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I agree with Susie's Soap Ingredients. Your friend should also look at her son's living environment. What does she wash his clothes, sheets and towels in? I would suggest a simple gentle wool wash and no softeners.

ph in soap Dear Cwarren, Not quite sure what you meant about the percentages? My preference would be to reduce the lye amount a little. The recipe looks good though. You didn't say whether you did CP or HP soap.

Monkey Farts FO Dear Soap Bomb, I always do research before I commit to buy FOs or EOs. I have not personally used Monkey Farts, but have been advised that it has some acceleration and discolours to a pale yellow,so you might want to whisk rather than use a stick blender.

ph in soap Dear Cwarren, from your recipe, it would seem you need 12.16oz of Water & 4.626oz Lye. Are you using a digital scale? The type of lye I use is 99% pure and it comes in a 25kg bag, so I would probably reduce the lye amount to 4oz, but that is purely your own decision. Make sure you...

ph in soap Dear Cwarren, Are you sure your test was exact? Soap is considered to be neutral at a Ph of 9.5. If you are still worried, you could use phenophthalein, by putting a drop on your soap. If it turns pink, it is too alkaline.

Vanilla Dear Emilaid, There is a lignin based product called Vanillin Supreme and is used in soap,creams and lip balms at a rate of up to 1%. I don't know where you would source it in another country, but it sells for $11AU per 100gms, but there are so many easy to used flavoured oils for lip...

soap allergy Dear SandyVern, Another thing to consider is dryness of the skin. You moisturize your face regularly, but when you are showering, are you doing the same to the rest of your body? Note that it is the area where more hot water tends to go. I get this sometimes, so I make sure that...

Re: Salt Bars Dear ChrisShep, I had this particular problem with a shea bar, it didn't crack into shards, but almost did and the bars looked a little untidy. I dropped 2 oz of the sodium hydroxide off the amount for the large batch, even though it was what the original batch soapcalc...

Coffee in Soap Dear Xixstar, I made coffee soap using 1oz of instant coffee for a 5lb batch. I retained 2 oz of the water to dissolve it and added it after the lye. I made a second batch and added 1oz island coconut FO [brambleberry]. It stays coffee smelling, maybe because of the coconut mix...

Tea Tree Soap Dear Jay, I think you should use about 2 1/2 oz of Tea Tree per 4lb batch. It is my advice that instead of crushing up Frankinsence for your soap, that you dissolve it. You can do this only with Stearic Acid - a wax you buy from Soap suppliers. A ratio of 2:1...

Tea Tree Soap Dear Krissy, Love the colour! As Tea Tree is an Aussie Native, I think you should go native and call it "Ulura Twister"! It reminds me of some of the shades we have on our "Rock" :wink:

Coconut Milk Soap Dear Nancy, I make a coconut milk cp soap and it turns out creamy/beige coloured [I think the coconut discolours], which I don't mind.I use canned thick coconut milk from the asian isle in the supermarket. I make it 50:50 Water:Coconut Milk. I make lye/water solution, add it...

Castor Oil I don't know how poisonous Castor Oil is. In the 1930's when my Mum was young, Gran-ma would give all the children a dose of Castor Oil once a month "to clean out the worms!" :wink: I just know I love to use it in soaps and lotions and no bad rap is going to change my mind, just...

I never really went for Dragon's Blood FO. My Son talked me into buying it and it sat in my cupboard for the longest time. I decided to use it up and I am still not sure I like the fragrance. I used Black Oxide & Titanium. The dark beige is discolouring from the fragrance.I...

Thanks everyone, you are so encouraging!

First Soap Dear Jay, I ran the formula through SoapCalc and it looks all good. Tell your wife not to worry. The lye will neutralise within the week and you will be able to use it with-in 6 weeks [you will be waiting for the water in the bar to reduce and the soap to become hard] This makes...

Dear Bodybym, The pink soap was only cut one week ago, and was still pliable enough in the heat of the day. If it was too cold, I am sure they would have cracked, we still have up to 77degrees F in our winter. :)

Weekend Soaps I am envious of you guys. I would like to know how you go with the coconut milk soap, Nancy. I am taking off in a couple of days on my motorcycle with a mate for two weeks to tropical North Queensland, Cooktown & Cairns. We will travel about 6,000 miles on the trip and do a bit...

Thanks Nancy and Emilaid, I appreciate your input, I was after something special for my Mum as a gift, mainly because she appreciates something I have made more than something store-bought. I am sometimes such a perfectionist that I get critical of myself. You guys are great! :D

I had a little play at making some soap I will give to my Mum and for my own use. A little time consuming though. I used a piping bag for the green leaves and an fruit peeler for the flower curls. It has a rose scent. I am not sure how much of a success this is.