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I haven't posted here in quite some time. I started soaping maybe about 18 months ago. I went crazy and made lots of small batches. This year I'm focusing on Christmas gifts and it's exciting to choose which recipes I liked best last year and focus on reproducing them. But I can't resist...

I started soaping in 2015 and I've settled on some basic base recipes that I like and people to whom I've gifted soap tell me they like. When I was just beginning I discovered that if really helps me to have a plan--without one I started trying no less than 4 new ingredients/techniques with...

I didn't think they would be! (Disclaimer: I don't sell --these are for pretty gifts only, I know they don't meet requirements) I made these with craft paper and Avery clear labels. The label is too tall. I'd like the top to be just below where the straight edge of the soap turns to...

I'm so happy with these. :) I've been soaping now for about 6 months. Around 3 batches in I started to get real mad scientist-like and began trying 5 new ingredients as well as new design techniques and the results were, well, meh. So I wrote down my plans for these bars and each one has a...

I officially, not counting end cuts, have 100 bars of soap curing!! It feels momentous to me!

I have two acquaintances lately, to whom I've gifted soap, and who want to learn how to make it themselves. For each of them I've sent them the link to this forum, told them what supplies they would need and also directed them to a few blogs and articles that got me started and helped build my...

I have gifted soaps to about 4 people--family members and a couple of close coworkers. Not for any reason but to have them try it and get their feedback. (Always after a full 6 wk cure and me using it first) I made a 100% coconut oil soap that I have found I prefer as a shampoo bar over body...

Please forgive me for posting every soap I make, but each batch still feels like a minor miracle! I'm really happy with these bars! The recipe is 80% lard and less than 24 hrs cut they feel very hard. The green is a mix of french green clay and nettle leaf powder. The top is just a portion I...

I have planned on trying a pine tar soap for some time. I've been reading up on it and I thought I had a good handle on it. Chose a recipe I've used several times now--no scents, no additives. Then, while I'm sitting here waiting for my lye water and oils to cool I stumble across a post that...

This is a soap I'm hoping to gift for Christmas, if I'm happy with it after curing. This is my 5th time using this base recipe. I started adding sugar and really liked the fluffy bubbles it added, but here I added honey at 1 tbs ppo. I dissolved it in the water before adding lye. At light trace...

There is so much "how" on this board, let's talk "why" a little bit! It seems like when soapmaking comes up in conversation (and I alway manage to bring it up) it feels......random. There just aren't many people who make soap and it's always either a real conversation booster, with lots of...

Lately I don't shower so much as I test, experiment, observe, and hypothesize. I just started using the second soap I made and I noticed something that also seemed to happen with my first soap--I don't get the best lather until about the third use. I would have expected to have to work up a...

And all I paid for were the clays! The oils were a free promotion and why I placed the order at all. The lemongrass, nettle leaf powder and silk were a surprise! I ordered from http://www.soap-making-resource.com/ In all I got: french green clay, moroccan red clay, bentonite clay, dried...

In browsing old posts I keep coming across the advice: don't cure on unlined metal. Why is this? My darling husband came up with what we thought was a genius solution to cure my ever growing collection of bars (thats an old screen door we replaced)' But I think the screen is metal of some...

So I feel like everyone else's soaps are so tall! Which is funny because I'm 5'2", so I feel that way about soap and people. :) I'll have to start mold shopping! It's a little beyond be as to how you experienced soapers get such fluid, defined swirls. I'm happy with these, but they are a...

If I want to use an oil infused with a natural colorant, like paprika, to only color a portion of a batch, how do I do that? Remove the amount infused from the total oil amount in soap calc? Or leave the total oil amount the same, and add the infused oil back in after blending and separating...

This is my first try following a non lard-based recipe, but I wanted to try for a vegan friend I'd like to gift some bars to at Christmas. I love the crisp white. I colored with turmeric. I used it once in m&p and for a lovely lemon yellow, but obviously did not here! Next time I think I'll...

I just tried making 100% coconut oil soap @ 20% SF. Everything went very well--I soaped at 100degF, separated a portion out and added turmeric, tried an in-the-pot swirl. Everything behaved perfectly, thought it did seem to get to a thicker trace than I've worked with yet, faster. i'm not sure...

There are 7 people in my home and one computer. Sometimes I have to fight to get time on it! I have a Samsung Note 4 and use it basically as a mini computer. Any recommendations on soap calc apps? There are several out there... TIA!

This is just my 3rd batch and I thought I could make a "simple" two colored layered soap. Lol--simple it was not! At least not for a noob like myself. :) So while it didn't do what I intended, I like it. I'll stick to no color or one color for awhile while I learn. I do need to figure out how...