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Aaaah! DragonKaz, another South Aussie! I'm guessing you're using silicon moulds for your castile if they're going in the oven? At this stage, I only have a wooden log mould (and a poorly produced one at that). My single hard plastic 3D moulds are few, which I bought for MP soap (which I didn't...

Thanks Tim884! I bought some Castor Oil this morning, so I'm all prepared. Still undecided as to whether I'll go 100% although I have heard that 100% can be a bit slimy. I've used Coconut Oil with OO, but it was pretty much a half and half mix.

Is that 170F or 170C? (Sorry if that was a silly question - still new to this). I might give that a try! I'll just have to make sure I don't need to use the oven that night! :D :D :D

Thanks Jenny. This will be my 3rd batch of soap ever. I don't know how to gel in the oven yet, so I'm happy to take things a little slower than usual. :) I might try the Castor Oil. I love extra lather!

I am about to embark on my first 100% OO Castile batch. I have decided to add Sun Ripened Raspberry FO and use Madder Root Powder to get a nice soft pink colour to it. I have actually considered popping a little Castor Oil into the mix (which obviously wouldn't make it 100% OO anymore) to give...

It's all out of the mould and cut up and looks AMAZING!!! Not gritty or grainy bits (except a slight appearance on the top, which I'll cut off) and no zap. All that worry for nothing. I'll try post piccies asap. Thanks for letting me vent my worries! :)

Thanks Maythorn. I'm thinking that if it turns out to be purely an appearance thing, I can just cut the top off the unsightly bars. It's not like I'm selling it, but gifts would have been nice, as they may just be ready in time for Christmas. I might have time to do another batch to be ready by...

Hehe. It's a pretty old book. I'm more inclined to go on the recommendations of you folks! Doing a zap test on my first batch and it was fine. Just tasted like soap. This second batch is currently still in the mould, but with a wet finger and a taste, it seemed ok too, but I'll do another...

I was flicking through a book and found troubleshooting section that stated the grainyness could possibly be from stirring too quickly or for too long (more likely too quickly as I used a stick blender) OR from not enough water in the lye mix. I used the same recipe as last time, just altered...

My second batch of soap! A wonderful chocolate fragrance with a nice dark brown colouring. I've resisted temptation to go in and peek for the last 8 hours, but went in earlier to discover the rotten towel had got stuck to the top of the soap! I decided this time, NOT to put plastic over the top...

I also found this link too, for anyone else who may come across this thread: http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/Oi ... -p-21.html Thanks again for all the info.

Fragola and Hazel, thank you so much for your great information. I am still a long way off creating my own recipes, but I find it extremely helpful in knowing that I should find out the properties of oils and butters first. I will look up these links provided and get started. As a beginner...

Thank you Fragola! So, for example, if I wanted to change the Coconut Oil to Grapeseed Oil (baring in mind I still have no idea how to create recipes and nobody would probably do this) I would need to recalculate all the measurements according to certain recommended percentages? Is that how I...

Forgive me for my ignorance or if this is a silly question. Some of you may know that I am still very new to this! I'd like to know about modifying recipes. For example, can I use a recipe I have been given and alter the additives/botanical and fragrances? I do understand that you need to be...

Thanks everyone! The botanicals I used were dried rose petals. Apologies for not popping the image in the gallery. I will do that next time. I had so much trouble getting it to work, so when it finally did, I just posted! :lol:

OMG! Apologies for the MEGA photo! I stuffed around with Photobucket for ages this afternoon, and in turn Photobucket stuffed with me. I would have posted more images, but this will have to do. You can see the bubbley texture on the top. Next time I'll not bother with the cling film and just...

To post an image on here, what are the size limits?

Thanks everyone! In a couple more hours it should be ready to unmould and cut up! It will only just be 24 hours, and I wanted to wait just a little longer, but I'm not sure I can wait now! I'm already keen to make a second batch! AND I've already added a bunch of "much needed" items to my...

Thanks for the advice Dragonkaz. I'm quite excited to see how it turns out tomorrow!

I couldn't help myself! I just went in and had a quick look. It's still quite warm and looks "sweaty" on the top. I put some gladwrap/clingfilm on the top of it when I finished pouring the batch. I heard that helps prevent soda ash. It's been about 9 hours since I finished the batch. Does this...