Janis

You can get hard bars by using coconut oil, palm kernal oil, and babassu oil. You need to understand that these oils are also drying, so the important thing is to get the right balance between conditioning and hardness that will give you your optimum bar. These oils are also the ones that bubble the most.

There are other oils that will increase hardness that aren't as drying, but don't contribute to lather. Butters would fall into this category as well as olive oil.

Palm and lard are different in that they are both hard (not as hard as co, pko, and babassu, though) and contribute somewhat to lather, as well. They are not drying.

I saw this on the other board and answered it there as well. The Uplands come with the liner. You can also order just the liner in case you want to make your own mold.

I know that some folks have used crisco, but I'm not sure what sap value they used because crisco is a combination of hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil. Maybe the sap value of those are the same, I haven't checked.

I agree with Eugenia, you soaped with too many soft oils. The only oil you can really do that with is olive oil, and then you have to let it cure for a long time before it gets hard.

Why don't you do one of two things: Either use the castille recipe Eugenia gave you, or go to the store and buy some lard. If you use crisco, you might have another failure. Whatever you do, don't give up. You're going to make some good soap, just keep trying.

In order to really help you, you'll have to post your recipe and oven temp, time, etc. I agree with Meridith, though, it might turn out fine. Just think of it this way, you'll learn a lot with this batch, and the next will be just that much better.Man, for some reason, I couldn't get the smilies to work, lol.

WoooHooo! Good for you, Heather. Another addicted soaper in the making:D

Not Sara, but most vanilla fo's will turn dark brown without any help, lol.

Robin, those soaps AND pics are wonderful. You have some lovely fragrances there. I'd love to try that Neroli...sounds yum!

Very nice, Kim. Please let us know how you like the soy oil.

Sara, that is one gorgeous soap. Let's see, my address is.......hee, hee:D

Those are gawgeous! I LOVE them:D

Supplies To Die For in Texas sell colorant and lye. You'll have to do some online shopping to get them both from the same place. I usually get my lye from the grocery store (red devil, next to the draino). I get all my colorants online because I don't have a supplier close by. Try to find a supplier in your region to cut down on shipping costs.

There is a lot of controversy over the crayon thingy. Many people have used them and claim they don't hurt their skin. I guess if you want to use crayons and the soap is for your own use, then go ahead and do it. But if you are giving the soap away to friends or family or selling it, I would use skin safe colorants.

Yup, I do it too. My mixture is for extremely dry skin. I use 75% squalene and 25% castor. I'm going to experiment a bit with it though. I've been doing it for several months and it has made a huge difference in my skin. I love it!

I love to use clays for coloring, as well. Aussie pink, red, yellow, green; French green clay, too. You can get them from several soap suppliers, like Kangaroo Blue, Oregon Trails, Brambleberry, etc.

I use rice bran oil as my main oil, which is not as hard as olive. Also, I don't use coconut oil because of allergies. With those two factors in mind, I try to get my hardness number to be in the low 70's. I would like a harder bar, but this works for me now.

Those are beautiful. I LOVE rustic:D

Very nice soap;)

Porn worthy indeed. Love the green sparkly one the best.

That looks wonderful. Good job. That's your first batch? Wow! BTW, what's the scent?

The only time I had crumbly soap was when it didn't gel, so I don't know what happened there. Too bad 'cause you were getting a nice looking reverse swirl. Ya know, Eugenia, I don't think you buy much more time with cpop than you do with a water discount. JMHO, but you might want to try regular cp. I really think you'll like the texture, too.

Edited because I see that you've already done cp. Ah well, just thought I'd suggest it, lol.

Thank you all so much. Julie, I'm leaving for a few days, but when I come back, we'll do it. No pressure though, lol. JK.....you make soap whenever you want to, I'll be around.Sherri, it's Peak's Asian Sandalwood.

Ewwwwww, lol. Sorry Eugenia, that's really the pits. That would surprise me too. I remember seeing a pic like that somewhere, but don't know what would cause it. Is it oil separation?

...so be kind:o . I had some 1343N (Yuk!) that I hate to use, but it was all I had. I made it for Julie because we have a deal - if I make a pillar, she makes soap, lol. So here it is Julie.......your turn, lmao!!!!

Scented Asian Sandalwood

Those are lovely, Tess. Great color for fruit slices and nice swirl;)

I just display each individual bar, but then I don't have that many. I categorize them, though, by type; like herbal, milk-based, floral, etc. Those categories are in the sidebar and you click on them and see each individual soap in that category.