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Have any of you tried making your own shaving brushes? I need advice on how to attach the knot to the handle. I am thinking of just gluing it on, but I need an adhesive that is waterproof, durable, and non-toxic. Any suggestions? My broken chair is on its way to becoming a shaving brush.

Hi, has anyone tried adding sweetened condensed milk to soap? I am thinking that this would give the soap a dose of both lather-boosting sugar and skin-conditioning milk. The bf loves Vietnamese coffee, and we have just enough of the condensed milk left over for one soap experiment :)

I think I remember reading that table salt in soap helps prevent limescale from forming. Is this true?

I didn't want to hijack the current thread on cure time, so I started a new thread. I'm still very confused about what happens during curing. As DeeAnna pointed out, there are three simultaneous processes: saponification, drying, and the development of a crystalline structure. The thing...

How do you determine the amount of superfat? I've seen lots of recipes that use 3% to 8%. But coconut soaps can contain as much as 20% superfat! And is it okay to add the superfat at trace? I was thinking that it might be neat to superfat with a specific skin-conditioning oil like...

Hi, can you cure soap for too long? Is there a point where the lather quality starts getting worse with age? I made CP coconut soap last night (20% superfat, 3:1 water-to-lye ratio), and I'm trying to figure out how long to cure it for. I know it will be okay after 4 weeks, but I want it to...

What is it about Ivory soap that makes it so versatile? This miraculous cure-all is used as a wood finish, as a plaster-mold releasing-agent, as a lubricant for cutting screw threads... I am thinking of making my own Ivory soap flakes. From the ingredients, it seems like any ol'...

I was having a rainy day and this cheered me up. Hope you like it too :)

Today I made an extra bit of cash and decided to treat myself to Bulk Apothecary! Staring at the list of bulk oils and wondering what to get, one thing lend to another and... well, I ended up with a worksheet of different oils and their fatty acid profiles in a feeble attempt to understand what...

Have you ever tried scenting soap without EO/FO, with only dried plant material like flowers, herbs, fruit rinds, etc? I've heard that some additions just don't work for scenting (e.g. coffee grinds). Any success stories?

Earlier this month, I made a sample of castile soap to test a new lavender EO. The recipe was simply 100g olive oil, 12g lye, 28g water, 10 drops of EO added at trace. I beat all my soaps by hand (no immersion blender). To achieve trace faster with olive oil, I have been using a large water...

Hello, anyone here use essential oils for health? I am new to aromatherapy, and I would like to try topical applications. Do EO carrier oils need to be of a certain purity (i.e. are carrier oils graded "therapeutic grade" like essential oils)? I have some camellia oil from a hardware...

Hello, My name is Emma. I enjoy woodworking in the Federalist tradition (late 18th century). My soap making journey began from a desire to make the most use of my lumber, out of respect for fallen trees. In an attempt to extend the useful life of my precious woods, I burned the scraps and...

Hello, I am trying to make a soap that simply smells... fresh. Like clean laundry. Or the candle scent "fresh linen". Or Irish Springs soap. Just wondering where this smell comes from in nature?