benthere-donethat

Does anyone let their soaps cure in bricks like Zum bars? I'd like to try this for my display, but I'm afraid it's too soft. I'd appreciate any ideas or thoughts that you have..

My batch was just finished a couple days ago...I've already been using it and it doesn't seem to be drying. I'll be interested to hear what you think about your gm ls. Good luck!

I followed the Snowdrift guidelines, though I made up my own recipe. The soap is dark chocolate brown. It looks nice and feels good, but I wish it were a little lighter. Dark brown isn't conducive to a citrus scent... Anyway, it worked if you're not after beauty.

I only use GM for liquid and maintain a light cream color. My GM is always frozen. I let it thaw a bit and add the lye bit by bit. I usually keep some ice cubes in the bottom of the sink around the glass measuring cup where I'm adding the lye. That keeps it cool enough that I don't have much color change. It's only when I get in a hurry or when my GM isn't frozen that I have the soap turn orange or dark tan.

I only use natural coloring--alkanet root, spirulina, etc, but have been able to get really beautiful purples since the soap stays a light color. COLD is the answer!

Where do you buy your titanium dioxide? I'd like to avoid buying it online (shipping costs), but not sure if there's a local place that carries that sort of thing?

FYI, you should know that if someone reports you to eBay for copyright infringement, they will delete your listings and give you a warning. If you list those things again, you risk being suspended, etc...

This is the week for liquid soap posts:

I'd like to experiment with natural colorings (alkanet root, spirulina, etc). I've used them successfully in CP soap, but I'm new to the world of liquid soap. Does anyone have advice about how to use them? For example, I was thinking of soaking the diluting water in parsley or something before I add it to the soap... Thanks for your help.

I just completed my first batch of liquid soap...it seems to have worked. Now, the directions say that I need to let it rest or 'sequester', but it doesn't say how long. I've read other posts where people say that their LS is less drying after two weeks. Do I have to wait that long before it's usable? Thanks for your help!

Hi. I'm experimenting with liquid soap and hoping to add some goats milk. The only advice I've been able to find was at Snowdrift. Does anyone have a recipe or a guideline for how much to use and what I can expect? Any help is most appreciated. Thanks!

I did not cover this batch. It was on top of the washer all night which is enclosed in a closet. The first batch I made (a couple weeks ago) was covered with a cardboard box for a while...and it turned out fine.

I rebatched the bad batch today, so hopefully it is saved. And I made another cp gm batch tonight. I'm leaving out so it isn't covered or enclosed...

The first cp batch I made worked like a charm. I made another two days ago and when I cut it there is a pocket of oil for the length of the mold that oozes out. I used a recipe with:

50% olive oil

17% palm

28% coconut

5% castor

and used goat's milk for liquid. After reading many posts about goat's millk heating up so quickly, I used frozen gm and went so slowly that the mixture was well below room temperature when I mixed it with the oil. Could this have caused it to separate in the mold? When I was mixing, it reached trace and then when I added EO (orange and peppermint) it started to get too thick too quickly (I noticed three or four quarter sized chunks) and I stopped mixing. I think I may have waited too long to add the EO. And I have a hunch I put it in them mold before I'd mixed the EO completely into the batch. Am I on the right track? And can I save this by re-batching? I was thinking of melting it down in the crock pot. Mostly, I'm concerned about what went wrong so I don't duplicate it again...

Thanks in advance for your help!

A question about alkanet root: I've read suggestions about mixing alkanet root with the lye water or with the oil, but that won't allow me to swirl it...did you just add the alkanet root straight to part of the lye/oil mixture?

Hello everyone. I'm new to the site and have learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I have a question about recipes.

The first few batches I made (I'm doing CPHP) were great but get goopy and snotty in the shower. I realized that they were too high in olive oil and probably need a few months to cure (it's been 1 month). So yesterday I made a bar with less olive and more coconut, but while I was searching today realized that I shouldn't be using more than 20-30% coconut because it can be drying. (my recipe yesterday was almost 50% coconut) That said, what proportion of olive and coconut would you suggest for a bar that doesn't get goopy, but isn't drying? I'd like to make a bar with a consistency similar to Zum soap--they list their ingredients as coconut, palm, olive and castor.

Thanks in advance for your advice!