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Good to know. Thanks. Luckily, things seem to have worked out ok. I cut the soap this evening and it all looks good.

Yes, I use lye concentration for my recipe formulations. Usually I stick to 33%, but this time I reduced it to 30.5% because of the potential the beeswax had for speeding things up. I use SoapCalc for all my recipes, so just included the value for water as % of oils since SoapCalc gives it and...

I didn't measure the temps...I never have...just wait a bit for the lye solution to cool down some...had worked up to this point Yes...I ran it through SoapCalc online. I knew that changing the oils potentially/probably changed the lye. Thanks. I increased the water to account for the...

Well, this is a first for me. A few minutes after I poured this newly made soap into the mold, it began to crack and then "erupt". Clearly, it overheated, but I can't figure out why exactly. My process is the same as it normally is...except I needed to reformulate the base oils since I was...

I used to live in NE Arizona and it was dry as a bone - so much so that the skin on the heels of my feet would be tough as leather and crack (sort of like excessively chapped lips). I don't miss that at all...so I guess I shouldn't complain about the humidity! Good to know that there doesn't...

No, I did not spray with alcohol. I rarely get a light layer of ash, but if I do, I do not mind it - all my bars are for personal/family use and not for selling. The humidity seems to be the consensus. I really don't feel the need to pull out the dehumidifier just for these bars, so maybe...

Wow...thanks for the very quick replies! IT was hot and sticky while we were away. We've been home for a few days now, but it is still humid (southeastern Massachusetts), though cooler than it was. I would normally start using soap after 4 weeks of cure. Are these still OK to use? Or has...

I made a batch of CP soap a month ago and is has been cut and curing for the past 4 weeks. However, the tops of the bars are damp - they have that slightly slippery/slick feel of a bar that's been used in the shower (like hours after it has been used and has been left to dry). I have not seen...

to veer off-topic for a moment...Hi Yooper! You know you're the reason I got into soap making, right? You very generously sent me some samples of your soap a couple years back in response to an HBT homebrew swap! I haven't used store-bought soap since! Thank you! :thumbup:

Thanks. I think this will be my next soap making endeavor! I am thinking something like 85% CO, 15% Olive/Sunflower/Avocado oil*, 20% SF, and 50-75% salt. This seems to fall in line with the recipes I have seen. *oils I currently have in stock...I also have shea butter - would that work in a...

A lot of the recipes I see here contain a ton of CO, which I had always thought to limit because it can really dry out the skin. I keep my standard bars to 15% CO. Is it the addition of the salt that changes things here? I also noticed that the SF rate is also really high - upwards of 20% -...

Oh, I have no problem with the brown color...just really really surprised given how it started. (well, maybe I am a little disappointed I don't have the green soap I thought I was going to have...but I can try again without the herbal tea!)

Yes, I did use an herbal tea (lemon balm). I figured it was probably that...again, I just am shocked by how drastic the difference is between the gelled and non-gelled soap. Guess I can now say for certain that lemon balm tea turns gelled soap purple-y brown...even with the addition of green...

I know that saponification is a chemical process and that all the various ingredients used in various recipes add complexity to the issue, but are there any general guidelines about what sort of color changes to expect? Are there there known chemical reactions that can be referenced? Or known...

wow...this soap did the exact opposite of what I thought it would do - instead of lightening in color like every one of my previous batches, it darkened an incredible amount! So much for some nice green soap...how about some purple-y brown soap instead?!? Only a very thin layer on the top of...

Thanks! It's nice to be back. Hopefully, this time I'll be around more regularly :)

Hard to believe it's been over half a year since I last made soap! I somehow just lost the inertia. But since my supply has dwindled down to the last few bars, I was forced to action today. Hopefully the soap I have will last until this batch is ready. The following recipe is just a...

Well, I decided to try out this soap in the shower yesterday even though it is still relatively "young". I think there actually might be a nice calendula/dandelion scent to it. It might just be the natural soap smell, but it seems a bit more than that. Regardless, I like it and the soap...

FWIW I recently made a batch of soap using calendula-infused olive oil and fresh dandelion tea - http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=45599 It came out very nice, though is still curing. I do not think any sort of scent from either flower comes through...no idea about any other sort...

Thanks all for the ideas and tips. I picked up some clays the other day and will give them a try in the next couple of weeks - I picked up both French green and French red clay. I'm excited to try them out!