Francis

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think I'll have to try 100% GM 90% OO 10% castor soap. Too bad that the wait is so long on high OO soaps. . . What would you suggest for SF on a soap like this?

I adore mine from Woodfields, too. I got the block mold, thinking that it would be more versatile, but I wish I got their log mold instead.

Although I am completely enthralled with my new hobby of making soap, I am super disappointed with my creations. I tried a few of the soaps that I made about 8 weeks ago, and they are incredibly drying. My hands have never felt so dry and rough. I am constantly having to use tons of lotion, just to keep my skin from cracking. I don't have my notes in front of me, but those soaps were superfatted at around 5-6%. In all of them, I used much less than 30% cleansing oil. In one them, the cleansing oil was only around 20%, and the rest were conditioning oils such as OO, sweet almond oil, etc. In the more recent batches, I am trying recipes such as 80% OO, 10% PKO, 5% shea butter, 5% castor with 8% SF. These high OO soaps are not ready to be tested yet. I gave some of my soaps to my mom, and she to much prefer her Dove. She asked me, "Can't you make a soap just like Dove?" To be perfectly honest, at this point, I much prefer Dove to my soaps, too. I have mild eczema, and I've been using Dove all my life, and have never had such drying issues. I just did a brief research online, and it appears that syndet bars are milder than regular soaps. Am I wrong? Is my new found love of making soap doomed? Should I try 10-12% SF? I haven't made pure castile since I really like a lot of bubbles. Based on what I read, it seems like 100% pure castile is not very bubbly. Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I really want to be able to continue making my own soap, and I have already invested a lot into my new hobby, but I am not sure if my skin could tolerate my soaps.

Wonderful! Now I don't have to buy shaving cream. Would a sisal soap saver bag work, too?

Even though I am new at this, here are some things that I learned from my mistakes. 1. Make sure you know how to use the stick blender before using it. It seems pretty simple, but if you forget to keep it completely submerged, raw soap could splatter all over the place. If you never used it before, try it on something like a thick soup prior to using it on raw soap. 2. Vinegar is very handy while soaping to neutralize the lye. 3. In the beginning, don't soap at too high temp. I also agree that it's a lot more peaceful to soap at lower temperature. 4. When you pour out the oils into the container while it's on the scale, please pay close attention. A few times, I ended up pouring too fast, and inadvertently added too much. This is a problem because when this happens, you have to go through the lye calculation process over again. 5. Rosemary Oil Extract is not the same as rosemary essential oil. Don't ask me why I am stating this very obvious fact. 6. Don't round up the lye quantity. For example, if the lye calculator indicates 67.4 g, and your scale doesn't measure in 0.1g, round down to 67g. 7. You could use google to search this forum. For example, if you want to search "castile", type in google: castile site:craftserver.com. This forum is a huge encyclopedia of vast information. 8. Don't soap when you are tired and sleepy. 9. Take it easy with the stick blender if you don't want to end up with lumpy ugly soap. No need to be too paranoid that you are under mixing. Just watch a lot of Youtube videos on what tracing looks like. 10. In the very beginning, just do CP first and when you are totally comfortable with that, then attempt CPOP. 11. Don't worry if your first batch smells completely off and funky just after pouring into the mold. New and raw soap could have a weird smell that will dissipate in time.

Steve, I'm super jealous of your new mold. I want a log mold, too. Your new mold looks like a lot of thought went into it. Besides the obvious advantage of being transparent, in what other ways do you prefer it to silicone lined wood molds?

Please excuse me if this topic has been discussed before. I could not find any thread specifically regarding gelling and its impact on fragrance. Also, does the temperature of the lye water and the oil influence fragrance retention in any way? Since EO is very pricey, I want to do everything I can to retain its scent. A few people seem to feel that gelling reduces fragrance, but I wanted to get more opinions. Thank you all.

Thank you everyone for sharing your opinions. I have a few batches of bastille curing (thanks Kitn for suggesting bastille :smiley2:), but I will just have to try making some castile to satisfy my curiosity. I am considering 34% lye concentration. Does that sound good?

I am debating on whether I should make castile soap, but I am discouraged by the slime and lack of bubbles factor of castile. I've never made castile soap, and 6 month+ cure time is way too long for me to wait to find out whether I would like it or not. I love super mild and moisturizing soap, but I love bubbles and big lather, too. So, I would like to know how many of you prefer bastille to castile. Castile vs bastille, that is the question. Thanks for your input.

Kitn, that's what seems to have happened in this case. The thing overheated and somehow got air bubbles. Anyhow, here they are cut. I cheated a little and hid the ugly side. Third attempt to swirl and yet another failure! But I'm still happy as long as the soap is usable.

Thanks TallTayl, Here are the exact ingredients all in oz: Castor Oil 5.5 Palm Kernel Oil Flakes, hydrogenated 4.4 Olive Oil 2.2 Palm Oil 9.9 Water 8.36 Lye - NaOH 3.08 At the end, after all the oils were heated and melted I also added 2-4 grams of Cocoa butter because I felt that 3% SF was a bit too low.

I tried wiping with wet cloth, but it won't come off. Luckily, they are only on the top.

On a previous batch, I got lots of stearic acid spots and I used PKO on that one, too. So what temp do you soap at? I try to keep it as low as possible because I just need the extra time as a newbie.

That's what some people thought on another forum. I am scared to do CPOP now. I may be better off just sticking to good old CP until I get better at this. Thanks Kitn.

Thanks asheebeans, I used exactly 3 oz of lye, and ran all the numbers correctly on Soapcal. I licked and licked and there's no zap. After cutting, the ugly white spots are not in the soap. Thank goodness. :smiley2:

I finally managed to soap again today. Here’s the recipe I used from Trew, S. W. & Zonella, B. G. (2010). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Natural Soaps. Total oil weight: 22 oz with 3% SF Water as % of Oil: 38% Castor Oil 25% PKO 20% OO 10% PO 45% 1.2 oz of EO (70% Fir needle, 10% peppermint, 10% rosemary, 10% Eucalyptus added at light trace) about 4 g of Cocoa butter as superfat (added it in its solid form to melted oil mixture, this was in addition to the above recipe, got nervous with 3% SF, so last minute decided to throw it in there) I soaped when oil was 106 F and lye water was 105 F. I had to use PKO instead of CO, because I didn’t have any. I did CPOP at 170 degrees for about 1 hour and turned the oven off and left it in there for about 5 hours. Anyway, I just pulled it out to take a peek and here it is! I’ll cut tomorrow. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they are just on the top. Please help me. What are those ugly things? http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/3292/uglydots.jpg' alt='uglydots.jpg'> Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

How about babassu oil?

Hubby wants me to make a pure 100% fir needle soap without any other fragrance added. I have the BB fir needle EO that I may try for this. The BB site states that it may be a possible skin irritant. He doesn't have sensitive skin, and really wants it. What do you all think? Has anyone tried using this in CP soap? I did a search, but couldn't find any posts. Thank you so much for any input.

Thank you everyone for being so nice about my ugly newbie soaps. Hmmm, I better do some research as to how stearic acid forms in CP soaps. Jackie, I just used powder pigments from Brambleberry. I think liquid would be easier, but haven't tried them yet. I didn't use any proper soap molds for these soaps either, except for the flower one. For the last soap, I lined a throw away wooden box with no-melt mylar sheet from Joann. I was surprised how great the mylar sheet was for unmolding and it made such pretty smooth surface. I also used a glad tupperware for some of the ones that I cut like a pie wedge. Can't wait to get my wooden mold that I ordered!

I know they are rather ugly, but considering that less than a month ago, I knew nothing about making soap, I think they turned out okay. I really have a problem with going gung-ho with my SB, though. I add the EO after reaching trace, and I have to mix again to get the EO thoroughly incorporated. By then, it becomes super thick. Sadly, with the last batch (green top with creme base), my original intent was to attempt a swirl for the very first time. But the thing got so thick, so I couldn't swirl. Should I just add EO before reaching a trace? I want to be able to stop mixing at thin trace, but I am paranoid that I might end up with a failed batch if I don't mix thoroughly. Also, in that very same soap, what are those white blotches? I didn't do a zap test on it yet since it hasn't even been 48 hours. The recipe was 10% castor, 90% CO with 18% superfat w/ 100% GM. I wanted to try 100% CO soap, but thought that the castor may add more bubbles. My hubby can't live w/o bubbles and I make most of my soaps for him. This was a big batch for me so I hope I didn't screw up. Any advice would be much appreciated. TIA.

They are all wonderful suggestions, but for now, I feel like the only way to get it out of my system is to make soap, soap, and more soap!

Yes Kitn, it's so much fun. Tonight, I managed to do two batches. Following your previous suggestion, I made a bastille. Hope it turns out well.

I actually started dreaming of soaping! It's a happy dream, though.

I don't have another shopping list, but I do have a soap related wish list for Christmas. I am so glad that Christmas is just around the corner.

It's only been a few weeks since I even knew it's possible to make soap at home, but already, I'm in serious trouble. Instead of sleeping, I'm constantly on the web reading about soap making. Already I've spent hundreds of dollars on soap supplies, and I have more soap than what my family could use in a few years! They all seem okay (albeit a bit drying), but I can't gift them because I made them in a round shallow tupperware, so it's really ugly. Besides, I need more practice to ensure that my soaps are nice enough for gifting. I still didn't get my soap mold that I ordered. I'm shirking my regular work so that I could learn about soaping. Hubby wanted to go away somewhere nice our last break, but I didn't want to so that I could stay at home to make soap. And instead of enjoying my free time with with my family and friends, all I want to do is plan for the next batch of soap. Not only that, I'm trying to pinch pennies everywhere so that I could buy more soaping stuff. To make matters worse, instead of cooking nice dinners for my family (like I used to because I love cooking), I find myself making soap! Last but not the least, when I am stressed from work, and I tell myself, "Think happy thoughts," the first thing that pops up in my head is "SOAP"! How do I keep this severe addiction under control?