Etsy or to not Etsy. That's my question

[carebear]

the stand mixer was suggested for whipped shea, where a stick blender wouldn't be appropriate.

 

[LauraHoosier]

Found out that I have a Golden Brands location here in town. I can call on Monday to see what their pricing is but all that I've found looks very promising so far. http://www.gfgb.com/candles/candle_products.htm

 

[Hazel]

Laura -

I know stand mixers are expensive because I keep looking at them when I'm in stores. I did see one at a Big Lots/Odd Lots that was only priced for $79 which I thought was a fabulous price. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money. :cry:

Do you have a friend or family member who might be willing to give you a mixer? If not, let people know you're interested in one; perhaps someone might find one for you. You never know. That's how I got several silicone molds. I mentioned I wanted some and a friend found them at a Goodwill store.

A friend wrote down the instructions on how to do wax melts but I'm sure there's lots of candle sites which would have info on them. Here's a link to a video which really shows how easy they are to do. It's not very long.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtMbfcUMmcE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtMbfcUMmcE[/ame]

 

[Guest]

Oh, sorry I didn't catch that part.

And to the OP I hope you feel better soon! I know what a pp said about diet I believe really is true. Might as well try eliminating dairy and wheat and just see what happens for a few weeks.

 

[LauraHoosier]

Good news from my insurance agent. I don't have to change my policy to make lotions, bath teas or bath salts. They all fall under the "Personal Care Products" section. Looks like I can make more items under this policy then I ever thought I could. Now I'm even more impressed with my purchase for $190/year for 300K. Maybe in the next couple months I'll have it upped to the 1Mil for the extra $60.

ETA: I ordered a lotion making kit just to see the process as well as some cocoa butter and shea butter for bath teas, lotions etc and I was thinking of trying one or both in place of the oil in the bath bombs I've started playing with. I'll post how that goes when I get there.

Some of this I may have already said but I'm still a bit out of it from not sleeping well. Insomnia has been visiting me for almost 2 weeks now and I only doubled my sleep meds at bedtime starting last night. Good thing I see my doc on Weds.

 

[Sunny]

(in a year or two, you will look back at these soaps and cringe. trust me. we've been there.)

for all the future readers out there who keep reading this and going "yeah right, how could my soaps get any better than this?" (which I did)... it's so true, your soaps will get better. I cringe at the terrible quality of my first... 50 batches. haha. at least that many.


LauraH, if you need any help with lotions, I am no expert, but feel free to PM me anytime.

I also think the candles might be a good way to go? They are easy to make. There's not as much of a quality issue at stake there (as there would be with B&B). They also sell for $$! I have not made candles yet but I have never bought a soy candle, from farmer's market or otherwise, that I liked. Just FYI. Worst hot throw ever. (have not used a soy tart before though.)

 

[LauraHoosier]

Thanks so much for the offer Tasha and I will take you up on it in the next couple weeks.

I'll definitely put the word out that I'm looking, like you said Hazel, since I know I have friends and family that will help beat the bushes to hopefully help me find one.

Oh and the lotion kit? It was a bomb. You are sent a gallon of pre-made lotion, a bottle of coloring and 2 ounces of scent. Mix, bottle and sell. I won't because it's not made by me. I'll be picking up ingredients on the first to make my own from scratch and I just ordered the few supplies I needed to make liquid soap. Looking forward to making both of these

 

[SoapDoctor]

Ready or Not...

(Post deleted: Undermining of mod/admin/forum standards is not appreciated nor will it be tolerated.- ADMIN)

 

[LauraHoosier]

I'm fine with waiting actually since I have many other things I can make that doesn't need to cure. I have found that my batches done 5 months ago before I started using T-50 Tocopherols are possibly showing signs of DOS and the ones made 4 months ago when I started using it are still looking good. Is it the T-50? Not sure but it still bears watching to see if there is a difference.

I also have like how much harder my 50% OO soaps are getting because they will now last longer for customers. I don't mind waiting a little longer to sell the soaps and I can't wait to see how my lard soap progresses. In the time since I stated this thread I've learned a lot more about preservatives and will likely start adding one to future soap batches.

I'm taking a break on soaping until after Christmas due to family events and craft fairs I'm going to try to attend to get my name and lotions, creams, scrubs, salts and liquid soaps out there. In the end I'd rather know my recipe doesn't cut it after 6 months then have a customer pull out a bar and find it stinking up the joint and giving my products a bad rep.

 

[Sunny]

In the end I'd rather know my recipe doesn't cut it after 6 months then have a customer pull out a bar and find it stinking up the joint and giving my products a bad rep.

wise words!

 

[carebear]

It's good to take breaks during the development period - let your curing batches catch up with you so you can evaluate them fairly before making tweaks and changes!

T-50 may well ****** DOS. In Dr Dunn's book he talks about using a combo of sodium citrate and BHT as the best he's found; I don't recall the other options he explored.

 

[LauraHoosier]

Yup my batches of soap made between 8/23 and 9/13 are hard enough to be used as a weapon lol.

I have the link for the study done on the preservatives http://cavemanchemistry.com/HsmgDos2006.pdf and read it every couple of days so the info will start to stick in my head.

He says there are 3 combinations that worked the best but only notes 2, the one you mention and the combo of ROE + EDTA. I'll have to read it again to see if I'm just blanking on the third.

 

[Mouse]

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to throw in my own experience. I made my first batches in October/November of 2009. I was very excited that year to make soap for my family for Christmas, and did so, with a very elaborate tissue paper wrapping with different stencil-type designs on the paper that I did by hand. My mother kept her soap in a pretty basket in the bathroom for over a year before I picked it up one day and sniffed it. It definitely smelled off, so I unwrapped it and found the most DOS-riddled soap I've ever seen. It had to have happened over a course of several months. I tossed it in the trash immediately.
In the two years I've been working at it, I only have a handful of soaps that are even close to "foolproof". I am so glad I was lurking through this forum even back then, or I would not have understood DOS, or shelf life, or the importance of testing and waiting out a new formula.
I still don't sell, even after lots of urging and encouragement from friends and family, including DH, who stresses sometimes about the expense. He is a glass artist, and can sell his work without fear of a lawsuit because of potential skin reactions. It took some time for him to understand my hesitation. I think now he appreciates that I protected us.
The mods here can be shockingly harsh, but I trust them on this. What they say has borne out, in my own experience.