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Yes you can use bacon grease and use the lard setting in soapcalc to get your lye amount. The more you are able to filter out the bacon bits and clean it up the better soap you will have. I remember reading some posts in another forum about a couple people over the years that used bacon grease...

Years ago when I made M&P I used to make soap petals. You just melt the soap base, dip your petals in, let them dry. Voila! Soap petals. You can do the same with soluble paper. The idea is to use a one time wash and toss the petal away. I assume the water soluble paper dissolves but never used...

An hour and 45 minutes is too long a cook. I'm not surprized your soap became dry and doughy. I use full water in my recipe and cook on low in the crockpot about 45 minutes to an hour. You can always check doing a zap test on your tongue. So far I have never gotten zapped after an hour cook.

That's not too much honey. I use about 1 tbs for a 2-3 lb batch with no problems. It may just be your recipe. How long do you wait to unmold? How much water are you using? Could be one of several things I can think of.

May I ask why you want to make such a high water discount? In all the years I have been making CP soap I never had the need or desire to do a super high water discount. I do water discounts on some of my recipes but never had the need to go lower than 30-33%. Water is part of the soap recipe and...

Castor will make your soap soft and sticky and hard to unmold if you are using 15%. Shampoo bars by nature are soft because you want a high conditioning bar. Castor is a great hair oil as is olive and avocado and a few others. I use Lindy's shampoo bar recipe thats posted here on this forum...

I do a laundry soap 50/50 coconut oil and lard for a conditioning laundry soap. 0% superfat. Does great laundry. I make my salt bars with 70-80% coconut oil and a 15% superfat. They came out very nice and moisturizing. Have yet to do a 100% coconut oil. I just like a couple other oils in my...

Hah! You posted the article at the same time I posted. Good info there. I learned the info I posted on my own through trial and error. My rule of thumb is the same- use twice the amount of liquid to lye or 2:1 liquid to lye. That's enough discount for me and my soaps pop right out of the mold...

The lowest I go is 30 or 33%. I typically split my liquid and use half for my lye and the other half as my milk for my milk soaps. I know that if I go less than 50/50% lye to liquid ratio I start having trouble with my lye. It starts to crystallize and harden on the top. It was so bad once I had...

I agree. When you cut your soap up you may find you like the textured tops. A good way to reduce ash is to keep the soap wrapped up for a day or two until it fully saponifies. Otherwise if you uncover it too early it can get oxidation which will cause ash on the outer layer. Did you run your...

Most of my soaps are made with coconut milk. I actually prefer the canned as its thicker and has more fat. I split my lye liquid and use half as the coconut milk and add it to my batter after I add the lye solution. My soaps come out white using it so I like it for my swirled soaps. I use goat...

Your soaps look very nice. That's pretty good and looks pretty round to me. If you unmold it while its still soft you can work out any creases in the soap. I line my mold with freezer wrap. I make sure the smooth edge side is the one on the 'inside' of the wrap where the soap will conform with...

Another coconut milk user here. I also use aloe juice sometimes. Re purees; I find purees like avocado or pumpkin to add creaminess to the soap. A little bit more creamy than coconut milk. I especially love avocado puree. Pumpkin puree I tend to use in the fall for pumpkin and spicy soaps...

I use them for my shaving soaps. That way I get a round soap that can be plopped into a standard mug. I do line them with freezer paper and also cut out a little piece for the bottom too. Its a snap to line the cans as all you do is roll the paper, put it in the can, let the paper fill out the...

Do you mean rebatching salt bars or other soap? I don't see heat as being the problem so much as liquid. You could do a brine soap and salt the water you will be using for your lye solution. That way you won't have to worry about adding salt to your rebatched soap batter. I guess it also depends...

Like others I have a basic bath bar recipe that I can change up to make a lot of different soaps out of by changing out oils, milks, liquids, scents, colors, clays, etc. You can make quite a lot of different soaps with one basic that have different properties and appeal. Then I have seperate...

Thats what I thought. The lumps look like stearic lumps. Just remelt and give it a good stir. Besides, if you take it back you are likely to get the same stuff if you switch it out for another bucket of palm. However they are storing it the stearic has seperated and rehardened into smallish...

I use geranium EO blended 50/50 with my favorite rose FO. It moves like a MF but the scent is so worth it. I always add the fragrance mix at the last minute before pouring into the mold. Its been the only way I have been able to handle it. But OMG does it smell awesome and holds up in CP. My...

I have been using the shampoo bar recipe from this forum. I love that is has avocado and grapeseed oils in it along with shea, olive, and castor. Its low in cleansing and high in conditioning. It cleans my hair squeaky clean but I still need a conditioner as I have fine, thin, aging hair. I have...

One year I sold only soaps made with lard. I had a basic recipe that used 25% lard in it and thats the one I made and sold for the entire year. After all that time I only had one customer comment about the lard. Just one. The truth is most people just want a well made soap so don't be afraid of...