Recent content by OrganicSoapGuy

Good point. Definitely full gel phase.

We use annatto seed powder for most of our shades of orange (from yellow to rust - see my ID pic for a mid-range orange). If you don't mind specks, add the powder directly to your blend at trace. If you want it cleaner and a bit brighter, first steep it in your base oil, and then decant off the...

Milk or half & half cartons are ideal. Most of us don't accumulate enough of them, though. Any local coffeeshop will have a ton of half and half cartons for you. When starting, we ran our soap business for 3 years using nothing but 1 qt half & half cartons for molds, and it worked great. A...

Sarah, do you know how much essential oil you put in? With orange, you should be fine using 1-2% of your liquid soap weight. (Note, though, that orange essential oil will cloud the liquid soap you worked so hard to get clear...) Orange EO is super affordable. Try 2% and let us know how it goes...

Not sure if this has been mentioned before... But if you're looking for inexpensive CP molds, milk cartons work great, especially the 1 quart size. When your soap has set and is ready for unmolding, just tear off the carton, starting at the seam. It should spiral right down for you. The soap...

Cantilever

Just to confirm what Obsidian said... Spectrum Palm Shortening is just palm fruit oil. On SoapCalc, there is not a brand specific shortening option, but you can use the Palm Oil option from the dropdown list for the Spectrum Palm Shortening.

DeeAnna, thanks for naming this. I'm a newb here at the forum, but concur with your rule of thumb based on a fair bit of experience. I just responded to another post on the same topic that discusses the Kevin Dunn article...

We find that the levels of linoleic FA have a consistent correlation with DOS. That is, the higher the linoleic level, the faster and more pervasive the spots. If you're reproducing the above experiment testing various additives, I'd also explore how the additives do with a formulation that has...

I always prefer to control all variables. Even in a highly controlled setting, CP soap sometimes has a personality of its own. Being a bit more careful and scientific about the process doesn't make it less artistic.

Great answer! If your not a fan of strict fatty-acid calculations, I think the lowest-hanging fruit here is to experiment with your superfatting (overall levels as well as added oils). Irish Lass's 100% CO with 20% superfat is a good example of this. Your user's skin will all be different, as is...

One more take on this... The ultramarine blue + black oxide or activated charcoal solution described above is probably the easiest to reproduce with consistency. But, if you don't mind a bit of experimentation (and a little variability in color), there's also a plant based approach. Alkanet root...