Teach Soap

I want to get my orders placed today! I've decided that for the moment I will do liquid and CP soaps, but I also want to think about preserving my lotions. At the moment I am using them straight out of the jars and am being careful about water.

I'm getting the Liquid Soap guru kit from BB. These are the rest of my items (from two sources):
Liquid Soap base sampler (will help me decide what to get on my next order,
French Vanilla Fragrance Oil
Almond & Honey Fragrance Oil 354
Coconut Oil - 76º Melt (halfway through what I bought locally back in august)
Palm Oil 1 lb
Olive Oil - Extra Virgin 4 lb
Castor Oil 1 lb
Germaben II
Almond butter 1 lb (i have a 4 oz jar already and I love it!)
Sweetgrass fragrance (I read this smells a bit like Irish Spring which my bf loves. True or should I look for something else?)
Walnut shells (have been using a liquid exfoliating soap for 20 yrs that uses this and would like to put into the CP bars)

Should I add stearic acid if I am thinking of a whipped body butter or lotion bars?

Anything else?

My bf is at a swap meet today and with luck he'll find a pot (other than the aluminum restaurant one for $100 that he saw), otherwise I'm off to Target tomorrow. I got a crockpot for $5 yesterday.

I'd like to add honey (I have a honey bar from another company and like it a lot), but I'd like to see if I can get it locally. Just don't know if it's worth it as I haven't had much luck with pricing around here!

Thanks!

I've used Sweetgrass and to me it doesn't smell anything like Irish Spring. It's a really nice green scent, tho.
Buy your honey locally. You only need a small amount per batch and even a 4 oz jar will last for a while.
Phenonip is a good all around preservative that can be used in almost any product, but it does contain parabens.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I love Sweetgrass and kind of reminds me of Irish Spring. You do not need Stearic Acid for body butters or lotion bars. You may need it for regular lotions though. I also recommend Phenonip as the preservative for lotions. Make sure that the pot you do find is Stainless Steel and not aluminum.

_________________
Haven

If you are thinking about preservatives, you might want to read this post. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5032
Some require a certain pH, some are temp sensitive, some can are only soluble in oil based formulas.

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

Thanks! I did read the preservatives post and it was kind of why I picked Germaben, since it seemed like a good all around preservative. Not sure I'll be doing lotions right away but I do want to use it in body butter mixes and lotion bars when I get there.

I'm also pretty sure I read an article about it - I think it was a BB Blog article.

Should I pick another?

Germaben works with formulas that have water. It is also temp sensitive. I would go with Phenonip for products that have no water like lotion bars or scrubs.

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

Germaben is Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben
Phenonip is Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben

There is Jeecide CAP-5 which is NOT water soluble even thought it has water in it. It has Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Water, Hexylene Glycol**. It is temp sensitive. Jeecide is not as strong a preservative for products with milk proteins, herbal extracts or vegetable based compounds.

** Some people have problems with hexylene glycol and think it's an anti-freeze compound. It isn't.

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

ugh thanks so much! This is what happens when I read till I fall asleep - some of it is bound to fall out of my head!

On one hand I don't want to use the preservatives at all. On the other, I don't want to worry about my butters growing stuff! At the moment I'm using a mixed butter lotion I made from a kit. It made 4 little jars. I have one in the bathroom and while I know it will be used soon, I do worry about it since lotion is what I do after deodorant and I'm sure it's picking up moisture just by opening it.

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

That is great info! Do you need to get bar soaps tested (for selling) as well? It would be good info to know irregardless, I would hate to give something to a family member and have them get sick from it!

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

You don't need to have bar soaps tested.
SageScript is really great. I get my results emailed in about 2 weeks.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I actually meant beeswax rather than honey! <smacks head>

Ok I placed my orders! Ouch! LOL

BB won't be here till next week so unless I want to do laundry detergent, I'll have little to play with for a couple of weekends