I'm thinking it may have been just a bad bottle or batch through the distributor. I will try another batch tonight with a different brand. I'm not a fan of patchouli at all, but I can't turn down my BFF. I'm counting on her to keep me entertained when we get old and stuck in a nursing home...
I used a scent calculator on the distributor website. My recipe is at home (I'm at the office right now). If I remember correctly, it was about 2.0 oz for a 33.0 oz batch of soap.
I used essential oil Patchouli (rather than a fragrance oil) because I did HP. I used strawberry seeds as an exfoliant. I didn't do anything different with this soap. I used kaolin as a scent binder, along with my usual HP recipe.
I like to use at least one bar of all my soaps in the shower...
About six years ago, despite having all received the flu shot, our entire house had influenza B. It was awful. Weeks without work, school. Afterwards, I could not taste for about six months.
I've only ever had two batches seize up on me. One I was able to rebatch fairly effectively, the other one was frankincense, so I glopped it into the molds and let it cure. I was wondering if anyone has ever been able to use seizing to their advantage? For instance, would it be possible to...
I love the heavy cream cartons for making hot process soap. It’s the perfect size and shape for holding soap.
I’ve made soap in the cartons my daughter’s rice milk comes in. Meh. I like the cream cartons best.
I spent my first few years of practice doing insurance defense. Lol. Loads of insurance. Better to be on the safe side. Also, my state has a really broad cottage foods and crafts law designed to protect small scale producers.
I’m in the exact same position. Making soap is a fun break for me from the practice of law, which can be grueling. At first, I just gave away truckloads of soap to get it out of the house and get feedback, but I live in a small town and people insisted on paying (it’s a pride thing, I think.) I...
Our exchange student’s mother came over for a visit for two weeks, the whole time I only made one batch of soap. My brain was creating and storing all sorts of soapy goodness during that time, so in the past two days, I’ve made five batches. Soap overload. Lol.
I can't use chamomile in any of my soaps because my kids and husband are ridiculously allergic, but I use coffee grounds in a re-batch whipped soap. The oilfield guys and farmers love it because the coffee is an order neutralizer and the grounds make a nice abrasive for dirt and oil. I try to...
There’s a great little ski place called Asessippi near Russell, Manitoba. It’s in a ravine. It’s not Whistler, but for a bunch of flatlanders from North Dakota, it’s amazing.
I’ve used cocoa powder and cocoa butter for soap. I notice it less in CP soap, but I have a pretty good sniffer. I don’t like the cocoa powder or butter in non-compatible scents. If I pair it with a vanilla or other “warm” scent, I like it. I can’t be in the same room if it’s paired with a...
This idea is genius! I've been just using kitchen shears to shear off 1 oz at a time. I use 3.33% in my soap recipe and I've gotten so used to it that now I find it hard to do a recipe without the beeswax.
I'll PM you about where I get my beeswax. It's a local guy. It's fairly...
I live in North Dakota, so I have access to about a bazillion pounds of free beeswax. I almost always use beeswax in my soap, unless I’m trying to do a complicated swirl. I haven’t yet done an activated charcoal recipe, but plan to do one today with rose clay. I know there is debate about...
I rendered tallow today from 50 lbs of free beef fat. No body will catch me doing that again. I’m purely a “store bought” tallow and lard kind of person from now on.
I think you may have transposed a digit in calculating the water. The lye appears correct at 5.5 ounces, but the water looks to be about 2 ounces off. Also, because you are not using a hard oil such as Palm or Lard, A water discount may have helped cure the bars faster. Some of the guys and gals...