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Hi all, I am actually hoping to add silk to my masterbatch lye. Most people seem to eyeball the amount of silk they add. From what I can work out, the standard amount in weight is .11 per cent of the weight of the total batch of soap. If that is accurate, I can calculate in reverse what weight...

Just before I do something mad, I think I should just check. I've searched and can't find this info. I have always used NaOH and I add sugar and citric (and make the relevant adjustments, or to be more truthful soapmakingfriend does them for me). I want to experiment with a dual lye (95% NaOH...

The dilemma I am trying to resolve might sound ridiculous. It boils down to this: do I go for Palmitic 13 + Stearic 18, or Palmitic 7 + Stearic 27. Hum. Nearly every discussion of palmitic and stearic lumps them together. The difference between them is explained in terms of shorter or longer...

Dear all, In France, Xylitol seems to be the thing and has more or less ousted Sorbitol - so Xylitol is easy to find but Sorbitol less so. The consensus seems to be that Xylitol is better for combatting mouth bacteria than Sorbitol. So, my question is: has anyone used it in regular soapmaking...

Hello all, Here's the thing: the problem is my batter going red (i.e. I assume coconut milk burning). Now I know that Shunt, Irish Lass and several others on this forum put their sugar/citric acid solution directly into their oils. And then they add the lye. And they have NO PROBLEMS! I try to...

Hi all, I hope everyone is safe and well. This would really be a question for the chemists (not saying Deeanna!!). If you prepared your sugar and citric acid solution in advance, no chemical reaction between the two would interfere with their properties in any way, would it? I keep nervously...

Hi all, and thanks for any advice at all. I'm trying to get smudgy colours - I mean two colours kind of blending into eachother a bit I stumbled on a discussion on this site about this, and I remember someone submitted a photo of soap that had this kind of indistinct mix between two colours -...

Dear all, I have searched this forum and I see several suggestions about adding the coconut milk to the oils. Previously, I've added the coconut milk (making up water difference) to the lye solution (at room temperature) and it turns orange, but everything works out fine. Last night, I stood in...

Hi all, we all have our own personalities and I, it seems, am stuck with mine! I concocted a complicated recipe with no less than 10 oils/butters. It falls out of the INS range (128), but I wanted to compensate for the high fat content (kept at 5 even using full coconut milk) by adding sodium...