Search results

Sweet, I will check out Windy Point, Did some calculations for using citric acid for a recent recipe and will get my hubby to check my numbers before giving it a try.

Maybe I am being silly but I was trying to avoid increasing the amount of NaOH I am using to compensate for the citric acid. Still a little wary of making sure NaOH is all used up in the saponification process. Do you ever stop making a nasty face when licking soap?! Yuck!! Maybe I will...

I would like to try adding EDTA to my soaps to reduce soap scum but cannot find EDTA at any of the usual soap supply shops in Canada (I can't even find it on ebay or amazon from Canadian suppliers). Any fellow Canadians care to share where they get their EDTA from? Thanks!

DeeAnna you rock!! I think it might be soda ash as it was all floating at the surface, I didn't realize the NaOH would collect on the bottom if it's not dissolved. Thanks KC, I hadn't thought of that. I feel much better trying this again with just a little bit more water for the lye...

I always use distilled water for soaping. My NaOH comes in small crystals and I felt like I still had crystals that hadn't dissolved yet the 2nd time around. My water is probably a little cooler than room temp as I store it in the basement and just bring it to the kitchen when I am about to...

Hi, I like to make goat milk soap and recently read an article where the soapmaker made a 1:1 solution of NaOH and water, then mixed this with the oils, and then added in the remaining liquid amount as Goat Milk at trace. I wanted to try this method as so far I have just been freezing the goat...

Hmm, I am in Canada so Lard in french is ... saindoux .... le savon de saindoux .. definitely sounds better than lard soap!!

Thanks everyone for chiming in!! Was planning on a 5% superfat for all the batches to keep it consistent. I am using Palm Oil as I already have it, somehow can't bring myself to buy lard (not a vegetarian or anything, I just can't stand the name of it!! ) I do have Avocado Oil already so...

Ok, so I have been making soap since spring and have made around 35 batches, but I don't have a good feel for what each ingredient gives to a bar of soap as I have been using recipes from books, kits, from the forum, etc. So I feel like I have been a bit scatter brained in my approach and want...

I got one with a soapmaking kit and have used it several times. I like to use the box to help it gel, much easier than trying to move a mold with a towel wrapped around it!! I do tend to use my Crafters Choice one more often as I like the shape a bit better as someone else mentioned. Hmm...

Thanks everyone. It was a fail b/c it didn't get into the old before it started gelling. I usually try to gel my soaps unless I use goats milk. The problem is it is a bit of a crumbly mess as I tried to mush it together when putting it in the mold but it didn't really work. I couldn't really...

Normally I have an aha moment when I read DeeAnna's comments, but I am a bit lost here (note I haven't made liquid soap with KOH before): "If you use citric acid in the sense of its being a chelator and not a neutralizer, then add the extra lye needed for the citric acid to react with -- 10...

Hi my name is Lori and I had a major soapy failure. I feel more like a real soaper now!! I am not sure if I should try to hot process it, grate it for laundry soap, or toss it. I made a double batch and split it in 2 once I had reached (I thought) a medium trace. By the time I had added my...

What are you using for your aloe juice? Last night I made a batch using Aloe Vera Gel Juice (from NDA) instead of water. I store the bottle in the fridge and took it out just when I needed it. The lye/aloe mix was very cloudy and never did clear up. It reached around 180 F once I had all the...

Just saw this thread while waiting to get some supplies to colour soap naturally. Not to take away from Gigi's planned experimenting but has anyone read the ebook from Ruth Esteves on Coloring Soap Naturally? I just bought it and she goes through several colorants including Alkanet root...

Thanks everyone!! New plan - I will try a regular salt bar (add salt at trace) with goats milk and also make a soleseife soap without goats milk (as I need all the water to dissolve the salt).

Can I add goats milk to a salt soap? Will it be a waste of goats milk? I want to do one where I mix the salt into the lye/water mix so the salt actually melts (soleseife? I believe) rather than being exfoliating. Was thinking of replacing 1/2 of the water with frozen goats milk and adding it...

Thanks that makes me feel better, I am coming to soap after making lotions in which you need preservatives because of the water content. Think I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that soap and shaving soaps won't go bad if they still retain some water in them. This will be...

Quick question, I have read through most of the very long shave soap post and am going to try making some once I get my KOH. But what I don't understand is if soap is supposed to have air on all sides to cure ... how does it cure properly if you just pour it into a mug rather than a mold? Do...

I was told that 20 drops of EO = 1ml, so 100 drops is only 5 ml (1 tsp). I am new to soaping but the kit recipe I have been using said to use 30ml EO for a 1 pound batch of soap.