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Hi- I'm about to make my first slab batch. Its about 50-60 sm/med bars. (12.6/9.3/2.5") My question is unmolding, its a silicone mold in a box, if i normally unmold this recipe in my single 10 bar loaves in the same style silicone/box after 48hrs, will it being in a slab change that at all...

I use a lot of tallow for cooking, soaping basically for sustainability reasons. I am starting to dabble in 60-100% bars more often. I have had some issues, crumbling edges most commonly and fracturing when cutting. But being fully stuck in the mold as well. I have had to freeze it to get it...

Hello- I want to make a gardeners type bar with Sand and Pumice from my local beach. I've been crushing the pumie with my mortar and pestle. Was wondering two things.... 1.) do i need to "sterilize" the pumice? My thoughts were the lye would be a good sterilizer. I have boiled it to get any...

Hello- I have recently purchased Peru balsam, its very lovely but very thick. I tried gently warming it last time and mixing at trace with my other oils, this didn't work. It left flecks thoughout my soap. I really love it, i want it to work without flecks. My next try is going to be...

Hello all, I've been using locally sourced tallow for ages. When i first started a handful of years back i used really high amounts but eventually found my golden number to be around 30%. I'd like to re-visit high tallow recipes and wondering what other oils people add to this type recipe. I...

Hello- I have mainly traded soap for other handcrafts, thank you's, gifts and small sales to friends and family over the years. Its time to cost my soap out as people are asking more regularly. So far my brain has done best with using a spreadsheet method. I do not have a mathematical...

Hello- I have asked this before and read a lot of other threads on it, but it was never directly answered because it wasn't the important part of the question being asked in those threads. i have made 100% coconut oil bars with 20% SF. People love them. Not my favorite. My skin drys out after...

Hello- I've been making body butters as gifts for friends to go with my soaps. I have used a few different recipes with varied outcomes. Do you prefer beeswax or no beeswax? or beeswax in summer only? Do you add thickeners or clays? Is 75% hard oils to 25% soft oils a good formula to...

I'm terrible at cutting soap. I have a custom build loaf mold and some standard size silicone molds. They don't seem to sell cutters here in NZ that have an adjustable width, only thickness. I can cut my standard mold bars straight if i buy the standard cutter, but i love my big custom bars...

Hello- I'm in NZ and Kiwi soapers have it hard with all the best forums being US based. We have to read and weep on a reg. Having places like brambleberry or soap-Making resource is what we dream about! We have suppliers, limited supplies and at a much much higher cost. I as most soapers...

I'm going back to basics after a few expensive soap disasters. So i have recently decided to try and entertain myself with simple infusions rather than fancy multicolored soap while I get my basics back on top. I have done rosemary and lavender infusions thus far. Although the dried herbs...

I have some Calendula C02 to create a yellow bar for irritated skin. Does anyone have any experience adding resins to soap? Mainly i wonder usage rates. I think i'll gently warm the C02 in some avocado oil from the recipe and add it with the essential oils at trace. But i wondered how much of...

I have a very beautiful very expensive Rose oil. I actually got given a empty bulk storage bottle, tipped it upside down for two hours and got two mls out of it which is worth hundreds of $$. I have been infusing olive oil in the empty bottle for months and the olive oil smells divine on its...

I've been soaping for 3 or so years now. For myself, my family, coworkers and my mates. I have someone whom has been using my soap and loves it. I don't sell it, its just thank you's, gifts and bartering material. (I'm careful, I'm slow and steadily moving towards awesomeness. I didn't just...

hello- I'm starting to do a bit of research on molds. Watching tutorials and such. Can you tell me what you use for a large batch mold? preferences, pros cons.... My loaf mold holds about 1kg of oils, i really need that to go up drastically to be 3 or more. looking between Basic slab with...

I have been playing with clay powders alot lately, I learn as i go and do test batches. So much fun. However someone has asked me to make them soap for them to purchase for gifts by Dec. 1st. I don't generally sell my soap so i should maybe not be so willy nilly and find out the proper way to...

I think I know the answer to this question already, but the friendly folks here often know better. Avocado oil is generally used at highest 20% yes? I have a beautiful source of cheap Avo oil and i was just trying to work out if there are oil combos that would allow me to use it a bit higher?

Last year my brother in law built me a loaf mold. Its good, but where i live its very hard to source freezer paper. there is a store that sells it, I found it a few years back and i can't for the life of me remember what they called it so i can hunt it down again. even so, not cheap. since...

hiya, I've looked a bit through threads and surly this has come up before but i can't find anything. I use coconut oil in a lot of my soaps, not all of them but a lot. I keep it low usually 20% or less because it drys my skin out. But I'm wanting to make a coconut bar with my normal 72 or...

So this may seem a bit odd... I keep goats and they get a bit of kelp meal as a treat with some dried peas and sunflower seeds. I've been going outside of my safety soaper zone alot lately with all sorts of fun things and i just can't get the salt bar with kelp meal out of my mind. I mean this...