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I like making 100% CO at about 23% SF....It's white, hard as a rock,makes good suds and everyone seems to like it. If you use the unrefined(cold pressed) CO it even retains some of the coconut smell. :D

I make pine tar soap but I never go over about 18% pine tar. What I use comes from TSC stores and is labled as 100% light pine tar. I do CP only and mix it with a paint stirring stick...it tends to trace fairly quickly but go ahead and beat the heck out of it. Use room temps on the oil and lye...

I wouldn't chance it. Most of the drano products contain other chemicals. I order my lye from essential depot, they cater to the soap makers and their products are good and the shipping is fast. If you live near Bowling Green or Morgantown area I'd give you a bottle just to help get you...

I had almost the same thing happen a while back but it came from a powerpoint file someone sent me. It even turned off my virus protection and firewall. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. Luckily the tech support from McAfee suggested a couple of freebies to run...

I've made 100% coconut oil soap at 20% superfat and thought it was great...but I've been thinking about trying virgin coconut oil that still has the fragrance of coconuts. Has anyone tried that and did it retain the aroma of fresh coconut??? If so, what sf did you use? Thanks

I ran into some problems like that in the beginning. Now most of my recipies are 1:2.5 lye to water and I'll add about 1 tsp of sugar per lb of oil to the water prior to adding the lye.(make sure sugar is dissolved first) Have found that the sugar helps to make it gel completely...it will get...

Don't know which would be better, I've always used both lard and palm...usually more lard in my pine tar soap. What caught my eye in your post was the 20% pine tar. Good luck getting that much mixed in. I tried it once and ended up with a tar baby monster at the unmolding! :shock: Had to trim...

I had a similar experience with my neighbor. She had a rash and swollen eyes for a few days. I felt horrible to say the least. :( She told me that certain fragrances have always caused problems for her. Perfumes, soaps and laundry detergents were items that she had to be very careful when...

I've found that the brand of olive oil can also make a difference in the color. The greenish tint stuff from Walmart makes my soap darker than the light tan olive oil of a different brand. (tried saving a couple of dollars once...mistake) Also, when I use lard instead of palm it comes out lighter.

I use just a little less, maybe a teaspoon per pound of oil. Just make sure it gets dissolved in the water before adding the lye. If you don't the undissolved sugar may carmalize from the heat of the lye and water...giving you little brown specks in the soap. :roll:

Your soap looks great! A few useful hints....stick blender(almost a necessity), a decent scale, and a teaspoon or so of sugar in the lye water mixed before adding the lye(seems to make more suds and makes it get hot and gel completetly in the mold). Others may disagree but I've had recipies that...

It's bad! Send it to me for disposal....just kidding. :wink: Mine does that too. It will melt on top as it gets warm. I just stir it up a bit and scoop out what I need. If it really gets rancid you'll know it as soon as you take the lid off.

I think they look great! I've had unexpected swirls show up when I'd try to make a solid color soap with mica and use lard as one of the oils. Don't know if it was because of the lard or because I would heat the oil more to melt the lard.

This time of year, I've found that just setting it outside for a while or in the gas grill(unlit) on the deck, provides plenty of warmth for full gel. My last oven process leaked just a tiny bit and I didn't notice it until cooking a frozen pizza a couple of days later.....set off all the smoke...

I've been buying from essential depot for some time now. Fast shipping and no problems. Good quality lye at a reasonable price...especially if you buy 10 lbs or more. But even with lesser orders, they're hard to beat.

I'll make about 4lbs every two or three weeks and give most to family or friends...after I've stockpiled enough to last a while I'll take a break until someone enquires about a special fragrance or maybe something like pine tar...then I'll make some more just to satisfy them and add to my stock...

I started out using a wooden mold that I made. Since wrapping each piece in plastic wrap to line them became a bit tedious, I purchased some of the HDPE molds. The differences I've noticed are that the wooden mold insulated the soap better and it reached gel just a bit faster. The HDPE mold...

I've ordered from them several times and sometimes the order status you can get from the site is a little slow to update but I usually receive my order in 5 or 6 days. I did once have trouble with paypal there but they called the next morning to straighten it out. Good people to deal with and...

Thanks! I'll try one of those soon but it looks like I'll have to order some more PO first....this time I'll be more careful to click on the right one.

Hi everyone, I goofed my order for supplies and now have a big bag of palm kernal oil. I've read here where palm kernal is similar to coconut but I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to share a recipe or two that uses the stuff? Preferably a lot of it since I have 10lbs. :shock: Thanks...