Teach Soap

Hello all! I'm pretty new to melt and pour and for Christmas my mother-in-law bought me a melt and pour kit (she bought it right before I told her I put in an order to Brambleberry!). Well, the soap bases that were included were white and clear m&p, goats milk m&p and olive oil m&p. I decided since I was new to use some of that base first so I could test melting before using my lovely Brambleberry goods! So, I started with the white. It melted ok, but I had to actually fish chunks out because I was tired of trying to melt it and was afraid the rest of the melted part was going to get yellowish/smell bad if I continued to melt. I did 30 second bursts in the microwave, and gently stirred, but it still left unmelted bits in it. So, I tried the clear and it did the same thing, only worse, this time it had a white bubble film on it. It wasn't simmering that I could see. Any ideas if I am doing something wrong? I just want to fix whatever I'm doing wrong before I dive into my Brambleberry bases! I don't want to mess those up too! I checked this other site to see if their base had a good review from customers, and it did. So I'm not sure if it's me or the quality of the soap base?

Thanks for any input!
Cheers!
Carrie
**Edit: I meant to add that I did like 5-6 30second intervals on that base and still had chunks in it. I only melted 1/2 a pound.

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Carrie


Photos of my jewelry: www.flickr.com/photos/takimakidesigns

Where was the kit bought at? Some of the MP kits from a craft store are not that good.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

my mom bought me a kit from a craft store that was not good! and the best way for me was to use a double boiler,but it took longer than a microwave:) and now I buy all my products from bramble berry and there is a huge difference between m&p bases from a craft store and from bramble berry:) so good luck

It was bought online from a place that sells things similar to Brambleberry actually, so it wasn't a craft store one. I thought it would at least be decent. I also meant to mention it keeps forming a bubbly skin, almost like protein or something. It was just strange and I wasn't sure if it was the soap or me!

Edit: OH, meant to say too, I did the double boiler second time and it still had chunks after the rest had melted...(we were embedding something so I wanted to get it to 120) the rest had reached 120 degrees and some was still solid. So, it was annoying...also, twice it has left "dots" of the color both times with different colors.

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Carrie


Photos of my jewelry: www.flickr.com/photos/takimakidesigns

Did you try spraying the bubbles with alcohol?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Yes, I used the alcohol...I'm Soap Queen trained!

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Carrie


Photos of my jewelry: www.flickr.com/photos/takimakidesigns

Well, I guess I'll just have to try my Brambleberry soap and see if it's me or the soap! Not sure what was going on with that other soap. It seems that company sells soap supplies, candle supplies, bath and beauty product supplies, so I was surprised when it came out the way it did. Oh well, I'll keep you up to date on my soaping adventures with the BB base!

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Carrie


Photos of my jewelry: www.flickr.com/photos/takimakidesigns