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  1. xmasdeer

    Duck Fat Shaving Soap: What's a Good Recipe?

    I have been using duck fat in my recipes, 10% for a while now. It does not smell of duck, but like all animal fats, has a very mild and different smell to vegetable oils. I use it with 30% coconut and then add other oils. None have gone rancid. No smell at all after soaping and smells like all...
  2. xmasdeer

    Recipes - Cold Process vs Hot Process

    I don't know why the soap melted in the shower, we always keep our soap on a dish that holes in it for drainage and is not near the water unless you pick it up. The soap that melted was a gift and it was soft to touch, so I am assuming that it was freshly made. I also have no idea what it was...
  3. xmasdeer

    canola-red palm oil blend

    I have found a palm/colza oil blend in France which has a 30g saturated fat content. Using the calculations on this thread I think it might be a canola 55/palm 45 blend, which I think is red palm oil, finished product is hard and looks like butter. I am not sure if this blend is correct, we are...
  4. xmasdeer

    Lard in Australia

    I know this thread is a few years old, but lard, dripping (tallow) and copha (coconut oil) in Austalia is very very expensive. You might be able to go to a local restaurant or fish and chip shop and buy a kilo from them, as these shops ususally buy large quantities of fats. Try a local...
  5. xmasdeer

    Recipes - Cold Process vs Hot Process

    There certainly is a difference in waiting 6 weeks for the soap to cure. My 100% olive oil and 50/50 olive/sunflower oil soaps are really hard after 6 weeks, less oily on the skin and feel lovely on the skin, unlike the first tests days after batching and 2 weeks after batching. I personally...
  6. xmasdeer

    How important is the weather?

    Thank you for the info. I will adjust everything and see how it goes. The calculations came from soap calculators, which makes me wonder why the soap calc is not making similar suggestions to you. I am a bit wary of these calculators, because putting the same oils and ratios into 3 different...
  7. xmasdeer

    Recipes - Cold Process vs Hot Process

    Thanks for all these comments, it is really getting interesting with these many hints and tips in conversation. Last Christmas I was given CP soap as a gift, it lasted 2 days, almost melted in the shower. Last week we purchased soap in a little village, very expensive, and it lasted 4 days in...
  8. xmasdeer

    How important is the weather?

    The two recipes here were both done recently, in cold weather. They are labelled Christmas Test and Christmas Pink. Both CP batches. Christmas Test batch 3/Nov/18 - melted oils and added lye when both at 120degF - 2 days to unmold. 1/2 batch was log bar set hard and lovely, the second half was...
  9. xmasdeer

    Tallow

    I have been reading about making tallow from fat from the butcher. Does anyone on this forum make their own or do you buy it already made? I cant find it in the stores in France and was thinking of asking the local butcher for a bag of fat. But would like some advice on your experience with...
  10. xmasdeer

    How important is the weather?

    I made some batches of soap at the end of summer and they worked perfectly, set quickly and dried out well, except for the one with too much coconut oil (50% - beginners mistake on calc). Batches were either 100% olive oil, or 50/50 Olive/Sunflower (low oleic) and these both turned out really...
  11. xmasdeer

    Recipes - Cold Process vs Hot Process

    Thanks for all your answers, the more I read on HP the more confused I was becoming. I might try a batch and see how I go but I really like playing with the swirls, so will likely keep on CP'ing
  12. xmasdeer

    Recipes - Cold Process vs Hot Process

    Can someone kindly explain the reason why some people HP instead of CP. What are the benefits of HP.
  13. xmasdeer

    Frankincense Essential Oil

    oh, thanks for that tip, I have not used it in soap, only for skin care.
  14. xmasdeer

    Hi from France

    I moved to France from Australia, last December, and have spent many months going to classes to learn the language to pass exams to enable me to live here permanently. It is quite a difficult language but eventually I hope to be able to speak it. This language barrier means I cannot easily be...
  15. xmasdeer

    Frankincense Essential Oil

    I made my own frankincense oil and it has a lovely smell. You can buy the raw frankincense online and mix it with oils but it takes about 6 weeks to infuse. That should not be a problem for soap makers as the soap takes just as long to cure. The cost of the raw frankinsence was $18 AUD for...
  16. xmasdeer

    Recipe help - Olive oil and sunflower oil

    Do you mean by this that if I reduce the coconut oil the soap will be a softer soap, and do I need to replace it with shea butter or beeswax to make it harder? I am still trying to understand the combination of oils.
  17. xmasdeer

    Recipe help - Olive oil and sunflower oil

    Thank you, I will check out changes and see what results from it.
  18. xmasdeer

    What made you pick your avatar/ username?!

    My name has been used for over 10 years now on anything I have to create a name, getting on now so this is always easy to remember after all this time. I love christmas so xmas just made it different. My nanna always added dear to my name so that is how I got my 2 favourite things together. The...
  19. xmasdeer

    One soap is too hard, my other soap is too soft, help me get to just right

    Today I had to rebatch soap. I used the same recipe in 2 different soap calculators and one came out horrible, after a week it was still very oily. Today I added more lye and mixed it into the melted and hot rebatch. It looked horrible until I stick blened it, but then it set rapidly. I added...
  20. xmasdeer

    Pussy Bath

    It is lovely that you are adopting this cat. The cat may not like a bath, we bath ours only when she is dirty or smelly, which happens only once or twice a year, depends where she has been frollicking. As you have has this cat only a short while, you may find your allergies will lesson over...
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