New soaper and some ?'s

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Well, seems to be many problems....but I will just do my thing and since everyone keeps saying I have to learn by doing, then I will and don't see a reason then to ask for thoughts from the "experts" directly then if the variables are so variable....thanks. I will keep reading and make my soaps as I want whether they be basic or not. The point was missed regarding "chemical laden" it is all relative....if I look at my bottle of "natural" face wash and compare it with my handmade soap.....huge difference and that was ALL I meant....I was not being literal. If we want to get into semantics and literal....again, all this has gone way off base from what I came here for so. Happy soaping to all and to remain happy and kind....I will now bow out as well.

Okay, to step in, you have now made 2 I'm leaving posts. This is a forum violation. Which aparently you have not read though directed to in the beginning. So, if you want to leave, please just leave. Otherwise, read the rules and go foward.

You have proven to be just about as disrespectful as you have accused others of being.

Make your soap and let us know how it goes. You are bent on doing it your way so by all means do it. That's your option and part of the fun of making soap.

I wish you happy soaping.
 
skinnybonedog,
I have to admit I have been chuckling about the "science background" in your comments. I was a materials engineer for years but when I got here I quickly realized how little I knew about making soap.
If you are here to learn about making soap you have definitely come to the right place. There are a lot of absolutely awesome teachers here ( including experience).

I do not feel that anyone here is trying to tell you that you are doing soap "wrong" but rather trying to help you improve in the craft of handmade soap.
 
The op doesn't strike me as trying to be disrespectful. I think he/she is looking for a guarantee; some comments he makes remind me of myself before I made my first batch. Being on a budget meant I didn't want to waste material. At the time I joined the forum, the consensus was newbies asking for tried and true recipes were rude and lazy. I was neither, but knew if I had a couple of failures right off the bat I'd give up on this expensive hobby. Not to sound like a broken record, but Hazel gave me a basic soap recipe for my first batch and I will be eternally grateful to her for that successful soap. However, it is not a recipe I continue to use.

To the op: Some of your questions can only be answered by you, you have to experience the process and the end result of your chosen recipes yourself. No 2 soapers agree 100% on all aspects of soaping, and one soapers favorite recipe is anothers nightmare.

Mostly, soaping has no shortcuts, and for the shortcuts out there - few are worth it.

I hope you do try soaping despite the time and experimentation it takes because soaping is a very fulfilling hobby for just those reasons.
 
The op doesn't strike me as trying to be disrespectful. I think he/she is looking for a guarantee; some comments he makes remind me of myself before I made my first batch. Being on a budget meant I didn't want to waste material. At the time I joined the forum, the consensus was newbies asking for tried and true recipes were rude and lazy. I was neither, but knew if I had a couple of failures right off the bat I'd give up on this expensive hobby. Not to sound like a broken record, but Hazel gave me a basic soap recipe for my first batch and I will be eternally grateful to her for that successful soap. However, it is not a recipe I continue to use.

To the op: Some of your questions can only be answered by you, you have to experience the process and the end result of your chosen recipes yourself. No 2 soapers agree 100% on all aspects of soaping, and one soapers favorite recipe is anothers nightmare.

Mostly, soaping has no shortcuts, and for the shortcuts out there - few are worth it.

I hope you do try soaping despite the time and experimentation it takes because soaping is a very fulfilling hobby for just those reasons.

I understand where you're coming from and taking into the fact that you can't read vocal tones, I would still say the OP was being hardheaded to put it nicely. I've observed a few non-forum savvy people here and they were nowhere near as rude and were generally well intentioned, even when they made forum "taboos". Some didn't argue and assume that we didn't miss the point and for as many people who answered this thread, someone should, would or could have understood their point.

I find it a little hard to believe that someone could be totally unaware of how their written word choices could be perceived and would play the victim. That person was giving gold of advice and their responses showed them to be impatient, possible self absorbed and mostly unreceptive to advice given by people who have been soaping for longer than I have (I've been at this for 9 months). If you're going to reject the words of veteran soapers who only said that you should soap with cheaper oils and make smaller batches to conserve money, you get what you get at that point. If the OP develops severe skin issues because of their sheer stupidity in using a week old soap on their face, especially after saying they did all this research, it's a lesson well learned and deserved. Heartless as it may seem, I won't shed a tear nor bat my eyes about it. I just hope other newbies see this as how NOT to learn to soap. I'm all for newbies asking questions but they really have to want the answers to those questions to.

Though I'm younger, I have acne prone combo skin. The best things I've done for my skin is use cool water, some witch hazel spritzed on a baby wipe, and finally a cream or one of my body whips since I leave those unscented. Soap can actually cause some breakouts if it's too cleansing so sometimes, it's better not to use soap on your face for a time. But when I do use a soap, It's at the end of the day when I can slough of the collected yuck-yuck of the outside world.

I apologize for the rant.
 
There is very little more frustrating than to be asked for your opinion/recipes, then have the person argue with what you tell them. They should not ask if they do not want the answers.
 
I understand where you're coming from and taking into the fact that you can't read vocal tones, I would still say the OP was being hardheaded to put it nicely. I've observed a few non-forum savvy people here and they were nowhere near as rude and were generally well intentioned, even when they made forum "taboos". Some didn't argue and assume that we didn't miss the point and for as many people who answered this thread, someone should, would or could have understood their point.

I find it a little hard to believe that someone could be totally unaware of how their written word choices could be perceived and would play the victim. That person was giving gold of advice and their responses showed them to be impatient, possible self absorbed and mostly unreceptive to advice given by people who have been soaping for longer than I have (I've been at this for 9 months). If you're going to reject the words of veteran soapers who only said that you should soap with cheaper oils and make smaller batches to conserve money, you get what you get at that point. If the OP develops severe skin issues because of their sheer stupidity in using a week old soap on their face, especially after saying they did all this research, it's a lesson well learned and deserved. Heartless as it may seem, I won't shed a tear nor bat my eyes about it. I just hope other newbies see this as how NOT to learn to soap. I'm all for newbies asking questions but they really have to want the answers to those questions to.

Though I'm younger, I have acne prone combo skin. The best things I've done for my skin is use cool water, some witch hazel spritzed on a baby wipe, and finally a cream or one of my body whips since I leave those unscented. Soap can actually cause some breakouts if it's too cleansing so sometimes, it's better not to use soap on your face for a time. But when I do use a soap, It's at the end of the day when I can slough of the collected yuck-yuck of the outside world.

I apologize for the rant.

No need to apologize for the rant Arimara. You and the majority of the people here enjoy teaching others about soaping, so of course its frustrating when newbies seem to reject it.

Just to explain my thinking a little further - and I'm not interested in trying to change anyone's opinion. I actually rather enjoyed the fact that the op was questioning the advice given and still wanting to do it his/her way. However, the op also showed signs of a modicum of willingness to learn and still intends to make soap. So guess what's going to happen? There'll be a feast of humble pie, then the real learning can begin. And if this person sticks with it - they'll be a great soaper.

So many of us learn the hard way; myself included.
 
No need to apologize for the rant Arimara. You and the majority of the people here enjoy teaching others about soaping, so of course its frustrating when newbies seem to reject it.

Just to explain my thinking a little further - and I'm not interested in trying to change anyone's opinion. I actually rather enjoyed the fact that the op was questioning the advice given and still wanting to do it his/her way. However, the op also showed signs of a modicum of willingness to learn and still intends to make soap. So guess what's going to happen? There'll be a feast of humble pie, then the real learning can begin. And if this person sticks with it - they'll be a great soaper.

So many of us learn the hard way; myself included.

I agree that 's good to question advice some times. It's never good to always take advice blindly. But it is as you say about them as well. My concern is that their roommate was given a soap that did her some harm. She may never know what the true root of that reaction was. That on some level saddens me.
 

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