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Curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to try and rebatch the soap. I ground up the crumbly mess and added the missing CO and water. I put it in a crockpot on high for about 3 hours to get it to melt, which it did, sort of. I would stir the soap every now and then, and the melted soap...

That's what I was thinking.

I did that and there's almost 50% more NaOH than there should be. I can't get this crumbled mess to melt, so I'm not sure I can rebatch it in any way. Would letting it sit in an oil for awhile help?

I made this shaving soap today and had such a weird experience, I figured I'd give everyone a good laugh. I followed instructions, carefully weighing ingredients and setting up the equipment just right. Things went downhill quickly once I added the KOH. The CO went into trace almost...

I'm not sure how accurate the soap calculators are when comparing fats, but soap calc has lard and palm oil as almost identical in properties with palm oil slightly harder and creamier, with conditioning almost the same. Cheaper is definitely a plus and I'd prefer to buy lard locally than to...

I was thinking of it, since another poster mentioned they did this, to slow down the effects of the stearic acid on trace. There was also a mention of the effect of the high heat on the oils that could be minimized (might have been another thread). Maybe those things aren't issues, but I...

Thanks, So, if I want to melt the stearic acid separately from the CO, can it be heated up by itself with no oil present?

I read through quite a few pages, but the thread is too long for me to read it all. I bought the ingredients to try this and when the stearic acid arrived, I was surprised that it was a powder-like substance. It seems that people have heated this to melt it before mixing into the oils. Does...

Lots of people saying they like lard better, but not why. One person mentioned creamier lather. So, can anyone else say exactly why it is better? I'm new to soap making and bought a lot of CO and PO before I was more acquainted with the other options, particularly animal fat. I butchered a...

That makes sense. It does bring to mind another question. I see ingredients listed as "food grade" and others as "cosmetic grade". Is there a difference?

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I've just started making some cold process soaps and want to stay all natural. I've noticed clay is used to color some soaps and was wondering if it had to be a special clay or can I use my red and dark brown clays that I have for making ceramics? It is far cheaper...