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oats would be great. about canola -- it is one of the oils that goes rancid easy, so the high percentage of it makes the soap prone to DOS. I had couple batches high in canola turn orange on me, but i believe i was using about 25-30%. I do think that a lower amount (5-10%) brings wonderful quality to the soap, makes it more complete as far as fatty acids content. I'm sure there will be other opinions, and I'm not saying I'm the only one who is right. I'm just passing on the advise I have been given when i was starting out, and sharing my own experience. My very first batch had 30% canola in it, and it all got DOS after about 3 months. Interesting thing though, Crisco in the same amounts did not give me a speck of DOS. I don't sell soap made with crisco though, due to the labeling issues, but my skin loves it. Almost as much as it loves lard last thing... if you are doing lemon instead of patchouli... i'm not sure if you are aware of it, but lemon EO is phototoxic. Lime is fine if it is steam distilled, but lemon something to think twice about. Plus it tends to dry out the skin a bit, so that's also a thing to consider.

Look pretty good to me! A lot better then my first batch numbers were. I would probably lower down canola just a touch to be on a safe side (more lard, or olive), but it looks great just as it is. apricot seed? those are SCRATCHY in soap. if you want some exfoliation, poppy seeds are a lot better choice, they have round edges. You can add your aloe vera after cook, probably couple tablespoons (maybe someone knows better, I'm just guessing). this will ensure that goodies stay in the finished product. or you can use some of it as your lye water. You did good!

How old are your soaps with soybean, and how much soybean are you adding? there is a big difference between adding soybean, and using soybean at high percentages of your recipe.

Looks great! And lovely packaging too!

They look very yummy and creamy!

wow, how cool is that! i'm jealous

They look great!

LOL. i bet with those fragrances my kids would definitely stick them in their mouths! very original

Those are lovely swirls, and colors go well with the name too

They look great! Seems like Beautiful FO didn't give you any problems soaping, you've got a nice swirl going in there.

Here is a link to a single oil swap results http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm it has been done a while ago, but every time i formulate new recipe, or thinking about cutting down costs of supplies, i go there and think again. useful for newbies to look at.

You can soap with soybean, safflower, canola, sunflower, etc (high linoleic oils), and it is possible to formulate a decent soap with them, but if you are planning to five the soap away or sell, i'd say try to limit them to 10% or so in the recipe. I have experimented with "cheaper" oil soaps in my early soaping days... unfortunately, most of them either turned orange within a year, or started smelling rancid. Anything that had linoleic number above 20 (in Sooz calculator, the "soapcalc" one), didn't do good in a long run. on the other hand, soaps that are high in oleic acid get better/harder/nicer as they cure. oh, and there is another down side to high linoleic soaps... they tend to soften up in a bathroom, and melt faster. they have to be really watched and kept away from moisture. but don't get me wrong, initially soaps were great, so if you are planning to use whatever you make within 3-6 months, you might be ok. i did buy one of those huge jugs of soybean oil at some point, about a year and a half ago. i still have 2/3 of it and i'm afraid it is about to go rancid

it depends on how sunny the window is . i prefer to infuse in the double boiler or crockpot, it takes a day or so for flowers to get the same results as with the window. i might be wrong, but i think window infusing takes couple of weeks or so

each oil has it's own properties and brings something to the soap. but without touching a fatty acids subject, let's just say with the soft oils it is not easy to get a hard bar (i'm not saying you can't). you can use 100% olive if you want to, it'll just take a while to cure. But if you use oil like canola or soybean, any high linoleic soft oil, you will get a bar with orange spots pretty soon i'm afraid. Take CareBear's advice and make a batch of castile. if you don't want to wait for it to cure and loose the slime, use some coconut (walmart sells it, and it is NOT hydrogenated). or LARD (if you are not vegan), it is not hydrogenated either, it is just saturated fat. bad for your arteries, great in the soap.

there is something i forgot to mention. you can also use calendula tea as your liquid (if you use water). If you are planning to use goat's milk, you can use canned milk as half of your liquid and calendula tea as the other half. once again, I don't know how much medicinal value of calendula will stay in finished soap, since we are talking lye here, but I'd like to believe that some of it stays and makes the soap better.

i see. well, that explains it. thanks for clarifying this for me!

I was just wondering, does it really slide out? because silicone baking sheets are made so the side that goes on the counter/cookie sheet is very smooth and very sticky. it is called non-slip surface. so, if you put the surface to the inside of PVC pipe, your silicone will stay there. or that IS the plan and you are sliding the actual soap out? I'm really curious, because at some point i did think about using one of those sheets but went with the thin plastic sheet instead.

I'll second Olive and castor. there is something i wanted to add though. You can infuse your olive with let's say calendula and lavender. chamomile is great but a lot of people who are allergic to ragweed are allergic to chamomile. with the calendula, you get tons of benefits and no side effects. you can infuse the oil in a crocpot on WARM (or low, just make sure the oil doesn't get to the boiling point), for couple of days. If you add lavender (herb) to your infusion, the oil might get a little bit of scent initially, but nothing will stay in finished soap unfortunately. so if you decide to scent the soap, a touch of lavender EO is probably as far as you should go. oh, and the last thing, oil infused with those herbs is absolutely great if baby gets a rash here and there, or dry skin. it is good to keep on hand around a changing station, instead of mineral oil and those scary lotions from J&J

Freeezer paper, plastic bag. I believe there is a great tutorial here on lining shoebox with freezer paper.

I don't think anyone mentioned milk cartons. You don't have to line them, just cut the top off, wash... pour the soap, and once it has hardened up just peel the carton off.

just make sure you have your protective gear. it takes a lot of research to get your recipes right, and probably some botched batches, but it is a lot of fun too. i started making soap because i though it was too expensive to buy... now, thousands of dollars later i think, why didn't i just buy couple bars from someone else. lol

Amount of EO is calculated based on your fixed oil weight. fixed oil is stuff like olive, coconut, sunflower and so on. there are two ways to calculate it, either by % like in RJ calculator, or by ratio. when you see people write 0.7 ppo, that means for every lb of oil in the recipe you add 0.7 oz of EO (yes, it sounds like a lot, but the problem with soaps in that lye eats up part of the scent, so you have to add more. that's the other reason why natural soaps are expensive. here another tip. although a standard EO rate for CP is 0.7 ppo, for HP it is only half of it (0.35 ppo). because you add the EOs after the cook, when there is no lye left in the soap.

40% is good because it gives you more time between mixing the lye water with the oils and thick trace/pouring into the mold. but yout soap will be a lot softer at first and will need more time to cure and harden up. less water you use, faster will be yout trace, but harder will be your soaps after usual 4 week cure. also, if you HP, you probably want standard water amount (40%)because in the process your water evaporates and if there is not enough water, you will have a very hard time jamming the soap into the mold. I personally calculate water depending on my lye amount, LYEx2.2=water. some soapers discount water even more, but i would not recommend it until you know more about the whole process. about the crockpot... technically you can, but once you add your FOs to the pot (IF you use FOs), the scent might stick to the enamel. If you use EOs, non-toxic ones, I don't see why not. At least for couple of batches, until you figure out if you like the method. Then you can buy one specifically for soaping.

LOL. Yes, that would be in proper English Thanks

it depends on when you want your soap to be available. CP is easier, but it has to cure for 4 week minimum. HP takes longer to make, more complicated, and the texture is not as smooth, but you can use it as soon as it cools down (though it will melt fast, the best would be to let it cure for a week or so, just to dry out). If you do decide to go with HP, you can just add some sugar to your lye water as a substitute.