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Do you buy technical or food grade lye? I was looking at AAA Chemicals for lye and they have two different ones at different price. Does it matter?

Mango butter? That sounds pretty neat! I guess, then, it doesn't make sense to use the more expensive oils (like jojoba) in soap (which gets washed off the body anyways) when it may or may not be left unsaponified?

Thank you! In a sense, that makes it easier adding all together at once.

No, actually, CP. But after a post I just did, it seems that it really doesn't matter when to add the "superfatting" oils. Just trying to get a general like of which oils people use beyond their base oils. My base is almost always an olive oil, palm, and coconut.

Originally I wasn't adding my superfatting oils (ones added after trace) in the soap- calc to generate the recipe. I would just leave the superfat at 5%, create my recipe (example: olive oil, palm and coconut), then add jojoba (for example) at trace. But then, I read that I should include...

do you use most often? I am trying to decide between a couple to keep standard. I have used jojoba oil, wheatgerm oil, avocado oil, castor oil, and grapeseed oil. Which do you prefer?

When do you unmold an olive oil soap? For all my other types of soaps, I generally unmold after 1 day. But for an Olive oil soap, with it being so much softer at first, when do you unmold, so not to damage the look of it?

I keep my wheatgerm oil in the fridge and the expiration on it is about one year from when I bought it (maybe a little less).

I ended up buying the 40/42 and will just see how that goes. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I was switching to EVOO from regular OO because I wanted to see if there would be any difference in the yellowing of my olive oil soap. I don't notice it in my other soaps, but as my olive oil soap has aged, it has turned yellowish.

Olive oil? Or regular? I thought I had read and heard that regular Olive oil was best for soapmaking and extra virgin was best for cooking. But, I think I have seen people use EVOO in soaps. What is the difference in soap making?

Which one? Absolute? French? Bulgaria? 40/42? Maillette? I went to buy some from Camden Grey and got a little overwhelmed at all the choices! I am doing CP soaping.

I wish I could share pics, but my camera is sent out for repair right now. The olive oil soap has nothing added to it, but a small portion of coconut oil. It doesn't look like DOS and wouldn't it smell bad if it was DOS? Could it just be the natural state of olive oil over time? Should I...

Any idea about why my soaps might be yellowing? I noticed it first with my olive oil soap (it has a very small % of coconut, but is otherwise, purely Olive oil). It didn't happen immediately, but has been months later. The smell is still great. I use grade A not virgin Olive oil. Would...

I think that I have heard people using high percentages of castor oil for their shampoo bars. I personally don't care for a high percentages of castor, though, as it tends to make the soap very soft.

Thanks! After cutting it, the crack was only about an inch deep. I am going to try another batch tomorrow and not insulate it at all.

I have read that cracking tends to be a result of too high heating once in the mold. And it tends to be higher in wooden molds. Well, I primarily use a wood log mold and haven't had any cracking. I just started using a circle PVC mold. As I went to unmold it, I noticed cracking throughout...

Thanks so much! I don't know why I didn't think I needed to include the oils added after trace in my recipe calculations. :?

This might sound like a no-brainer, but .... whatever oils I use to superfat with (adding after trace) I haven't included them in the Soap Recipe section of the Soap Calc 9WP, but just add them as a side note in the additives section. Am I doing that all wrong? If I am wanting to add...

Thanks for sharing! I love looking at all of these! Very nice looking soaps!