Recent content by mechanolatry

I've used WSP's Nag Champa and it sells out. Maybe it's popular in my area? I dunno, I like the way it smells. Exactly like the incense.

Scents that stick, that I've used many, many times: WSP: Nag Champa Fragrance Oil 304 - soaps beautifully, discolors to a medium tan. Smells exactly like that Satya Sai Baba brand incense, but more palatable for the skin? Sticks great! WSP: Bamboo Fragrance Oil 253 - accelerates, doesn't...

Pics! Here's the soap I made on 8/10/16: The mica swirls ended up getting very messy cause the trace was so thin, I wasn't used to it. But wow... thin trace forever, it seemed. Not to the point that it never thickened, I just had so much time to work. Here they are cut: I used micas...

Ok, here's my update recipe: Olive 50% Coconut 15% Avocado 12% Babassu 10% Mango 5% Cocoa 5% Castor 3% ------------------- h2o discount: 36% Superfat: 8% Sodium Lactate: 2% Whew that's a lot of oils. :) Quite a few of them are going to expire soon, so I'd hate to waste them by not using them...

So I'm trying to come up with a nice, slow trace recipe with the oils I have on hand. But now that I'm looking over the values of what I put together, I'm wondering if the bars will end up being really soft and take forever to cure. Suggestions? Here's the recipe: Olive Grade A: 50%...

Deanna- I found your explanation of the bars vibrating really interesting, but what really made it sink in was testing it out. I just took 2 bars under 4 weeks and dinged them together, then I tried 2 much older bars (I think 2 months?) and did the same thing. You really can tell the difference...

Almost all of my colors (ultramarines, oxides and micas) come from TKB. There are a few oxides I buy in larger bulk at WSP, but only when I'm grabbing my oils there too. I also make mineral makeup, which is why I chose TKB, but I am finding they're lacking in certain colors- oranges and purples...

Next time you could set the lye at an open window, with a fan behind it blowing the fumes outside. Or what I do now that its so cold out, I mix the lye then set it on my back stoop to cool down quicker. This should help you with the fumes.

I never would have thought it took a couple of days, thanks for letting me know. I would have been stressing!

tkb has a whole section dedicated to soap-stable colors. Here's the mica one: http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=27 and they have a soap-stable pigments one: http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=44

Let's see.... today so far I've cleaned a dishwasher full of soap utensils and molds. My technique is I rinse everything really well in very hot water, add around 1/2 the detergent I would normally and a scoop of citric acid. With my hard water + old dishwasher it's the best way to get all of...

After you've taken the soap out of the freezer, how much longer will it take to finish saponifying? I left mine in for 24 hours and when I took it out it failed the zap test.

How would you take a liquid soap recipe and change the water to glycerin? As in, do you use the same amount of glycerin as water? And would that alter the lye amount in the recipe? I wouldn't think so, but I'm not 100% sure.

Oh, I got one! You know you're addicted to soapmaking when you haven't used your dining room table in over two years, because it's become the soap-curing station!

That's a good question. I always took it to mean it discolors the naturally colored soap.