it gets to Christmas. I think evergreen...

Yes 25% sale thru Monday. Shipping free on orders more than $100. I forgot to say I was using Bob's Flower shop. I really like it but I think it takes a real flower person to enjoy it. I am looking for more of a blend maybe a bit sweet or clean with a larger customer appeal. I have been...

I would like a new floral or two and am going to purchase several 1oz with the sale to test. Use will be in CP soap. I have used Gypsy rose and don't need another rose. Do you have any opinions on FB floral scents?

I like Oregon Trails Creamy coconut. Some coconut fragrance oils take time to develop. The OT fragrance is non existant at a month but by 6 months is starting to be a nice sweet coconut. Bars a year old still have a nice fragrance.

I think a lot of people use FO's because they are cheaper and are nice scents. Blending EO's isn't easy and many EO's don't stick around long in CP soap. I use Mints, lemongrass, lavender, patchouli, cedar EO but most EO's I don't find cost effective and as an amateur blender it takes time...

I tested the Pine Resin & Guaiac Wood last fall. It discolors slowly to a light-medium brown. I added a top layer of green and liked the look. I soaped at 1 oz ppo and didn't have any problems soaping. The scent has stuck well at 6 months and I would probably soap again more like .8 oz ppo...

If you decide to wrap make sure the paper doesn't stick to the soap. I purchased a bar at a farmer's market once wrapped in a thin paper, not quite tissue paper but that thin. When I got ready to use the bar the paper was struck to the bar. I had to get the bar wet to be able to scrap off the...

My old books (Ann Bramson, 1975 and Susan Cavitch, 1995) use the term superfatted soap to refer to the addition after trace of oils that they thought would still be left in the soap and not saponified; ie too much oil for the amount of lye. Lye discount was not a term used at that time...

One of the confusions is the term superfat and lye discount. They both refer to the same idea and the words get used interchangably. That can add confusion when you are new. The link has great info. Superfat was a concept that if we keep some oils reserved to add after trace they will be...

Your formulation is pretty close to mine. I use closer to 33% olive, a bit less shea but more palm. I don't think sticky but I do think they need to be cured and fairly hard. I don't have any issues with 23% coconut and actually like that much. I also think high olive has a distinct feel...

Even though the precision from the scale will be the same in oz or grams My precision will be better in grams. The whole number grams are easier to read on my scale and less chance of me making a mistake. Scaling up/down a recipe is easier with metric measurements, and I do it often in a...

Starting with the mailing box has another advantage. It gives you time to decide the size you like in a bar and whether you like to use a slab type mold or a a loaf mold; as well as whether you want the loaf mold to make a tall/skinny bar or a shorter wider bar. If you decide later you want...

Over the years I have had some soap that sweats when it cures (all lard was my worst). If it is sweating with moisture as it cures it seemed to always be a dos problem after a year or so. I hope your test is for quite a bit of time. The biggest problem with DOS is that on my soaps it might...

Agree; almost guarenteed if it is setting in full sun for a few days. Just give it time after that.

I would like your 20% palm/55% olive better than the 10%/65%. However, I really like the hardness and creamyness of palm. My preference would be 30% palm and 45% olive.

I don't make a lot of lip balms and got frustrated dealing with graniness. I switched to PKO to avoid butters. They are soft and smooth and lighter feel. Not as heavy duty for chapped lips but nice for everyday.

I use 2/3 coconut and 1/3 PKO. I think PKO can have a waxier feel if used too high but overall think a blend of the two is my preference over straight coconut oil. I think the flakes are not as waxy and use them in my lipbalms. Since each flake is so light weight they can get stuck on spoons...

I used to sell at a fair where another soapmaker only sold rebatch soap. she purposely made plain soap to then rebatch, scent and color. She never told me her base recipe but said something thing about not all oils would work. She was doing so much extra work in her soap I always thought her...

A story; not about lotion bars but about wax. I broke my wrist a long time ago and at the start of rehab I would dip my hand/wrist in a vat of parafin a few times and then it was wrapped. The heat was wonderful before starting exercises. It was winter and one day when I dipped my hand in the...