Soap and Candle Tips and Tricks

 

With a husband, two young daughters and a business, I'm always on the go and I'm always searching for things to make my life easier and more efficient.

 

 

Recently, I was making soap and I had some additive that I needed to incorporate after trace. Since I was counting this liquid as part of my total liquids, I needed to remember the amount so I could subtract it from my total liquid weight. I had covered the container with plastic wrap to keep out dust. Rather than writing the weight on a sheet of paper that I would probably lose, I wrote directly on the plastic wrap with a permanent marker. I loved that my weight amount traveled with the container without blowing off when I was walking with it.

 

When I make my soy candles, I use plastic combs to hold the wicks in place. They are easy to store and inexpensive to replace and I can center my wicks easily.

What time saving tips & tricks do you have? I would love to hear them!

Happy day,
Jill
Calise Soapworks & Such

Buy Local Lincoln County

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 15, I will be on "Buy Local Radio" to talk about Calise Soapworks & Such. Buy Local Lincoln County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting small businesses within our county. Here is an interesting quote from the Buy Local Lincoln County Website:

                 If everyone made a 10% shift in their discretionary spending
                 (groceries, dining out, clothes, entertainment and recreation)
                 to local retailers, over $10 million of additional income
                 would stay in our county. (This small shift in spending would
                 equate to a $44.57 per month local purchase per Lincoln County
                 household.)

Join us tomorrow at 8:30. Tune into 1230 AM KCUP Radio. If you are not local, you can listen online! http://www.kcup.net/ streams live online. Just scroll down the Home Page and the link is on the right hand side in red.

I'll be offering a special incentive to listeners, so tune in!

Happy day,
Jill
Got soap?

Final Thoughts on the Fall Bramble Berry S.O.A.P. Panel

First of all, I want to give a huge ThAnK yOu to Bramble Berry for selecting me to choose the fall fragrances. It has been a blast and an amazing experience!

Soaps are in scent order from #1 (red & beige in the front) to #8 (the last soap on the right).

What I learned:

You may end up liking a fragrance even if you don't like it initially. That's how I felt about #2. My initial reaction was not so lovely, but it is now my second favorite! It fragrance has developed wonderfully in the soap and I think my customers will love it.  

Yes, you can make cp soap pops! If you want to swirl, you need to pour at a thick trace or the depth of the mold blends the colors together. Also, I did cpop the soap pops. This made unmolding easy, but you do need to be careful not to leave the oven on too long or you end up with dimpled soaps like the blue one or pink one.

Soaping is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you're gonna' get!

Happy Soaping!

Jill

Calise Soapworks & Such

Thoughts on S.O.A.P. Scents 4-6

Keeping with the Soap Pop theme, I’m ready to test the next three Bramble Berry S.O.A.P. Fall Panel fragrances. This time, I’m using clays for color. Oh, I have been adding the fragrance before coloring to be sure I have the same amount throughout the soap and to give it more opportunity to act up.

Scent #4- Groovy Geranium

Initial reaction- geranium! This is a deeper, earthier floral compared to #3. There is some sweetness, but that’s on the back burner.

I was thinking this fragrance would also accelerate trace, but not really. It did turn the soap almost day-glo orange when I initially mixed it in. Colored with Sea Clay.

After thoughts- So far, the scent seems to be staying pretty true. The soap has discolored to more of a khaki tan.

Scent #5- A Few of My Favorite Things

Initial Reaction- Out of the bottle, this is one of my favorites. It is similar to #1, but a little less sweet and a little more spice with maybe some fir.

I noticed maybe the slightest acceleration with my room temp. oils & lye solution, so this one may be a bit of a stinker sometimes. There was a slight yellowing of the soap in the pot. Colored with Australian Red Clay.

After thoughts- I'm still getting a few (very few) spices notes, but floral notes predominate now which is peculiar because I didn't smell any floral initially. A lot of the sweetness is gone and the scent is flatter now. There is some yellowing, but I think that may be more operator error somehow as it is inconsistent.

Scent #6- Breezy Day

Initial reaction- similar to #2, but fewer floral notes. I akin this scent to a fresh linen or cotton.

This fragrance had a huge amount of play time. I had to wait on it to thicken a bit and I should have even waited longer. No noticeable color change in the pot. Colored with French Yellow Clay.

After thoughts- #6 has mellowed quite a bit. It seems to have lost some of the top notes so far, but the scent is still pleasant. Yep, all the white, white color is ash. I think it is because this soap cooled too quickly. Notice there is no ash on the side of the soap pop that is laying down or on the colored clay parts. I took all three of these batches out of the oven because I was worried about the soaps getting too hot. Now, they cooled too quickly! Lesson learned.

I can't wait to see how #7 & #8 turn out!

The SOAP Fragrances Are Here

Sometimes being a neighbor to Washington makes my day. My mystery scents just arrived for the Brambleberry S.O.A.P. Fall Team- a soap-aholics delight! 

Of course, I had to stop all other activity to open and smell these divine bottled delights. I won't mention about the fragrance specifics yet, as I'm sure the other testers are still waiting on their fantastic mystery fragrances. I will say smelling straight from the bottle, I am quite partial to 1, 5, 7 & 8.

The next step is figuring out what medium to test these lovelies in. Cold process soap will be a given, but I need to ponder the other possibilities. Yay!

Calise Soapworks & Such- we make soaping fun!