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I just unmolded a soap loaf. It was in the mold roughly 40 hours and was firm but not overly hard. But when I pulled it out of the silicone liner it was slightly sticky and gooey in places. It was a "mixed media" loaf, cold process with glycerine soap embeds. Would the embeds have caused...

I haven't been doing much large batch soaping, but I've been playing with fragrance oils. Because I love fragrances and they make me happy. I'm not the most articulate nose, but I'll share my impressions. I'll also try to sort them out by vendor. Some I did in an earlier batch, so have had...

I gave a friend some of my soaps to try as a gift, and she absolutely fell in love with one of the fragrances. I had to tell her she could NOT just go buy the fragrance oil and use it as perfume! Now she's wondering if I could make her a light, shimmering lotion with the fragrance, to use...

I recently found a new business that is starting up in Florida. They seem to be offering reasonable prices for pre-sale oils, butters, etc. They're also importing African Black Soap from Ghana, and have several varieties - including one they say would be good to use for liquid soap. I don't...

In my soaping adventures, I made several 100% oil soaps, just to see what they were like. I have 1lb of palm, 1lb of shea, and 1lb of cocoa butter soap. While they're great for science, they're not so great for using them as soap. Are they something I could learn to rebatch on? Would I need to...

I am brand new to soapmaking, but have some experience with herbal and acid rinses. I started using herbal rinses in combination with honey, yogurt, or coconut oil, just as an occasional hair masque - but you can easily use the same herbs for an acid rinse just after shampooing. While I...

When family can't decide how to relate to the black sheep... In this case, she really likes the idea of the soaps you're learning to make. But doesn't know whether to hint about not being ambitious enough in your career, or ask whether you've started your experiments with goats milk soap...

I often have waking insomnia, leading to my being awake but not necessarily feeling refreshed at 2 or 3 in the morning... And then ready to pass out again at 6 or 7am. As I wander sleepily through the forums, it made me wonder how many people soap during insomnia hours? I hesitate to soap...

I've been thinking about trying to do a shea butter recipe, and have read that some people love lots of shea while others like it in smaller quantities. I'd been eyeing a 50% shea recipe here, but I still have some palm from an earlier experiment. Plus a friend just gave me a bucket of cocoa...

I had my first soap volcano today. Then I accidentally posted about it in the candle making forum but was unable to figure out how to delete it. My apologies. Hopefully this means I'm getting my Monday over with early. :headbanging: I think I soaped too hot after trying to melt the palm (10%...

I've now made two soaps: a lard recipe from @lenarenee and a castille @Steve8556 pointed me towards. I want to do one with Shea, but I'm still trying to figure out a good recipe. It is two weeks of cure left on the lard batch, and FOR EVER on the olive oil batch. I was thinking that there...

After several years of being friends with chefs and getting lectures about things like "smoke points", I pretty much only use regular olive oil when cooking. I sincerely believe they would disown me if I brought them EVO for anything other than salad dressing. But regular olive oil is harder to...

Read what you like into it, but I have a new soap box - literally! :) I was talking to my DB about the challenge of finding a place to cure soaps in our tiny apartment. After brainstorming, we camp up with a wooden box and the plastic sheets they use to cover fluorescent overhead lighting...

I was telling my stepmom about my beginning adventures in soap making, and she asked me if I was going to be making glycerin soap. According to her, it's the only soap that doesn't make her skin react. I watched some videos of people making "clear soap", but that seems FAR more advanced than...

I have been going through many of the threads and trying to learn as much as possible from others questions. Some of the advice seems to be fairly straightforward, like: Don't use glass for lye solution Don't use wooden utensils because they'll break down over time Soap needs 4-6 weeks to...

Hi there! I recently introduced myself, but then quickly tumbled into a beginner frenzy trying to learn about everything at once. CeMoor kindly pointed me to the other forums so that the answers don't get lost in my excitement. I'd like to make a simple, beginner batch of soap. I don't...

Hi there! I hope you are all having a wonderful day/evening. Thank you to everyone who participates here! I never thought I could use handmade soap because I'd been told it was too harsh for skin. But last month I discovered the world of shampoo bars, and it has become a rabbit hole of...