Avrilon

Thanks everyone - your replies are most helpful!

Hi everyone, I have two questions that I hope you can help me with: I've recently started making some soaps with the irregular, bumpy looking tops because I think they look so pretty that way. How do you cover them with plastic wrap when they are lumpy like that - to avoid ash - without mooshing the nice peaks and swirly bumps? The tops are above the height of the soap mold. My husband added an extension to the mold cover so the soap is covered, but there is air in there, if that makes sense. My last batch has a lot of ash on the top and I'm wondering if that is why. Any thoughts or suggestions? I have some old soap cut into chunks that I want to add to a new batch at trace. Does the new batch have to be the same recipe as the chunks? Or can it be totally different?Thank you so much for any advice. You guys were right about soaping becoming addicting. I really didn't realize how creative it is!

Thanks so much Meredith, Luci and Scented; I don't know how I missed the qualities in SoapCalc. :embarasse DOH!

Hi everyone; I've not been here since before the holidays when I made my first batches of soap. They turned out fine for a beginner I think - and now I'm ready to make some more. I'm trying to use the oils I already have at home and have put them in SoapCalc9 w/fat discount at 5%. I have the "qualities" of the soap on SoapCalc9, but can't find a place that describes the range of the numbers. For example, the hardness is 40 for recipe I am testing to use. But what is the range of hardess - and is that good or bad number? Is there a chart somewhere that explains the different qualities of the soap by number range, explaining what the "ideal" number is depending on what you want? The qualities of the soap are: Harness: 40 Cleansing: 24 Condition: 51 Bubbly lather: 35 Creamy lather: 28 Iodine: 55 INS: 145 The numbers mean little to me since I don't know what the range is. I've looked online and can't find any info or chart. Any help or link would be most appreciated, since this is the first soap I am trying to create from scratch. I'm sorry if this is a stupid question; thanks for any help! :smiley2:

I've searched all over and can't find out about adding glycerine to CP soap. Is it done, and if so, at what percentage? I'm a beginner and am making soap today and wondered if it can be added to my recipe. My husband loves to shave with glycerine soaps we get from the health food store, but I'm not too interested in making glycerine soap. So I was wonderig if it might be possible to add some glycerine to my MP recipe to give it more "slip" for his shaving. Any help would be most appreciated!

Thank you, CareBear; your way makes much more sense to me and is the superfatting method that I am familiar with. I just wasn't sure how to make the adjustment. I've got lots to learn, but am excited to finally get started. Avrilon

Hi experts I'm making my first batch of soap tomorrow (on my own) and have picked out a recipe that I like. I've taken a soaping class and have done the basics, but want to make sure I'm doing this right. The only thing different about this recipe is that it calls for castor oil at trace when I also add my FO's and additives. I've not seen adding oils at trace before and want to make sure that's "normal". The book calls it "superfatting", but I've not seen it done this manner before. But, I am a novice. Here is the recipe for a 2# batch: 4 oz. shea butter 8 oz. almond oil 10 oz. olive oil 10 oz. coconut oil --- 4.8 oz. lye 12 oz. water --- At trace, add: 2 TBL castor oil 2 TBL ground oatmeal FO of choice Does this look okay? I really appreciate any input and I know we newbies must drive you experts batty with our questions. Thanks, Avrilon

Wow, that is just beautiful! I had no idea soaping could be so creative. I love this place!

Beautiful! I like your husband's suggestion of "Woodstock". Your colors remind me of the tie-dyed t-shirts I used to wear in the 60's (and my mama wouldn't let me go to Woodstock! )

OOooOOOoOOooo! Thank you Wonderfullywicked!

Hi guys :wave: I'm new (sorry) and can't find vanilla color stabilizer anywhere! I've googled it and searched without any luck. Where can I find it? I want some! I've looked at all the acronyms and can't figure out what BCN stands for either. Oh, I hate being the new kid on the block! Avrilon