Recent content by newtonandpelle

Being new to soap making, my first few batches were a little rough around the edges since my mold was a loaf pan! The first 2 batches have cured nicely for 5 weeks and so I trimmed them up a little to make them presentable enough to give away. My question is about using the trimmings and not...

Thanks!! Haha that's what I was waiting for! Someone who clearly knows more about soap making than me (almost everyone) to say go ahead and try it. Not really sure I will be able to truly evaluate the soap since my hands feel like sandpaper these days from so much washing!

The second batch I made, I used lard instead of the canola oil. I dont know the source of the lard as it was just "Lard" sold in the bakery aisle. The soap was a lot firmer sooner than the first batch. Both batches seem the be drying nicely. No cracks or rancid smells or anything...but then I...

Thanks! Someone else also suggested that so I did. I also added fatty acid information for mink oil to the calculator which gave me a more complete profile in the end recipe since none of the formation was in the calculator.

Planning on making lots of nice things!

Here is the link to the scientific article detailing the characteristics of seal oil...twice as interesting since I am also tanning seal pelts: https://www.researchgate.net/public...haracterization_and_use_as_leather_fat_liquor

While it IS illegal to import seal products into the US, indigenous people of Alaska are permitted to hunt seals and use all parts of it for whatever purpose they want.

...And the camels give you that willingly?LOL I am not going to engage in an ethical debate about sources of oils for making soap. I have access to seal oil...so I will use it. I am sure someone from India would shudder at using tallow from a cow since they are sacred animals there...soap needs...

Haha I can't seems to post a picture never mind a link!! o_O

Since making the first 2 batches of soap, I have since found a scientific journal entry which gives me a lot of information about different characteristics of seal oil including SAP value and a break down of the fatty acids. This oil was rendered a little differently than mine was but the result...

Good to know about the coconut oil. Like I said, I just made a recipe based on using the unknown seal oil and whatever else I found in the kitchen. For the second batch I substituted shortening for the canola oil to compare the hardness and a couple of other things (forget what they are without...

I have done a fair bit of reading regarding SAP values and understand the difference between KOH and NAOH which is how I decided to make hard soap using Lye as opposed to liquid. Given that I couldn't find any information or SAP value for seal oil, I had nothing to compare it to in order to find...

Did I mention first timer here?...I'm not even sure what that means. I used 115g of Lye and 304g of water to 800g of oil. That book is about making varnishes...not sure how that is connected to soap making? Any tips or further explanation/insights would be greatly appreciated.

I have started soap making primarily because I have some seal oil I rendered down from blubber and wanted to use. In reading up on what seal oil can be used for I came across the idea of soap. Of course there is zero information about the SAP of seal blubber oil so it is going to be a matter of...