Recent content by harleykatz

you can make a castile soap..I'ts just olive...It may not have all the lather of soap w/coconut..but it is very nice..16 ozs.olive (pomace)-5 ozs.water 2 ozs.lye..I would soap at 95 degrees..hope this helpes you... :roll:

I have coconut on thats known as 92 melt point and it does say solid at room temp...the lavender flowers will be fine in soap..but the might turn brown after a while..I'v heard..but have never used them in soap that I'v made...Hopes this helps...... :lol:

Where does your soap call home? Ingleside Illinois..(45 miles north of Chicago) :lol:

I too bring my soap to trace before I put in the oven..But I have had recipes that puff in 10 min.n others I'v had to raise the oven temp..I'v gone from 180 to 220... :lol:

what temp was your oven ?..i had recipes that will puff up in about 10/15..min..then other that i needed to put the oven temp up about 10 deg.i, start at 180..but have gone as high as 220..hope this helps.. :o

wanting to try this recipe whoooo...orange n ginger..sounds great....i think i would do a little less castor too...might take a little time to harden up after u remore it from the mold.....i think too think a little sunflower would be great...let us know how the orange n ginger smells :lol:

4 wks vrs/ 6 wks i like mine to cure for 8 wks...but...its because when i wrap my soaps i have a band around them..if i wrap before 8 wks...the band is to loose and looks stupid....but 4/6 wks for using not much dif...

pomase oil.. i get my pomace at local italian store..on sale i pay 9.99 for 3 liters...i can,t believe how much its gone up the past few years..i used to pay 4.99 for 3 liters....but i love handmade soap..i cant use the junk u buy in the store anymore.... :lol:

oh no.. sorry don,t make the coconut more than 20% of total hard fats...a good recipe i like is .10 coconut..16 lard 16 pomace/olive.5.8 lye..14 ozs.water...i like to do a little more than a 5% lye reduction..

oh no... i alway use coconut oil.good lather and it will help harden your soap..also...40 % hard fats and 60% liquids...try that and see how it works :)