MikeInPdx

I find the kosher salt over at Big Lots! and Dollar Tree.....I usually stock up and add those. Works fine.

I usually just embrace the darkening.

I know they changed there site a while back I guess I didn't notice that it went to .net from .com

Just glad I got it figured out as I love soapcalc!!!

You and me both! I just about panicked when I thought I was going to have to go back to Excel.

If you're worried about drying effects, you can also up the superfat a bit to mitigate any drying effects.

My hands are the only dry skin on me, and they respond really well to higher superfats. Of course, a touch of lotion does better yet!

I will third the lard, although you can drop the coconut down to 20%, up the olive to compensate, and still have a lovely soap. I use a 40% lye solution in this case so it doesn't take forever to get hard.

As long as the ingredient list says 100% Sodium Hydroxide (or NaOH) and no other additives, I don't believe there is a difference. There is food grade for making things like pretzels and there is technical grade. I have always used technical grade because it's cheaper and have never had a problem.

ITA agree. No real difference....buy what's the best size and cost for you.

I'm not CareBear but I think I can help.

Basically, you taste the soap. You can wet your finger and rub it across the bar, and then put your finger on your tongue, or you can just touch your tongue to a sliver of soap (what I do).

If it tastes like soap, you're fine. If it gives you a "zap" like putting a 9 volt battery on your tongue, you have free alkali in your soap and it's not ready to use yet.

Edited because as usual....I can't type!

I agree with the points made on that page.

I discount water and typically use 33% lye solution for most soaps, but I use a 40% for my castiles. It makes a huge difference in trace time and the time that you have to wait before you cut it.

The only downside to DWCP is that you can easily get soap on a stick with some floral and spice FOs, and that the solution is smoking HOT and super caustic.....extra safety precautions are in order. A lye burn with 40% solution is nothing that anyone wants.

I use individual silicone molds for mine and then oven gel them. I also agree about the powdered charcoal.

It took me several tries to get my grandmother to use my soap. She heard "homemade lye soap" and she wasn't too eager. I wouldn't have been either.....she was used to the lye heavy stuff that was made from wood ash lye.

Now she loves it.

Try Peak!

Strawberries and Cream is very potent in candles.....I'm going to try some in soap and I will keep you posted. NICE fragrance.

The homemade laundry soap isn't even close to Tide on cleaning, but I rarely get stuff so dirty that I need that kind of power.

I make gel, powder, and make it from soap scraps, depending on what I happen to have on hand. They all work fine, although I think the powder has an edge on muddy stuff.

I ignore the sea monkeys and my soap always turns out fine.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.....I buy all my oils from Shay & Company in Portland....again no shipping, and I've had great luck with their coconut oil.

HTH

Mike

Hello and welcome to you!

Welcome to the addiction!

It might be that, or it might be the vanilla in your FO starting to turn the soap brown. I've had it discolor like that before.

If you mold isn't thin plastic, you can also pop your uncovered soap into a 170F oven for an hour to force gel. Just turn it off when you're done and let it sit in there overnight.

That seems to be the most reliable method for me in our drafty old house.

I have a couple ricers as well....they're frustrating. I use them to make HP now.

Welcome to the site, but you may want to start with a basic recipe that's already here just to get your feet wet and to see what it will do. Those are recipes that are already tried or true and for a novice soaper, you may want to have something easy the first go. You can always venture out, just you might start with something proven and most of these recipes that have been shared, are.

Hello and welcome. I think this is really good advice. A tried and true recipe will get and let you see how your soap is supposed to behave before getting fancy with the additives.

Plus, it will feed your addiction and you will soon be "one of us" BWAHAHAHAHA!

Srsly, hello and welcome to the forum.

A little late to the game, but hello and welcome!

It sounds like your sugar glopped up a bit. Try mixing it with some reserved water and dissolving it thoroughly before adding it to your cooled lye solution.

I haven't soaped it, but it makes a most excellent vinaigrette dressing.....so if you don't like it in your soap, it's still usable. I don't think it lasts very long.

I'm 41 and have combination skin.....I find that my face likes a pure castile with about a 2-3% superfat. It's strong enough to take care of the oily areas, and gentle enough not to dry me out.

I know I have....I now measure my FO's into some little stoneware ramekins that I never use for anything else.

Another valuable lesson I learned was not to put my soaping equipment in the dishwasher w/o rinsing it very well first. Lawrence Welk would have been envious of the bubbles in the kitchen!