Recent content by Jayne

Oh. Maybe my new hobby is why I have suddenly got mice. I've never had mice before. My cat does seem to be enjoying them though. She caught one a few weeks ago and woke me up with all her "fun". She decided my bedroom was the best place to play with it. At 3 am. I was not pleased...

Unfortunately I am mostly vegetarian so I don't know any butchers. So I may be wrong that they're non existent around here. I don't know of any but then I suppose I wouldn't really notice. I might keep my eye out. Do they usually sell actual tallow or do you have to render it yourself...

Wait, are you able to buy tallow or lard from somewhere at a reasonable price? 'cause everywhere I've looked is crazy expensive. EVOO is cheaper. Granted I haven't tried any butchers (non-existent).

Thanks for the answer guys. Dad will be more than happy to leave it unsealed. The reason I am getting dad to make them is because I want a smaller loaf. One that will cut only 4-5 moulds. I can only find it at one shop in Australia. Whilst it isn't expensive, there is a minimum order and a...

So I'm getting my dad to make me some moulds. I've told him - untreated timber - no glue so I can put it in the oven. Do I need to get him to seal the wood with polyethylene or is it not necessary? Edited: Because I actually was going to delete the question but posted it by accident. Since I...

You've inspired me to start some sort of record keeping Dennis. I've done 3 batches so far and I've been struggling a bit to work out how to track everything. Which meant I hadn't set anything up. Which definitely won't work. I hope to buy soapmaker 3 one day but it will be a few months til...

Thanks guys. It wasn't actually the motor that was the problem. It is the type that unclicks in the middle for cleaning. That click no longer happens so as I'm using it it comes apart. Unfortunately I don't have the receipt. I could return it and get a replacement but I'm not sure...

I made my third batch of soap today. Played with soapcalc a bit to get a recipe as I wanted something that used cheaper oils and it is more fun than just following a recipe. Which meant I also spent a lot of time looking up what the various acids do and how they impact the soap. It is in the...

I adore my hatch. I've got an 03 Kia Rio (longer than the new ones) and the amount of furniture pieces she can fit is quite amazing. My dad has a small Holden Barina. He wasn't sure about it at first (because "it's a sheila's car") and then he went to the hardware store. Now he loves it...

Thanks all. CPOP sounds like something I'll leave till I'm a bit more experienced. Or I have an easier oven to use.

Thanks everyone! Seems it is something I can buy later if I need it. Unless I do CPOP. What is CPOP?

So I've spent a lot of time watching tutorials over the last month. A lot of my "basic" information has come from the soap queen tutorials. They've been really good for basic information. One thing that is stressed in every single video is making sure that the lye water and the oils are...

I tried to cup up my 2nd loaf. It is very very soft. I made it 4 days ago now so I don't know if I did something wrong. I don't think I did because it was a basic soapqueen recipe. I'm trying to start with things I can't really stuff up. I'm going to leave it a bit longer and hopefully it...

I just made my second batch of soap. I used two colours but just did a very basic layered look where you basically drop them on top of each other. Looks pretty. I need to work something out with my alcohol. I've got it in a spray bottle but the drops must be too big because they indent the...

Well my first soap was only 2 weeks ago. Easy soapqueen recipe. Palm, olive, and coconut. I added some lavender eo because I had it. I also added mica but that didn't work. It is curing now. It cracked on top and got a bit of soda ash but seems ok. I purposely tried something really...