How much, is too much??

[Nanette]

Thank you Amd, JCandleattic, and Misschief for mentioning the selling issue. I wanted to say something but I am usually the bad guy so I kept my fingers from typing. I can honestly say what I sold in the beginning I would not sell today. While they were not bad back then, I would not consider them as nice as what I now make.

Ah, the wonderful growth of the soaper.! It never ends, does it!

I believe soap making is like any new endeavor, you need a few years to know what you don't know. You get the big picture ideas, and then start to slowly master details.

It took me about 3 years to teach myself geology and gold prospecting to have a good handle on what to look for in a gold mining property. I cataloged and researched every single gold/silver/copper mine in 6 counties in Arizona. After that, I went square mile by square mile and cataloged another 2000 mines that exist nowhere on paper or gov't registry. That included almost every weekend in the field as well. Once I had that down, another two years to figure out which areas are still harboring good gold and which areas are harboring good gold that won't take $5-$10 million to get out of the ground.

It took about 2 weeks at the end of those five years to realize when most of the mines were running in this state, you didn't have a lot of choice in employment. I call them "starvation" mines. You mined your own dirt, worked in someone else's mine, or starved. People ask why I gave it up. You want a mine you can pull $50K a year out of, consistently? Got a half dozen of them. Got 1 for sure that's worth between $90 and $100K a year too. They come with: no medical insurance, no dental insurance, no 401k, nothing but what you dig out yourself, and they'll tear up your body and vehicles at the same time.[

I joined the local gold prospecting club here and really love the whole thing even tho I didnt find anything to write home about.....some of those back country roads are exciting, arent they?

 

[Nanette]

Im going to go watch YouTube....you are more adventurous than I am....I dont have the skill set to go in the old hardrock mines, (tho I think they are beautiful)...mostly the collapse part. You gotta be young to do those things, I think. I will climb a small cliff but Ive never fallen off one...yet. I am old and cautious.

 

[Relle]

Can we please keep this thread on track re - soap, not mining.

 

[Microchick]

Hi there,
So this is my first official post concerning soap. I am rather new to cold process soap making and have made roughly 10 batches in the past month (getting ready for Fall farmers markets).

Tonight I made a bit of an oppsy..
I was set to make 3 batches and somewhere along the way I got confused. I measured 2 ounces too much of Canola Oil for my Lavender soap.

The ratio is 8 oz Canola, 8 oz Coconut & 19 oz EVOO.
4.7 oz of lye & 10 oz of water
I use Bramble Berry essential oils, standard mica & titanium dioxide.

For some god awful reason I measured the Canola while the Coconut was still in the pitcher and thought
8+8=18 WRONG 8+8=16 ...derp!

It traced and as far as I can tell it looks like it is setting up.

So my question is, will 2 ounces of extra oil mess up the entire batch??

I figure at this point only time will tell but I figured someone may have made this mistake before and could lend some advice.

Thanks so much!!

Are you sure you are using a scale to weigh your oils? You state that you “measured” the canola which makes me hope you aren’t using the graduations on a pitcher (fluid ounces). It is a great help to tare the scale between ingredients so you don’t have to keep track of the math.

 

[Kathymzr]

I’m reading the book “Sapiens”, recommended by Bill Gates. It really is worth reading, as it tries to explain Homo sapiens behavior from a natural history standpoint. It talks about just this issue. Small markets are easier to deal with.

 

[Nanette]

Can we please keep this thread on track re - soap, not mining.

Oh I know....mining doesnt have much to do with soap. Unless you are making gemstone bars and even then..I was waiting to be asked not to discuss mining on the soap forum but but...you dont understand! Mining is as much of an obsession as soaping so its hard to resist....no more tho on this forum

 

[Relle]

Oh I know....mining doesnt have much to do with soap. Unless you are making gemstone bars and even then..I was waiting to be asked not to discuss mining on the soap forum but but...you dont understand! Mining is as much of an obsession as soaping so its hard to resist....no more tho on this forum

I only asked not to discuss mining on this thread as the OP was asking about soaping and we try and keep on track so they get the info they need. No problem discussing mining on a separate thread in General Chat.

 

[Nanette]

Oh! good!

I believe soap making is like any new endeavor, you need a few years to know what you don't know. You get the big picture ideas, and then start to slowly master details.

It took me about 3 years to teach myself geology and gold prospecting to have a good handle on what to look for in a gold mining property. I cataloged and researched every single gold/silver/copper mine in 6 counties in Arizona. After that, I went square mile by square mile and cataloged another 2000 mines that exist nowhere on paper or gov't registry. That included almost every weekend in the field as well. Once I had that down, another two years to figure out which areas are still harboring good gold and which areas are harboring good gold that won't take $5-$10 million to get out of the ground.

It took about 2 weeks at the end of those five years to realize when most of the mines were running in this state, you didn't have a lot of choice in employment. I call them "starvation" mines. You mined your own dirt, worked in someone else's mine, or starved. People ask why I gave it up. You want a mine you can pull $50K a year out of, consistently? Got a half dozen of them. Got 1 for sure that's worth between $90 and $100K a year too. They come with: no medical insurance, no dental insurance, no 401k, nothing but what you dig out yourself, and they'll tear up your body and vehicles at the same time.

General chat! Mining stories!!

 

[Kathymzr]

Hahahaha! NO ONE is relaxed in LA!! It may be full of strange creatures, but relaxed it’s not! Yet somehow I love the diversity, climate and activity. I hear New York is more relaxed. I wouldn’t even know where to sell soap here.