Recent content by Mestiza Girl

How do I know that my soap when through the gel phase? I just thought that if it solidifies and is all even color, it fully gelled. (i'm clearly very new to this)

Wow that's great to know. Why do you think people take the risk of partial gel or other things, as opposed to just avoiding the whole gel process? How long does it usually need to sit in the fridge if I do it this way?

Unlike many others, I have been only focusing on the room temperature method for making soap. I feel that it is faster in the sense I don't need to track temperatures and wait for oils to cool. I make my lye water and let it sit until the next day. Once it is fully cooled, I weigh out and mix my...

My last batch was high in OO and I'm looking to reduce this by adding a new oil- sweet almond. I know everything is about trial and error, but I'm hoping to get some suggestions and opinions on this recipe before I jump into it. I want a decent lather and a fairly hard bar.

Lye concentration was 33% and SF was 3%.

This might sound extremely silly but it's always good to ask, right...? I decided to test out one of my bars from a batch that has only been curing about a week. I washed my hands and it seems a tad oily but the soap is still soft. I can easily carve into it with my nail and it'll leave what...

Thank you DeeAnna, that helped a ton. Any reason in particular why a coconut oil soap would have such a high percentage of SF? Is SF visible on the soap? I hear that high percentages reduce lather.

Hellooo my fellow soap makers. I've read in a few threads that determining SF is totally up to you based on your preference. However I've also read that certain oils or butters pair well with lower/higher SF. I've also briefly seen SF associated with the term "lye discount".. would someone...

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking then about 2 ounces for the EO since I read something about citrus scents fading quicker.

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try out 1 tbsp for the 16oz half of the oil. I have a printer but no ink at the moment. That would definitely help prevent these silly errors though! & this time I'm planning to split the oils evenly since I'll be doing 2 layers, add the 1tbsp clay to one...

Oops, that was my mistake while copying the recipe from SoapCalc, hehe. It should be ounces for the water! I'll definitely try 1tbsp then for the 16 oz half of the oil. Thanks for your insight

Hey everybody! I'm trying to concoct an exfoliating lemon poppyseed soap for my second batch ever!! My first batch used the same oils in the same amounts and turned out pretty great (all I added to that batch was rose fragrance). I was wondering if I could apply the same percentages to this...

I use the stainless steel cutter that came with the ZYTJ Silicone Mold on Amazon! Thanks for the advice- I should've known pulling it would pull out little soap crumbs. Maybe I'll try a veggie knife next time. Might as well ask for future reference, hehe, where do stearic spots come from? Do...

My first batch had a successful gel phase which I was so stoked about. :) Unfortunately, when cutting the bars, I noticed a few flaws- 1. A few bars had shallow cracks on the tops...Pictures below 2. Alot of the dried rose petals were falling off the bars 3. The sides of the bars had an uneven...

Hope everyone is having a great day so far! I'm excited to say I have finished pouring in my first batch of Wild Rose soap! Pictures attached. Now the hardest part is playing the waiting game while it gels. :( One thing I did have a question about was the gel phase. I live in a fairly cool...