Giving thanks to all of our customers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, blog subscribers and readers, family and friends. You're the best! Thank you for your support, friendship, comments and suggestions.

This is a very exciting time at You Scent Me. Our blog is steadily gaining new followers. At one point the view rate was up by as much as 200%! In other exciting news, we received our first recommendation at LinkedIn.

We now have over 600 followers on Twitter! We've received a few Follow Friday recommendations. According to WeFollow, we are ranked #15 as the most influential soapmaker on Twitter!

As you can see, there's so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Wishing you all a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Glad I Didn't Throw Out My Old Thermometer

Yesterday I made a batch of CPHP (crock pot hot process) soap. The flashpoint of the fragrance I was going to scent the batch with was 200ºF. I pointed my laser thermometer at the soap as soon as it had finished cooking. It gave a reading of 160º. That didn't look right. I wondered how soap that hadn't had a chance to cool, already be below the fragrance flashpoint? I took out my old thermometer which has a probe, stuck it into the soap, and sure enough, it gave me a reading of over 200º!

Another soaping lesson learned. What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Soapmaking Timesavers

I’m a klutz. No matter how hard I try to line a soap mold, I can never get it right. I watched the videos on You Tube. I read the tutorials. I was still mold lining challenged. That’s why I was thrilled when Wholesale Supplies Plus came out with their silicone loaf mold. No more lining molds! I tend to make small batches (2 lbs; this way if a batch doesn’t come out right, I haven’t wasted too much precious soapmaking and fragrance oils), so this loaf is a perfect size for me. Best of all, it’s affordable -- $13.95.

My newest soapmaking timesaving gadget is one I learned from watching Anne-Marie Faiola’s Learn to Make Cold Process Soap DVD. In the DVD, Anne-Marie uses a laser thermometer to measure the temperatures of her oils and lye solution. The laser thermometer is a great soapmaking tool on so many levels. It’s a great timesaver in that since you don’t put the thermometer in either the soap pot or the lye solution, that’s one less item that needs cleaning! It’s great for those of us with vision problems who have a hard time reading those tiny lines & teeny numbers on traditional thermometers. (In the past, I got around that by using digital thermometers.) With the laser thermometer I like that I no longer have to put my thermometer in the soap pot or lye solution and wait for my digital thermometer to get a reading. As I said before, I’m a klutz. With my new "toy" I no longer have to worry about dropping the thermometer into the soap pot or lye solution. Laser thermometers can be quite expensive. eBay often has good deals. I got mine there for under $20, including shipping.

Got a soapmaking timesaver tip you'd like to share? Click on the word "comments" underneath this post.