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Hey, I know this is pretty late for a post but I joined not long ago and saw this post while browsing. I keep bees for a living so I have a fair amount of experience with beeswax. Shrinkage cracks are common when pouring large blocks of wax (like a bread loaf). It's pretty unusual to get...

I'm very confused and hope you all will forgive a newbie question. Why would you want to prevent the soap from gelling? I assume you're talking about the semi-translucent state the soap naturally goes through after you've gotten it in the molds but before it's cured enough to cut? I keep...

Pomegranate? I'd really like to know how you get the color in the pomegranate soap. It's just beautiful! I've seen several references to both pomegranate and carrot on the site and am curious if the colors in these soaps comes from the real deal or a colorant? Thanks!

Hey, guys, someone help me out here! What in the world is a salt bar? (I'm getting images of polished oak countertops with little dishes of dead sea, kosher, etc., etc.) The soaps are beautifully swirled....

Emilee, I add the honey to the lye water because I have found it doesn't combine well when I add it at light trace and the finished soap can have honey-filled voids in it. Have experienced this more than once but since I started adding it to the lye water just before combining with my melted...

Hey, thanks for the info and especially for mentioning the www.soapcalc.com website - what a great tool! I'm psyched.....

Beeswax melts at 150º - higher than probably any other of your ingredients. Definitely put it in the pot with the rest of your fats. that works just fine. To the soaper who had difficulty getting melted beeswax off her pot: boil up some water, take the pot outside, and pour the boiling...

I keep bees for a living and make beeswax soaps as part of my product line. Adding up to an ounce of clean beeswax per pound of soap will improve both the hardness and conditioning properties of your soap. (Beeswax in larger quantities makes wonderful cosmetics.) Not only that, it will trace...

No, it's not the smell of the lard that's the problem. I melt everything at low temperatures and am generous with my e.o./f.o.'s so smell is not an issue. Frankly, it's the label appeal. I'm designing a soap for the "green market" in NYC, and the demographics demand that it be an all-veggie...

Thanks very much, all! And yes, I did intend FO to mean "Fixed Oil" rather than "Fragrance Oil". Sorry!

I make CP soap using beeswax and have been using a base recipe with about 1/4 coconut oil, 1/4 palm and 1/2 lard, with about an ounce per pound of beeswax. It makes a really great soap - hard, mild, and cures in about a week. I'd like to get away from the animal fat but when I tried using...