Recent content by Amber

Caustic Soda=Sodium Hydroxide=Lye. Same stuff, different name. Just make sure it's 100%.

I think it is wrong re-publish another person's recipe as your own even if you got it off the internet (breach of intellectual copyright?) unless you get the original author's permission. I however think that use of a recipe is acceptable on the basis that you made the product - I don't see that...

I also thought that it could be nerve damage that may be causeing the unpleasant feeling. I've never has a salt soap to know what sort of sensation it might have normally, but if your scars are healed, then maybe it's the texture of the soap irritating the scar on your ankle?

I was reading a book on making your own 'green' cleaners, lotions & other stuff yesterday. The author wrote about making soap. Her instructions were brief & told the reader to pour the water over the lye & that it would spit & boil. She got her information from a very old book where lye was...

I think I might retract my comment about trying for 6 months to make white soap. Attempt #2 24hrs post molding is darker that the 'hot' batch I did last week. I think I made paler soaps using vege oils a couple of years ago.

This will be fun then. I've just popped another batch in my mold - exactly the same recipe but done at 'a lot' cooler temp. I just can't make up my mind if I should insulate - or not! I might go back out & insulate this batch & if that dosen't give me the results I want, then the next batch...

No IrishLass. All I used was Lard, NaOH & water.

Colour me confused! :oops: The colour I got last week was about the same colour as 'Imperial Leather' soap. I'd have been lucky if I let my lye cool for much more than 10 minutes last week!

I made a batch last week - 100% lard that did not result in the white colour that I expected. I'm itching to make another batch this week but I've got a question that's have been 'bothering' me. I posted about my 'off' colour last week & it was suggested that it may have been that my lye was...

It's been quite a while since i made soap. I made a 1.6lb batch 4 days ago - 100% lard with no additives or fragrance. I anticiapated that this would be a white soap but it's more ivory/light caramel. Does anyone have any idea on why this would be? Could it be that my Lye solution was too hot?

My nose does not always work the best..... What are nice 'man' scents for soap? I'm sure not every man likes smalling like flowers! (no offence to the ones that do)

Ok, thanks. My supplier advertises it as 'May Chang' rather than it's latin name. I'll be getting some. & thanks for the ratio too.

The only information I can find on Litsea is that it belongs to the Laurel family. There are some 200 - 400 genus of this plant over the world. Is Litsea also known as 'May Chang'? How much do I use? (bearing in mind that I don't want to overpower the lemon scent?)

I've just put a recipe through 4 different calculators & got 3 different results. Who has THE recommended calculator?

Bear with me here please....... My rebatch vege soap melts completely to a clear liquid (is not M&P though). Usually I use about 1 cup (about 140g or 1/4 poundish) of dry soap & add water. My question is.... Do I calculate the additive% on the amount of dry soap? or the total amount once...