Recent content by David James

I recommend that anyone using vinegar really evaluate their reasons why they are doing it. I used to use it in every batch for a boost in hardness, but it is sort of a false hardness. It is not truly a harder soap, but a mixture of soft soap and hard sodium acetate. The sodium acetate doesn't...

Sooo.... How did you manage to make it smell like Skittles?!

You Tube has become my magic genie in a bottle. Every car fix. Every everything fix. Yesterday I searched for "DIY Houseboat" and was not disappointed.

I agree with everyone that says: "Cleansing level can stay very low for children." You absolutely do not need to strip away all of the oils on their bodies, and even soaps with a zero % cleansing level as shown by SoapCalc are still excellent skin cleansers. Castille Soap (100% olive oil) is...

Since you are in Oregon, I think you should take a good look at ordering from Amazon, Wholesalesuppliesplus, Brambleberry, bulkApothecary, ElementsBathAndBody, many others. Look thru the Shopping Rec forum here, and search for "suppliers" across all of the boards here. If you are anywhere...

So glad to hear it! Yeah, you have plenty of choices with what you have. Certain ingredients kinda need to be avoided when your customers don't get any choice so there is a lowest common denominator effect with dietary, religious, ethical and health knowledge preferences. Leaving out animal...

I stand corrected. I had noticed that they didn't say soap in the name. More like "bath bar" And they had long lists of ingredients. Also that a 6 pack of 4 oz. bars could be bought at Wal-Mart for $9.48 I really assumed that they were just syndet bars from Big Soap" you know? Arimarra, you...

I go over to Belgium 4 times a year now for about two weeks each trip. Beer is sort of a religion over there and they have something for every palette. I feel completely outclassed. But I do use their beer in my soap. And their flax seed oil. I did some ferment-y stuff recently, but only to...

The beer (and coffee roasting and, and, and...) are all very part time and far between. Personal use only, mostly. Soap I do a couple of 10 pound batches per day right now.

You DEFINITELY can. Even skipping the lard. The timing is tight for 6+ weeks of cure though. You might want to include a card with some "keep me dry" instructions as well. 25% coconut 35% olive 15% rice bran 15% avocado 10% castor I recommend using either distilled white vinegar or ACV to...

Welcome back! I can't imagine using commercial detergents bars for a year. At this point, if I quit making new soap, I think I would have years of stockpiled soap. Need us to send you some to get thru the next 6 weeks?

(btw, I am assuming cold process here. If it is hp, you could add citric acid towards the end when fragrance oils and other things are added that should not react with lye. This could lower the measured pH of a shampoo)

Depending on your water ratio, adding lye to ACV can already bring the mixture close to boiling. For example 100% ACV at 5% acidity at room temperature running a 2:1 ration (plus the extra 0.0335 lye for the vinegar) gets closect o boiling. Adding in citrric acid and more lye to cover it is...

Color or black and white- either is fine. The foil will stick to whatever toner you tape it to and make the printed area the color of the foil, instead of the toner underneath it. Gold foil using a color laser printer. Btw, the foil comes in lots of different metallic colors. And you don't...

Sounds like Nablus. Or maybe all of the Palestinian soaps are made that way. The swear it is only olive oil, baking soda, water, and a bunch of added heat. Look here and jump to about the 40 seconds point to get to the recipe: