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vetiver . . . oakmoss . . . patchouli . . . also, wormwood and caraway. A method to quickly test combinations of oils for scent is with a "fan of sticks". Buy a box of wooden coffee-stirrer sticks, Dip the tip of a stick into a particular oil, maybe more oil on this stick, less oil on that...

Aloe Vera: Yes, you can mix dry lye into aloe vera; in my previous soap-making life. Practically, this will enable you to put "aloe vera" into its name, and to construct an aloe-vera narrative in your sales description. I don't do it now. I think that the lye must be harsh to the aloe vera...

Just like with other activities, cleaning up and putting things away is a big part of the job. I have a tub filled with lots of white terry cloth rags, and I use these to wipe out my soap making pots, immediately after I pour and fill the mold blocks. Utensils get washed in the sink. The mold...

My procedure is to mix the dry lye in a 60-gallon tank into the water, a 50-pound dry-lye sack in one go. The sack is never exactly 50 pounds, so I must 'trim' the solution with a bit of extra water or extra lye to standardize my lye solution. The newly-made lye solution becomes hot; so I let...

Clearly label and secure (lock up) dangerous items. Walmart sells a blue 7 gallon drinking water "Cubetainers". Or re-use bleach bottles. There is a danger is that you forget about the stored caustic lye solution, and then somebody else finds it or stumbles upon it several years from now with...

Maybe, at rest and with time, the solution stratifies to the point that the bottom layer reaches saturation? See if vigorous stirring drives the the precipitate back into solution as the bottom layer mixes back in with the lighter layers.

The lye batch that I prepare is dense, but not saturated. Even so, after sitting at rest, the lye density at the bottom of the tank will exceed the lye density at the top of the tank: it stratifies. So, I stir and stir the lye tank just seconds before I release a measured amount of lye through...

Pumice is a bluish-greenish volcanic sand. Imitate sand, gently, by using polenta (corn meal).

I would try to warm the bottle of blasam oil in either a hot-water bath or a microwave ovem (in 30 second bursts). Observe how the oil will thin-out as its temperature increases. Maybe use a thermometer to determine how warm and fluid your oil needs to become to satisfy your purposes. When...

Here's a prominent USA base oil supplier, a reference page, to get a feel for the types and prices for different-sized packages. https://soaperschoice.com/base-oils Oh, they've prettied it up with pictures since I've last gone over it.

What vegetable oils do you have better access to in NZ that other countries don't have ? For example, in the USA, olive oil and coconut oil and palm oil are imported; yet we have some very useful domestically produced oils.

I like the label, it's funny, "Warning, extremely flammable" "Over consumption may endanger your health" "Contents may ignite or explode"

They want you to call. Univar is all over the place: In my area, they have a distribution warehouse near the airport. Recently, we've let a smaller, local outfit supply us, as this new rep is hungry and actually drove out the same afternoon with a sack of lye to close the deal for future...

USA: http://www.univar.com/US.aspx Products (lye=caustic soda) http://www.univar.com/~/media/PDFs/US%20Corp%20Region%20PDFs/Products/Univar%20USA%20Product%20Guide.ashx

So, the purest alcohol that you can commonly buy, as a civilian, in the US, is most likely . . . the infamous Everclear, at 190 proof, (95 percent alcohol by volume) the highest alcohol concentration that you can get from distillation. I think, also, that Everclear is illegal in, like, 27...

Vanilla absolute: there's a really, reeeeeaaallly good vanilla absolute from Trilogy, in New Jersey. And no alcohol ! (Load your big soap block mold with curing soap that has TOO much alcohol, and, later, watch the beast collapse into a flow of slime like a space amoeba when you go to cut...

Regarding trays and standard-sized bakery racks: Soap bars are more-dense than both cup cakes and muffins. A standard bakery rack accepts trays measuring 28 inches by 18 inches. If this tray is loaded up with soap bars, it will weigh 27 pounds -- which is too heavy for most soap-workers to...

The simplest and yet a great-looking packaging option that I've used is a simple cellophane bag with a gold or silver metallic twist tie. If you put a ribbon on it, even better! A simple paper insert is your label, run off from your computer printer and cut to size with a paper cutter or...

The light louvers look good for air circulation. I cut shelves from masonite peg board. Not expensive. The holes help a bit. Surprisingly durable, each tray (as I call one) will last for years of regular use. A tray might bend a bit . . . just flip it over next time with the bend on the top.

Lye can become "clumpy" if it absorbs moisture from humid air. Store you "loose" lye in a 5 or 7 gallon pail, but replace the snap on lid with a Gamma Seal lid, which has two parts: The rim snaps onto your pail and then the center cap screws into the rim and locks out moisture with a gasket...