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I’m just getting back into soap making after a year off. Previously I used essential oils but I’m considering fragrance oils to see if they last longer. My recipes give the amount of EO but I’d it the same amount I would use for FO? I made one batch with FO and it still smells so lovely but I...

I set out my soapy ny res to start playing with colour and patterns. I’m now at the end of my soapy year, my cupboard is full so i have no room to cure any more til after Christmas - and darned if my OH didn’t buy me the most delicious aloe Vera and coconut water fragrance oil grr 😂 anyway...

I made a batch of soap today using a recipe I have used for over a year now. I hand whisk to avoid too thick a trace and today stopped at emulsion as I wanted a thin trace to try a faux column pour pattern out. I added the batter using a ladle into jugs with mica and it thickened right up before...

I’m starting to play with colour and pattern but I’m struggling to get white soap. A fairly common problem which I can go some way to fixing by changing my recipe. I currently use SOA 29% CO 5% castor oil 1% palm oil 30% Shea butter 10% which are all fairly light but then it all goes yellow...

Can you add EO and clay pre lye? Since switching to hand whisk to avoid thick trace I’ve had clay spots in the finished soap. I’d like to know if I can stick blend EO pre lye and not get fast acceleration? Many thanks

He said “Mama, this is the worst soap you’ve ever made” 😂

I opened my Shea butter today to discover cocoa butter instead, can’t return it as the Amazon window has closed so I’m going to give it a go. Some advice though please - does it lose its smell in soap? If not what fragrances work well with it? - what kind of bar does it make? I use shea up to...

My impatience got the better of me. I live in Scotland where it rains about 75% of the time. I work and have a small child. I soap outside. Today I had a work and child free day, the weather looked ok, rain due later, so I snatched my opportunity to soap but I was against the clock as wouldn’t...

Happy days indeed. I’ve had so much fun and learnt so much from everyone here. I’ve made mistakes (plenty) and had my successes too. I just checked my cupboard and I reckon I have about 50-60 bars of different soap, some are mistakes which I’m still learning from and some are big hits. first to...

A friend approached me today with this very question. She wanted to know if it was possible. I said I spose theoretically yes you can replace some of the water with breast milk but I would put the question forward and ask for advice and experiences from this awesome forum I’m a part of. She...

I’m considering venturing into using palm oil for my veggie recipe as I’m not happy with my current soap. I make a lard soap at 60% lard which I love. Is it a like for like swap when switching to palm? TIA Deb

Its a commercial brand. I tried solid bars before but they were basically soap and destroyed my hair. I’m no quitter! But I am confused. Can anyone take a look at this list of ingredients and know if it’s been made with lye? INGREDIENTS SODIUM COCOYL ISETHIONATE • HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL •...

I bought half a dozen calendula plants this spring in the hopes of harvesting the petals to try and colour soap naturally and they have surpassed what I hoped for. It’s awesome and they’re gorgeous. I have both orange and yellow petals and my question is do they colour the soap the colour of...

I used 30% sweet almond oil 30% rice bran oil 17% olive oil 10% Shea butter 8% castor oil 5% coconut oil 65g lye 130g water done using a soap calculator my oil blend was geranium, lavender and bergamot. I know lavender traces fast but this was faster than previous soaps using lavender in...

Before I dip a toe into the colourful world of mica - I’ve been watching the soap queen and I feel patterns are in my future- I would like advice on how much mica in approx 1kg soap -2lb ish- and roughly how much I would expect to pay for some decent ones. I am in the UK but just ball park...

I’ve been using essential oils for my soaps as I make only for my family, so cost per bar (within reason) isn’t an Issue. I‘ve seen fragrance oils on Amazon but it’s a minefield. I don’t know who’s good to buy from. EO’s I’ve been getting from Holland & Barrett so you’re kinda safe there. But it...

I knew it would change colour a bit but this was a tad unexpected It’s a lard based recipe so I added honey to boost lather at the suggested amount on the lye calculator. I’m wondering if caster or powdered sugar would have the same result? Can anyone advise? Many thanks I mean I’m ok with it...

I’ve noticed from this forum that many soapers complain that peppermint oil fragrance fades fast. I would love to make a peppermint soap with either lavender or lemongrass essential oils and wonder if anyone has managed to get the peppermint to stick and if so how did they do it? I’m looking at...

Hi all and any uk soapers, much appreciate you taking the time to read this. I’ve DOS on 3 different fragrance soaps, otherwise using same recipe , therefore i think it’s the water or rather the metals etc within. I’m asking UK based purely for local language reasons as I know the same thing...

I’d like to try making a veggie/vegan friendly soap without using palm oil as the hard fat, any help appreciated with suggestions thank you 🙏🏻