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i've not personally used it, but have been told it turns a drab gray color

you know, i'm not sure. it was a very small amount. i can smell it over the lavender at this point, though

i've never used beeswax, so cannot comment on it. i've heard of some heating it back up using various methods, to rebatch, then add the additional oils. i've also heard some shredding it on a vegetable shredder, to get the small shavings, with good luck. sounds like you made it work...

i do castor at 5-7%, it increases bubbles. i also add sugar at a rate of a heaping teaspoon per pound of oil; also increases bubbles. as far as moisturizing, what % palm are you using, and what % oo are you using. to me, palm is a drying oil (my opinion). i also try to keep my coconut...

i LOVE, love, love, love, love, love, love, love lard soap. i have traded soap with people who have asked what my recipe was, because it was what they were striving for. it is creamy, smooth and leaves your skin feeling moisturized. i guess, though, the gm and silk help with those things...

Hi Jude :) i've only used the gm powder from wsp, so cannot comment on other suppliers', but with the powder i notice no smell. it has that certain scent on it's own (i recognize it from feeding baby goats when i was younger), but in the soap it disappears (at least, to my nose) :)...

i've never made it myself; can't stand going through all the motions and then being disappointed. from what i gather, you'd make soap with your tallow and the potassium. i've been told it does not turn liquidy like other oils with potassium - no clue, no personal experience. then, you...

just be aware that lanolin, just like other oils (like shea) vary from supplier to supplier. some are darker than others, some are stinkier than others. have a backup plan ready to go :) even without the lanolin, i think your results will be more pleasing than any bottle you buy at the store.

there are plenty of wonderful m&p bases out there, but IMO, they do not hold a candle to cold process soap. it is not as dangerous as you (and the rest of the non-soaping world) think. have you ever poured drain cleaner down a drain? i have never been burned by lye, and so long as you're...

unless it's high in olive oil, i usually only wait around 12 hours or so. just until the soap has set and has hardened, and gel is complete (if gelled)

give it some time. too soon to do zap test on cp. wait a day or so. when doing hp, you are speeding up the process and ARE able to zap test while making. not so with cp. hang in there :) ps, what were you using to mix while waiting for trace? some eo's accelerate trace, some do...

i agree with mixing the two lye's. the koh aligns the molecules differently than the naoh, and it also gives different values. i've been meaning to do it for a while, but make a batch with koh, then rebatching it with naoh. as much as i love lard, won't make soap without it (except a OMH...

yes, silk does add a silkiness to the soap, a slickness. i use pure tussah silk. purchased it on ebay, it's natural with little flecks of cocoon every once in a while (they dissolve after sitting in the lye and then stick blended) can't comment on the silk cloth, only have experience with...

very nice :) just remember, sometimes the less effort you put into a swirl, the more natural it looks :wink:

ylang ylang.... that's what the 4th EO was :)

i've found lavender does not stay strong. i've got a couple soaps that i used lav in, and didn't like them initially. after 4-5 months, the lav is waaaay settled down and i can smell the other oils coming through (bergamot, peppermint and something else-don't remember :P ) which is good...

looks pretty, i like it. with time, you'll learn to "see" when the oils are blended enough, before they thicken too much. some may argue with me, i don't care. i can see when my lye is blended in enough, and my soap is still think enough to pour nicely. of course, the strong lye solution...

i use a heaping tablespoon wsp's gm powder per pound oil. don't know how that works out to the amount of water i'm adding (gmp:water) i could go more, but it adds the creaminess i'm looking for. i see no need to waste anymore of it, as you are putting it in something that is meant to be...

my sister went on one of these retreats in Norway, last summer

shannon- i know exactly where you can get it from, and i'll tell ya, only if you can pronounce that ;D j/k, i have no idea what that is :lol: