Recent content by mjmccauley

I have incredibly oily skin and this soap works great. I can go an entire day without feeling like an oil slick. I used 2 tbls of charcoal per pound.

Beautiful!! I do love making salt bars. They work up so quickly. I love that I don't have to babysit the mold and can have them cut by the evening and set to rest. I also love the fact that you get more bars for the amount of oil that you use since you add the same amount of salt as the...

I haven't been soaping for very long, but it sounds to me that you may have let it sit too long. I know that I have had some loafs that have been in the mold too long and it had done that very thing. It should still be safe to use, as long as the lye calculation was correct, just in smaller...

Living in the Midwest, I order my stuff from a place called http://www.bittercreek.com. They are very quick and cheap for me to order.

ChrissyB try this site http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/Crinkle-Cutter-pr-207. They have one that looks like it is the same size as mine.

Thanks everyone. I figured since I am new to this that I wasn't going to sink a lot of money into it and my father is a crafty woodworker. It all panned out since I got the cutter and loaf molds for free...i just had to spend time with my parents (which isn't bad at all).

While away for Thanksgiving, my father and I made a soap cutter. We refer to it as the Guitine. It works great and was made with just some scrap oak that he had in his shop. We fitted it for my krinkle cutter and it works great for straight cuts. You can see it on my blog...

I decided a while ago that everyone would get something handmade from me. Most of it will be soap and I will be crocheting baskets out of sisal yarn to put them in. I figure it will be a good gift all around.

i agree. You can take it out of the mold and let it sit overnight and that will help a lot. I used to cut my soap right away, but have learned that it is OK to wait to get a better product.

Thank you so much for the info. I guess it is a case by case basis. I am just happy to know that I don't have to cut it ASAP if I don't feel it necessary.

I am wondering what you do when you unmold your soap? Do you let it sit and wait a day to cut it or do you cut right away? I have read articles about people just letting their soap sit out after unmolding for a day or so. Is there any benefit to doing so? I have just been cutting it as soon...

smart soapmaking is the best book that I have read. I read several of them from the library, but Smart soapmaking was the best by far. It is worth buying it. She will learn so much and the question and answer portion in the back is so helpful. The author also has a website too.

I have found that the pomace is much more on the green side than regular olive oil. I am going to use it in an olive oil (60%) soap tomorrow. It will be interesting if it becomes green in color.

Thank you for the info. It didn't even cross my mind that the reason that castor increases lather is the lye. I don't know why, but it didn't. I have some honey soap that doesn't lather and is a bit slimy. I was hopping to change it of the better, since most people don't think that the soap...

Can you rebatch to add additional oils? I have some soap that doesn't lather and was considering trying to add additional castor oil to the soap to get it to lather.