Here is the newest addition to our mold line-up. Made in the USA from quality pine these wooden loaf molds have finished/sanded edges and feature quality craftmanship. For use with cold-process soap. Each mold sold is helping an unemployed craftsman in our area. Michigan's econony is one of the worst in the Nation. Most of these guys/gals are not able to draw unemployment and building these loaf boxes is helping to put food on the table or fill gas tanks. It's just one of the ways that GoPlanetEarth is giving back to our community.

The rectangular shaped box lifts off the base for easy release. Lid fastens with bolts. As with all wooden molds, you MUST line box with waxed freezer paper; but, we make it easy by pre-lining so it's ready for first-time use.

Once the mold is filled, cover the soap with plastic wrap and place the lid on top. When the soap is covered in this way, it will not need insulation while curing. Clean the mold by scraping with a putty knife or by wiping with a damp cloth. Do not soak in water.

Molds are offered in two, four and six pound sizes. For a complete list of interior dimensions visit GoPlanetEarth.com.

Drizzled Heart Soaps- Melt & Pour Instructional

I posted these soaps Pre-Valentine's Day with a promise of a tutorial instructional. Well, I'm making good on my promise. Here's the video. Enjoy!!

All supplies for this project can be purchased at GoPlanetEarth.com.

Last Week's Poll Results....

Last week's poll question was:

Which city would be your top pick for an extended weekend getaway to learn about soap making?

Top pick was Chicago, followed by Charleston and New York. Other suggested cities included Austin, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

Be sure to submit your vote on this week's poll question.

This Week's Soap Making Poll~ Going Green

Melt & Pour Soap Crayons- A Tutorial

Mold Market's new soap crayon mold arrived this week and has already become one of my favorite molds. On Saturday afternnoon, the grandkids and I made a batch of soap crayons. They loved picking out all the colors (we used liquid gels) and scents. We printed out the soap crayon labels available on our web site.

We used GoPlanetEarth's Pure & Natural melt and pour soap base and Ultra White base to create these colorful soap crayons. They don't write or color, but the grandkids didn't seem to care. They just thought these jumbo crayons were awesome and couldn't wait to take them in the tub. I have found that if you over-colored the soap base with liquid gel colors, the soap crayon does make markings on a porcelain surface or on ceramic tiles. Colors like red, blue, and green seem to show up the best.

Little Miss O (soon to be three) was a big help. Her job was to stir the color into the soap base. She was quick to point out, "It's a 'portant job, isn't it NeeNee?"

You'll find all the supplies for this project at GoPlanetEarth.com along with a brief video tutorial on making these kid-friendly soaps.

It's all About Color! Melt & Pour Soaps that POP!

I bookmarked this company some time ago. I'm just now getting around to a "shout-out". I tend to gravitate to soaps that scream color and call my name. Especially soaps that have unique twists that make you scratch your head and say, "Howd they do that?" The soaps from EpicallyEpic do just that! They don't just whisper "Buy me!", they scream it.

I love Allison's choice of colors in her layered Tulip Soaps. And the classic B/W Zebra striped soaps are simple, yet profound. GoPlanetEarth's Black Oxide liquid gel is a perfect choice for coloring soap black (just be sure to use clear soap base with the black color).

I was especially delighted to see these soap curl soaps. This is one of the instructionals listed on GoPlanetEarth's Tutorials. Allison showcases a terrific loaf slice using soap curls. This soap would work very well using the Mold Market square loaf mold.

I also fell in love with the layered loaf shown below. Each deep earthy color is layered between a single layer of clear soap base. It's a perfect uni-sex soap design and very organic in style. I love it! Great job, Allison. Our Earthtone Six-Pack will produce these wonderful colors. Might try pairing this soap design with an Australian Bamboo & Hemp or Teak & Sandalwood fragrance.

This Week's Poll ~ Best City to have a Soap Weekend Getaway

If you could pick a city to spend an extended weekend learning, making, and socalizing about soap making... where would it be?

Poll Results ~ Favorite Melt & Pour Colorants

And the winner for favorite Melt & Pour soap colorant is...
Bright, primary type colors in liquid gel form. These have always been a TOP seller for GoPlanetEarth.

Tied for second was Shimmery Mica colors {jewel tones or metallic types} and Food Grade Dyes. Followed by powder pigments (earthy color types) which tied with earthy color liquid gels.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Everyone's aware of the ecomonic woes facing our country. And, no one knows better than the suburban communities where I live. Forbes magazine just announced the Top Ten Worst Cities. My surburban community happens to be positioned midway between #6 (Flint, MI~pictured above) and #7 (Detroit, MI~pictured below).

The economic conditions and recent press on these two cities is so bad that when my husband and I travel and are asked, Where do you live?, we reply, "The North Pole." I'm not joking! I am saddened that these once thriving cities are on national display for government corruption & scandals, auto plant shutdowns, lay-offs, homelessness, foreclosures, and the list goes on.


I may not live in these cities, but I have friends and family that do. And, many of our surburbia neighbors commute to these cities for work, or at least they did before being laid off or let go from their jobs. From six-figure design engineers to hourly line workers, everyone is facing hardship.


Why do I share this news with you? To thank each and every one of my loyal customer for your continued business. I know that many of you are facing financial uncertainies and economic hardships. I want you to know that I value your business and appreciate that you have selected GoPlanetEarth.com as a supplier. We truly want to see your soaping business and soaping projects succeed.


In 2009, GoPlanetEarth will be showcasing many new resources to help you grow your business. Including FREE instructionals, tutorials, and special preferred customer discounts. If you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, you should. This will ensure you recieve notification of special discount offers. You can do this from the main page of our web site.

Here is a special Blog 8% discount valid through 2/15/2009 when placing an order with GoPlanetEarth.com. You must enter the following code during checkout to receive the discount:


BLOG210

Possible Retraction on Bath Soap Crayons??

Earlier today I posted about my soap crayon testing. However, the real testers were here this evening. That would be my grandkids. They immediately spotted a round blue ball in the bathroom. Yep, you guessed, it was one of the soap flake test crayons.

There are no word to describe how excited they were to try it out. They thought it was (and I'm quoting here) the coolest, most awesome soap ever! Since I used the term "bath crayon", they had a hard time understanding that they weren't suppose to be coloring the mirror, the toilet seat, the glass shower doors and walls. In their mind, a bath crayon was for coloring EVERYTHING in the bathroom. It took NeeNee about 2 seconds (nah... more like a 1/4 second) to make it VERY clear this was a crayon for the bath tub. Nixnay on the glass shower doors.

The kids did some coloring on the sink to see how the soap crayon worked. They left my house toting their little soap ball crayons home in plastic baggies for tonight's bath.

I must say that letting the soap crayons set for 3 days instead of 2 made a difference in the firmness of the crayon. I'll still do a 2nd test batch that includes other colors and hotter water. But for now, it was a hit with the 3-6 year old age group. I may have to issue a retraction on some of my initial test opinions.

Tutorial on Making Soap Crayons

I continually see recipes and rave reviews about homemade bath crayons made from soap flakes. What I never note are photos from these individuals who boast or post about the success of these soap crayon recipes. For that reason, I decided to give it a try. This tutorial logs findings based on my intial test.

A follow-up test with modifications is in the works. In the meantime, I believe this tutorial will give you a good idea of what to expect when making soap crayons from soap flakes.

If you have any follow-up comments, email or post on the blog. We have some way-cool soap crayon molds arriving soon and it would be great to have a perfected soap crayon recipe for use with the crayon mold.

A $100 cash-prize is in the works for that one special person providing a proven (GoPlanetEarth staff approved) soap crayon recipe that we can share with our customers. Look for an entry form to be posted soon.

Requirements:

a) crayons must visibly write on porcelain tubs/tiles

b) crayons must be soap based and lather when used as soap

c) contain colors that won't stain skin or tub

d) contain skin safe colors/ingredients

e) sample soaps must be submitted with recipe

This Week's Soap Making Poll ~ Soap Colors

Poll Results ~ Favorite Soap Making Scent

The results are in and Fruity Type soap making fragrances was the favorite. I love fruit scents but was still surprised with the results. I was expecting either Spa or Asian Type fragrances to be the leaders. The OTHER category included Citrus, Candy, Ocean, and Baked Good types. Thanks to all who participated in the poll.

It's Nice to be Appreciated!!

My son-in-law, Matthew, is a construction contractor and has been diligently seeking work in the Michigan area. Times are tough here in Michigan and construction/building is slow. This past week Matthew had a number of custom bid jobs. I helped him learn about zip files and several other speciality software programs to assist with those bids.

What a guy! In appreciation, he had this beautiful floral bouquet delivered. Everyone should have a son-in-law this special. So glad he's married to my daughter!!

How Fun, A Soap Crayon Mold

Mold Market's soap crayon mold is due to arrive February 14. These giant bath crayons are sure to delight any child under 3 feet tall. There are 5 crayon cavities per mold sheet. Each crayon measures 5 1/2 inches long x 1/2 inch wide x 3/4 inch deep.

Make Classy Deco Button Guest Soaps

Another classic design from the Mold Market people. This Deco Button mold is a perfect guest size at 2 ounces. Can't wait for it's February 14 arrival. Be checking the GoPlanetEarth website for updates on our newest mold arrivals.

New Ollie Octopus Mold from Mold Market

I'm absolutely luvin' this little sea creature! Mold Market releases their "Ollie Octopus" mold on February 14 and GoPlanetEarth will have it in stock and ready to ship.

Mold Market is a premium brand of plastic molds specifically designed for soap making. They offer over 200 mold designs and GoPlanet stocks them all. You can view the full collection of Mold Market molds here.

MP Valentine Soaps Good Enough to Eat

I was finally able to work on Valentine's Day soaps for gift-giving. Here's a sneek-peek of our "good enough to eat" melt and pour soaps. Look for a full tutorial within the next day. My very special helper, Carson, was Johnny-on-the-spot in lending a helping hand. He helped with drizzling soap onto the hearts. He had a few "big globs" here and there, but for the most part did a great job. Gotta love those grandkids; I'm thinking FREE labor!

This Week's Soap Making Poll

Cast your vote. Which of these fragrance group types do you like best. We've listed a couple of examples to indicate the types of fragrances you would find in each group. Goplanet offers a large selection of soap making and candle fragrances. Have a favorite you don't see on our web site? Let us know, we keep a customer wish list!

Last Week's Poll Results are in... Favorite MP Soap Base is...

This results of this week's poll question have been tallied.

POLL QUESTION:

"Which Melt & Pour base do you craft with the most?"

As you can see, clear soap base was the winner by a landslide.

MP Soap Tutorial Using Mold Market Cupcake Mold

Mold Market's cup cake mold is one of GoPlanet's top selling molds. Each sheet has 2 cupcake bases and 2 toppers. Our most recent soap making tutorial shows the basics on how to make these adorable melt and pour cupcake soaps. You can get way more creative than we did by adding glitter, layering soap colors, adding soap frosting, or even colorful sprinkles. NOTE: If you want to add sprinkles, but a layer of food grade sprinkles in the cupcake topper, then pour your soap over the sprinkles. You'll want to pour at a relatively cool temp to keep the sprinkles from melting.

A quick and easy project to do with kids and a great Valentine's Day classroom project. Have kids wrap finished soap in a sheet of cellophane and tie with ribbon. Make tags that read, "You're a cupcake of a Valentine." Just be sure to label it as soap so no one takes a bite out of it!

In the below tutorial, you'll learn how to attach the base and topper.