Creamy Liquid Soap

This makes a very thick creamy liquid hand soap. Very simple. No crazy stuff just nice thick creamy soap.

35% coconut oil (76 degree-type)........... 5.6oz\159g

30% castor oil...................................... 4.8oz\136g

20% cocoa butter................................. 3.2oz\91g

10% olive oil........................................ 1.6oz\45g

5% shea butter.................................... .8oz\22.6g

.25 t Tocopherol E T-50

KOH................................................... 3.47oz\98g

Glycerin............................................... 10.4oz\295g

Disolve lye in water. Add glycerin. Pour into pot. Make soap. No heat needed. Do zap test. Will be a thick paste. You can leave sit overnight or go right into the following:

Weigh pot to figure out soap weight. Add the following to pot:

Polysorbate 80: .15% of the finished paste weight

Stearic Acid: 3% of the finished paste weight

 

Bring to boil. Add:

Distilled water: 31% of the finished paste weight

Sodium Lactate in 3% of the finished paste weight

Tetrasodium EDTA in 2% of my finished paste weight

Let soap sit 1-2 days, then add the following according to soap weight: 

Abyssin Oil 3% (jojoba, argan, or meadowfoam seed oil also work), PS80 3% 

When ready to put in pumps add:

.3-1% scent 1% FO

Honeysuckle Final

Hi all,

If you pop on Facebook I am much better at posting things there.  MJR Soaps  2021 has been a good year so far. Steady online traffic. People still love and use MJR Soaps products so I still make them! And love doing it too!

2019 I was the busiest I have ever been making product round the clock. In May of 2020 I was still busy! Even with the Covid people still need soaps, deodorant and lotion. And balms and creams! 

Maybe I can stop back by once a month just to say "Hi!" Here is a link to my 2021 Soap Album which is updated regularly:2021 Soap Album  

For other cool albums: Goat Milk Bath Bombs, MJR Soaps Lotions, Zinc Oxide Deodorants

Sugar Scrub Bubble Bars, Charcoal Soaps by MJR Soaps

Older Soap Albums: MJR Soaps 2020 Soap Album, 2019 MJR Soaps Album, 2018 MJR Soaps Album, 2017 MJR Soaps Album, 2016 MJR Soaps Album, 2015 MJR Soaps Album, 2014 MJR Soaps Album, 2013 MJR Soaps Album

God bless you all! If you ever need anything or have questions feel free to email me. mjrsoaps@gmail.com

Marla Riedling

SUMMERTIME

Use until September 22! Free shipping in my Etsy store with any purchase of $30.00 or more! SUMMERTIME

New Year

The New Year is off to a great start! I'm busier than ever, that's why you don't see many posts!

Trying to find time to breathe once in a while is getting harder all the time!

I've been doing all sorts of things-making soaps, lotions, gm bath bombs, and so much more. Even tried my hand at mini bombs for Valentine's Day! I didn't have the right size brush to do these-then I remembered after the fact that I'd bought some brushes from Hobby Lobby! Oh well...it was still kind of fun!

And surprisingly or maybe not so surprising, my deodorant is selling like crazy! I have lots of varieties of it now too. So nearly everyone can find one they like. I still say you don't need a scent at all! And only needing to use it 1-2 times a week saves time and money!

So that's what I'm up to. Staying ridiculously busy and trying to keep my sanity intact! :0

Take care and I'll post something here and there when I can find the time!


Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Fall Frenzy

It's been a busy year for me. This time if year it gets even crazier! Orders are flying in as fast as I make them. Trying to find time to catch up on my own stock is proving difficult.

My latest enterprise is 8 loaves of Cranberry Peppermint GM soap, tomorrow I will finally get it made! All the prep work is finished, time to put it together! :-)

Making soap for 6 companies is exhausting. My molds have all gotten bigger to keep up with the demand. Making large batches creates it's own new issues. Heat is the biggest challenge. I have a spare refrigerator that gets used to help keep these big batches from turning to ash.

Keeping quality consistent is always a challenge too. Ordering 1 lb containers of essential oils has become mundane. When I first started I had .5 oz bottles of many essential oils! Such dramatic changes in ordering have been necessitated by the large volume of soap being produced!

My latest venture has me thinking about screen printing w/UV on bottles. I've always used labels but now I'm looking into it. The new LED substrate printers are also a possibility.
So much going on!

I've been negligent with my blog and websites. Maybe I need to hire someone to take care of them? It's another thing to think about...

Fall is a time where everyone is out enjoying the cooler weather. Craft shows are everywhere! I only scheduled a handful due to my work load.

I hope you are having a fabulous fall, and enjoying watching the leaves change.

GOD BLESS!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Happy 4th of July!

And happy birthday to my son Mark Travers and Sierra Killeen! Love you both!

New listing available! Great exfoliation and fresh scent!

Out for a bit

Hello all,
I had surgery January 3rd so will be on light duty for many weeks to come. They wanted me to do it in August but I had too much to do! :-)
I did get lots of soaps made before the surgery! and with my husbands help I'll get a few small batches done that need doing. I'm resting and taking it easy.
Catching up on reading and getting bored by television (1 week and I'm sick of tv! :-))
Trying to behave and not lift anything close to my 10 pound limit.
I go see the doctor again soon, hoping it will all be terrific.
Hope you had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!
Looking forward to doing more in 2017!
God bless,
Marla

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hope you've had a great year! I know it has been super busy for me. May you have a blessed Christmas with loved ones and friends! God bless you!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

At Waggener HS on S.Hubbards Ln.

Come on down!

Saturday there will be a fall craft show at Gloria De Lutheran Preschool

Come out and see us if you can! Lots of fabulous vendors will be there for your shopping ecstasy!

Right behind Target in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

See you there!

God bless,

Marla

Enjoyed the summer!

In between making stuff and selling stuff we enjoy boating on Nolin Lake, we live right next to it so we might as well enjoy it! :-)  (View from the seat of the boat)

Daughter sitting on the front

Putting Tubby into the lake

Our boat "Tubby"!

EOQA

Well I met the president of EOQA (Essential Oil Quality Alliance), Daniel. What a nice man!

I was in a fix, and needed sage essential oil in a hurry as I'm going on vacation and had a last minute order to fill. They are located in Jeffersonville, IN and I was in Louisville so I called them up! Unfortunately they have no store or place to pick up product. When I explained my situation, Daniel offered to meet up with me! Hallelujah! I bought 2 4 oz bottles of high quality sage eo at prices that beat my 2 main companies-CamdenGrey and Liberty!

I'm very happy to have found EOQA for the quality price and of course, location. Now if only "will call" were available! ;)

If you want quality essential oil and don't want to have a long wait for product should give them a look and definitely a call! Many thanks to Daniel for being there when I needed help! I look forward to doing more business with you in the future!

See you all in a couple of weeks and God bless!

Marla Riedling

Essential Oil Snafu

Hi everyone,  

I recently ordered from a company called wf-medical on Ebay. I'd ordered a time or two and thought they might be ok. Recently I used their clove bud essential oil, it was a huge disappointment! Normal clove bud eo will eat through plastic! You have to handle it with a lot of care because it is so strong and destructive. I found that out the hard way years ago when it got on my stick blender and ate the plastic.

Still works GREAT!!!!!

It also ate the table cloth and anything I spilled it on. That's why I now use a stainless steel bench to do anything that uses essential oils. This eo from wf-medical does nothing! The scent is barely there and it seems oily. All the products from this place are definitely "less than". So if you've thought about trying them, I recommend against it. The quality is not what it should be at all. I've asked if it is diluted but they won't answer. They will give me refund if I send it back though. Best advice-just don't order from them to start with! :)

It's best to stick to the companies that deliver quality! My go to company of choice is Camden-Grey Essential Oils, Inc. They have never let me down with their essential oils.  Many soapers use a company called Liberty Essential Oil Source, I have yet to try them but plan to in the future. I have a long list of companies to try! ;)  Always looking for the best price and quality! Yet I keep coming back to Camden-Grey....LOL!

What do the rest of you use for aromatherapy and the add in of essential oil to balms and soaps? What experiences have you had with the different companies? Feedback would be welcome!

Hope you're having a FANTASTIC Friday!

God Bless,

Marla Riedling

Dish soap that sudses and degreases: KOH, coconut oil and potato water

Hi all,

I've made several batches of liquid soaps but nothing like this one!

There was a post in the Soaper's Forum about using potato water for dish soap. Needless to say, I was fascinated! 

Using distilled water I boiled 5 potatoes in a 2 quart pan and kept the water once the potatoes were done. I weighed out a portion of the water and reverse engineered a recipe from the amount of potato water. The water was left in the fridge overnight so I started with cool water.

Recipe? KOH (Potassium Hydroxide-you can make it from clean ashes!), coconut oil and the potato water!  Simple right?

I brought it to trace, then cooked and stirred for about an hour. I then left it overnight to finish

 gelling and when tested was neutral-no zap. PH was only 8! I used a little EDTA in my dilution water to aid with soap scum but other than that only boiled distilled water was added.

Right off the bat just washing the crock pot was an amazing experience! 

Can you say flying bubbles? This soap even worked to get seriously greasy dishes and pans squeaky clean!

Absolutely awesome! Using a brush, a Dobie, sponge, or rag the suds are phenomenal! It works fantastic!

I left part of the soap unthickened to use in a foamer and the rest I added a very small amount of HEC to the soap, brought it to 170° and stick blended it. Perfect consistency. This is a keeper! This works as good as Dawn ever has and has no toxic chemicals.

I was concerned about it being drying to my hands but so far it hasn't been drying at all! I have some people trying it and so far they LOVE it too!

My thanks go out to the person in the soap forum who posted. I'll be making this for life! :-)

After Clarifying it's nearly clear!

I'm using it a foamer bottle as well as a thickened version in my regular dish soap bottle. Absolutely love it!

Have a great day and God bless you!

Marla
MJR Soaps

New lotions added

5 new goat milk lotions added to listing: Apple Orchard, Coconut Vanilla, Lavender, Mango, and Wisteria!

Mango Rim Soap for Soap Challenge

I've made several rim soaps and have been having fun with it! So when the Soap Challenge of the month was rim soaps I thought what the heck and signed up.

The outside of rim I forgot to take pictures! I will film it next time. The rim is black, white, orange,and pink. It was poured from the corner, spun and then skewered. The inside has some orange and Mango Fragrance oil. Using a Pringles can cut to 6" with the top taped on with electrical tape:

This is after I unmolded the soap:

The soap is a single layer on parchment paper on a cookie pan. It was in the oven for 2 hours and I think it got too hot! Since I don't CPOP anything's possible. I put it in the freezer overnight and in the morning put it between 2 sheets of freezer paper, rolled it using a rolling pin and put it in the Pringles can. I pressed the seams together the best I could and made the inside soap.

The Rim was made with shortening, coconut, almond and castor oil. (I don't keep palm oil on hand which is why I used shortening) We were told not to use the other butters however Olga Bashkina has absolutely gorgeous rim soaps and uses lots of butters!  My inside recipe was Coconut, Olive, Almond, Cocoa Butter and Castor oils. I added mango fragrance (NG) to the inside and the soap smells wonderful!

Here are photos of the cut soaps:

Lots of vibrant color! Hopefully these will sell at the craft fair I'm going to in April.

It was a fun challenge as I don't do round soaps! It's been 5 years since I made my grandchildren round bubble gum soaps. Many thanks to Amy Waldron and Tatsiana Serko for this months challenge!

Hope you give it a try! I'm going back to rectangular rims! I'm doing one for the 4th of July that should be a blast!

God bless!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Pastel Rectangle Rim-Easter Baskets!

A second try at the rectangle rim-it was fun anyway! I'll get better at it if I keep on trying! ;)

They smell like bubblegum and have some hidden eggs here and there! I thought the kids might enjoy these anyway!

Take care and God bless!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Rectangular Rim 4 Leaf Clover Video

Here's the video of making my first rim soap. Enjoy!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps