Recent content by alexanderte

I see. Would be interesting to see some Norwegian soaping terminology. Hope you find what you’re looking for. I’m completely the opposite – I try to avoid gelling at all costs. If I’ve understood it correctly, then keeping the temperature below 120 °F (49 °F) in the mold prevents the soap...

So far I’ve read Pure Soapmaking by Anne-Marie Faiola and Making Soap From Scratch by Gregory Lee White. I love both, but I would choose Pure Soapmaking if I had to choose one. Pure Soapmaking have a short, but well written section about gelling. It’s not explained in detail in the latter...

Good point! I’m the owner of the apartment, but I live in a housing cooperative. I worry sometimes if the noise from the stick blender annoys the neighbours. Stamping the soaps also makes some noise as I hit it with a soft hammer to make a stamp. I’m not that worried if this is done occasionally...

Thanks, will check it out. We have something called Mattilsynet that deals with laws regarding cosmetics. I’ve got plans to contact them some day next week. If I need a separate space for making soap, then it will be nearly impossible for me to start a business, at least in the short term, as...

At some point I really want to do an attempt at starting a micro soap business. This is a goal that I’m slowly moving towards. I know that it’s frown upon to think business right after having started making soap, but I will not sell anything before I’m confident that what I’m making is good...

Once I’ve learned to consistently make non-cracky Castiles, I’m interested in creating larger batches. I only do CP (RTCP even). The size of each of my 14 batches has been about 2 pounds (1000 grams). I use a 1 gallon (4 liters) plastic bowl for my batter, and a slightly smaller for mixing the...

Yup, I’ve actually had 5% superfat for all my batches. I’ve used 40% lye concentration for most of my batches. I want to keep it that way and see if the time when I cut might solve my problem. The scale I use is pretty good, but I know for some batches I’ve had some NaOH left in the pitcher...

No worries – didn’t interpret it as rude. I just needed some more context. :) I see. To begin with I will see if cutting it at the right moment will make a difference, but if not then it might be the particular brand of OO that I’m using. Do you use a 40% lye concentration? The biggest...

What do you find hard to believe? Not had to do what? I’m wetting the cutter and also cleaning/wetting it between each cut. I also use a spatula to gently get the soap off the cutter if the soap sticks.

I use a store brand olive oil. It’s not very expensive, but the quality should be okay. But maybe that’s what is causing it? I’ll do some research. Edit: …but I’m pretty convinced that it’s the cutting-too-early-or-too-late (especially too late) that is causing the inconsistent results and...

I did follow the advice on soaping with cooler lye. I wait for it to cool down to 120 °F (49 °C) for every batch. Should I go even lower? I guess it won’t be long before I do my first attempt at master batching the lye. I really want to understand how to do things right at 40%, but once I get...

Then maybe my main challenge is finding the exact time to cut. It’s too bad that the saponification times varies, but maybe I need to get better at figuring out if the loaf needs more time. I have zero intuition for this, so I usually discover it when it’s too late – and the loaf is damaged from...

Or, maybe I should rephrase the question to not feel anyone feel responsible for my security by asking: would you use these goggles for soap making? They are by no doubt 100 times better than the first I bought, which resembles normal glasses. But I do worry about lye splashing and getting...

Yup, at least that’s what I read in most posts about Castiles. 33% seems to be fine for most soaps, but Castiles are supposed to be made at 40%. I’m tempted to make a Castile at 33% and see how it turns out… :-?

I don’t know much about soap wire cutters, but I do play some guitar. You probably want a string that is neither wound nor coated (an invisible coating that at least Elixir adds to their strings to make them last longer – most likely not appropriate for soap wire cutters). .022 is thinner (and...