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I am using distilled water. Fats are from different batches but the same supplier. Excellent advice all around, thanks to everyone- I've now acquired a copy of Scientific Soapmaking and will test my lye... I will report back!

Thanks Ivanstein- I'm in the UK which means my fridge is actually more like a beer fridge and it sits under the countertop :/ Good advice but my latest batch failed in air tight conditions so wasn't exposed to excess moisture... very humid in the UK so I thought of this as a factor.

Thanks for that, DeeAnna- panicking and not thinking! I've edited the original post now.

Oops, correction- it's 1:4 NaoH to KoH I'll check the calibration. KoH is 90% pure, had it awhile but I just got a new shipment so I'll try again with the new stuff. I use the S3 calculator. Thank you for your comments!

Help! After years of success with the same recipe, all of a sudden it's failing over and over again... Looks fine when finished but after a few days it starts to soften until it's a very soft cream :( I've lowered the glycerin from 5% to 2.5% and reduced water by 10% but to no avail. Here's...

Otto, I thonk there are several ways to make it softer: add more water, use KoH as well as NaoH or, as you suggest, up the castor. My head is spinning with all there is to consider with shaving soap!

Otto, I thonk there are several ways to make it softer: add more water, use KoH as well as NaoH or, as you suggest, up the castor. If you are happy with the recipe, I'd suggest the KoH. My head is spinning with all there is to consider with shaving soap!

Excellent! Liquid soap is worth the effort, IMO. I see a Failor book on the table in your photo, did you use one of her recipes? She already has extra lye in her recipes, did you account for this or did you add extra on top of it (you mentioned you used a -10% discount).

I love to rebatch and I've done it a few times. The main thing is that you can't expect it to be liquid again, though it will become a thick gel that you can quickly mold and expect to harden rather quickly (unless you add even more water but that will make your soap really soft). It's a...

You might have to buy a book (Catherine Failor's is good) for the recipes, but Fresholi, a uk based forum, has it's own thread on liquid soap making! http://www.forum.fresholi.co.uk very helpful.

Thanks again for the info-- so you just rub kerosene onto the stain and throw it into the wash as usual? Even on a white shirt? How exciting if that's all it takes! And what about vinegar, just white? I can only find malt vinegar in containers over 500 ml :0 xy, what happened in your...

Yes, I've been using my tallow/co soap for laundry and it seems to work-- only just started applying the bar directly. I suppose lard soap would have the advantage here in it's relative softness. I'm thinking of buying a carbolic soap for my bike greased clothes... was it here that the...

Ummm, I think I would need far more detailed instructions!

Thanks for the replies BN and Chrissy-- how much vinegar do you use? Do you add vinegar at the beginning of the wash every time or just every once in a while? I think petroleum is what is in Fels Naptha, can't quite remember... I would love to come up with something that's especially good...

Here is a pic of a partially gelled soap, I think it should give an idea of the difference: http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... 8%26um%3D1

Lovely :)

keep us posted! (keen soft soaper here...)

Thank you, that's certainly good information! Not to worry, though, I have not been trying to sell anything-- I have miles to go yet, and am aware of that standards here are very strict. Each and every product type needs it's own certification which is about $300 from what I hear, and I'm...

Right, so I guess you can use either the scientific name or not in the UK (she did). Here's her website-- she has some really cool products: http://lomondsoap.com/page4.htm

Those are some really good points-- what a great forum this is :) I did come across an online soap seller whose soaps I loved, and it did irritate me that she used all of the latin terms (and I had to look them all up). She wasn't using animal fats, so I think she was trying to get away from...