Recent content by Sue Bear

I use Soapmaker now but for my first 9 months of soaping I used the calculators on Wholesale Supplies Plus. I found them easy to use and very helpful. Percentage Calculator: http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/Ca ... lator.aspx Batch Calculator: http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/Ca ...

Most shaving soaps have some kind of clay added for slip. Did you add any to this recipe?

You can use almost anything that can withstand high head for your lye water. Rubbermaid bottles with work fine for masterbatching. I also do RTCP soaping also. I do not think that the RTCP is the reason for your heating/gel problems but rather your soaping recipe. I have experienced this same...

One final question flavapor. Are you adding 1 oz. of FO ppo? The reason I ask is that some of the fragrances you mentioned that were not strong, I have found to be VERY strong for a really long time. (i.e. WSPs Sun & Sand kept my house smelling like Coppertone sun tan lotion for months)

Yes a long time ago. Their FO were pretty good but to me, no better than others. Unless you just want to shop there, you can find just as good or better FOs at much lower prices from other vendors.

+1 ~ AMEN!

I bought several from this company too and I was very pleased.

You did an amazing job! try to get past the lye fear in the future though as you will enter into a whole new world of soaping. :)

Try melting it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. it works like a champ!

Looks like it is time for you to reserve a website domain name. :D

I am a bit confused. Whose Lye calulator did you use? I recommend using SoapCalc.net. Although you provided the recipe, you did not tell us if you did a superfat or any water or lye discounts. With that said, I just ran your oil numbers through SoapCalc.net and this is what I came up with...

I have found that Shea butter can accelerate the time it takes for your soap to acheive trace. Not only Shea, but I have found that most butters in the higher percentage that you used, will cause soaps to set up pretty quickly. Let us know how they turn out and post us some pics.

I must agree, the scent review board is fantastic.

There are literally hundreds and hundreds that are strong and that will smell that way in your soap. You need to give us more info on what type of scents you are looking for i.e. floral, fruity, foody, musky, woodsy, manly, etc.

To increase the amount of time your FO last and sticks in your soaps, try blending a small amount of corn starch or arrowroot powder into your FO before adding to your batch. They absorbe the scent and hold them in your finished soap.