I need help with kaolin clay

[johnnyusa]

Johnny,
20lb of soap shouldn't be costing ou $192 to make. Are you buying your supplies from wholesalers?
Where are you getting your EOs?

One batch was $175 and the other $193 batch was nearly $50+ worth of Swiss kiln burn pt incl shipping, 5% extra organic cocoa butter for 15%, & peppermint bb 1st distill a bit pricey. I mostly get my (soaping) EOs from bb... had to overnight some lye from Essential Depo and plum forgot to use my Greener Life Club member discount code. All my oils from Sam's except the palm, cocoa butter, & castor. Palm's slightly expensive and I used up the rest on that pt batch @ like 39%. 7 lbs palm in those two batches.
EOs most certainly do act as a preservative, even when the scent fades. I haven't had DOS spots on my soap in many, many years. I still have five bars left from my last batch sixteen months ago and no DOS spots on them. They're all quite perfect. I read this book once that said all EOs by definition are antimicrobial, so I tested it out on my soap and guess what, it works. At least 0.5oz EOs ppo and you won't get DOS spots so long as your oils are fresh and you make them into soap before they are more than halfway to expiration.

 

[penelopejane]

I buy aloe concentrated powder and add it to distilled water. Requires a bit of maths. You might find that cheaper than aloe juice especially for shipping. Hopefully someone will come along with a place to buy palm oil and castor oil more cheaply.

 

[johnnyusa]

I buy aloe concentrated powder and add it to distilled water. Requires a bit of maths. You might find that cheaper than aloe juice especially for shipping.

I've seen the powdered aloe and been wondering- does it work as well as the liquid?
I'm quite fond of the organic aloe juice brand 365 from Whole Foods, which by the gallon for $23 isn't too bad w free shipping, but I have to make both batches in two weeks before the aloe in the fridge goes bad, which is a pain...

 

[penelopejane]

I've seen the powdered aloe and been wondering- does it work as well as the liquid?
I'm quite fond of the organic aloe juice brand 365 from Whole Foods, which by the gallon for $23 isn't too bad w free shipping, but I have to make both batches in two weeks before the aloe in the fridge goes bad, which is a pain...

The powdered aloe is absolutely the same. It's fabulous. Reduced shipping costs! Saves lots and lots of money.
I could not keep making soap if I had your costs. It is important to stick to your ideas about natural ingredients etc but do research the value in some of the EOs and the effects of lye on them and think about the value of your finished product to yourself.
Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in our ideas in the excitement of it all and we forget the big picture.