Search results

I have been making a lot more soap lately and am trying to reduce my ingredient cost. I was curious about what others did that were between the grocery store and huge drums of oil. I ordered some oils from Wholesalesuppliesplus and I liked what I got but shipping times have been long and...

#4 is LDPE and is chemically safe for alkali so it mostly depends on the thickness. Number 7 is for "Other" and includes plastics like Polycarbonate which is not chemically stable against a strong alkali.

If the search results here are overwhelming, here is a good summary: https://classicbells.com/soap/lyeStorage.asp The short answer is #2 (HDPE) and #5(PP) are the best, #4 is non-ideal but acceptable, and everything else is a no-go.

I'm not really planning on using it for my heavy duty needs (still have a hard time giving up my Lava soap for that), but mostly I meant that it I wasn't planning on using it in the shower. I would like it to be as good of a hand cleaning bar (again, kitchen not workshop) as possible without...

Lard: 20% Shea Butter:20% Olive Oil: 10% Coconut Oil: 30% Castor oil: 10% Cocoa Butter: 10% 5% superfat (Lye and water coming from Soapee calculator) Planning on making this as a mocha soap so I had two ideas. First, I am going to try using a little powdered buttermilk in the soap...

I have this idea for a coffee soap that would be a swirl where there are only coffee grounds in one of the colors. What I am trying to find out is, do coffee grounds add color to soap or just specks? Do I need to do a double extraction on my coffee grounds to keep them from bleeding color into...

I was wondering if I could blend it into the lye water once it had already cooled, but I can try splitting the water too.

Keeping renters for 16 years in a house is actually pretty good. Would have been a lot worse probably had you had to change tenants every couple of years. I don't understand the renters attitude though. We rented for a little bit and did even hang pictures with anything but command strips...

Has anyone ever used it in soap? What did it do? I noticed that I still have some in the pantry that I don't actually plan on using and wondered what it would do in soap.

From a chemistry point of view - In the lab we have all Borosilicate glass (Lab-Grade pyrex or Kimex). Lab policy is that glass may be use for working with diluted alkaline solutions or with the dilution process when resulting in a greater than 50% dilution of the alkali. Otherwise we are to...

I made my first two batches of soap yesterday, one was a very basic CP recipe. After making the HP recipe with a negative zap test, I wanted to get the impression of what it would feel like, so I tried to test the CP soap. No Zap there either. Naturally this means I cut a little piece off...

I like the ideas of a couple of EO's and I can pick up the Lavender and Peppermint oils locally. Any suggestions for a lavender-mint blend?

Any suggestions for fragrances (FO's or EO's) that are simple (fewer oils are better), easy to obtain ingredients, and work in a variety of soap (HP and CP)? I don't have any fragrances at all and plan on making mostly fragrance free soap for my family but would like to have a basic clean...

FYI: My post wasn't meant to be scary, just informative. I have worked with things much more caustic than sodium hydroxide and come out without a scratch. The most important thing is being aware of what could happen and then knowing what to do if something bad does happen.

I'm going to put my two cents in and offer another place where this might come from. Burns from bases on the skin come from two places - First the dissolution of the dry base (or the dilution of the concentrated solution) is extremely exothermic. This means that the resulting solution heats...

BTW: I haven't bought any ingredients yet that I couldn't get at the grocery/hardware store.

Thanks for all the advice! I am super excited so I have already been doing a lot of the research that all of you have suggested. I have probably ready most of the first 15 pages of the beginners and lye based soap sections. I have watched quite a few youtube videos including The Soap Queen...

So, I am getting ready for my first attempt at solo soapmaking (Did a basic version of cold process as a chemistry demo several times about 10 years ago). I know that because of family and work schedules my attempts may be farther between than I would like. However, in a couple of weeks, I am...

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. Lots to go on and research now. Her current soap and lotion works pretty well for her as long as we don't skip the lotion after a bath. She hasn't shown up with any allergies or sensitivities so far, so she is definitely more on the atopic dermatitis...

So, I haven't even made my first batch of soap, but am looking to do my first attempt at cold process soon. I haven't bought anything yet, but I had a question. My wife and kids all have sensitive skin. My daughter even has some atopic dermatitis that requires us to grease her up like a pig...