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I was all excited when I saw the price of palm shortening at a nearby restaurant supply. Then realized that this palm is not RSPO certified like the kind I usually buy for nearly twice the price. Some of my customers care, some don't. How many of you stick with only RSPO oils?

A little retail therapy always helps coping with a loss ;)

Great find @dibbles! @Mobjack Bay , quit tempting me with more beautiful molds! :nonono:

Thanks, @Mobjack Bay . It is a pricey one, but sure is pretty. Comes quickly too. The one on Etsy that @Shelley D found looks to be the same for about $5 cheaper but takes a long time to arrive. So hard to justify buying yet another mold, but I do like this one.

Thank you, @Shelley D and @KiwiMoose. Found 'em! This pattern has a simple elegance I find very appealing -- and looking like a cinnamon bun sure doesn't hurt either (lol).

@Mobjack Bay I love your soaps with the spiral design on the top (like the green and light blue ones in the top pic). Would you mind sharing where you got that mold?

Oh silly, we always need more FOs! :nodding:

Synthetic fibers tend not to stain as easily, and most of my clothes are cotton, so I don't know if the limonene is hard on synthetics. I guess I'd rather have a shorter-lived clean shirt than a stained shirt that never wears out anyway. 🤣

I and everyone I've shared them with has been super impressed with the stain-busting power of the CO and d-limonene stain stick. It's gotten out stains I've had in some clothes for a year or more. Now, when I dribble food on my shirt I get all excited about another stain stick challenge!

I made a batch of soap and then stain sticks yesterday. I've noticed that since I replaced my old SB with a Braun Multiquick my soaps take longer to trace. Weird and unexpected difference, though kinda handy. (@AliOop BTW, I mixed the stain sticks hotter this time (about 122F) and it did...

This challenge is bringing in some of the most amazing, imaginative, and lovely soaps! Who'da thunk layers could be so many things?!

I use nitrile gloves when I soap, and I don't like the idea of wear once and throw away. I powder my hands before putting them on which keeps my hands from feeling sweaty in the gloves and also makes them easier to take off. Then when I'm all done with the soap and the cleanup, I wash my...

This is my very first batch from July 2020. It's 90% olive oil with 10% CO, colored with turmeric. I didn't know olive oil was such a slow tracer. I blended it until the SB motor overheated and died, then dejectedly left it sitting in the bowl on the counter. Came back about a half-hour later...

@bwtapestry Fascinating story. Thank you for sharing it. So many factors come into play with a natural product like beeswax!

@AliOop Those ricing spots make the soap look like a nebula in outer space. Genius! Of course you totally planned that :nodding:

I've done a lot of reading trying to sort this out, and they say forage, different species, and cleaning processes can all affect the qualities of the beeswax. The particular beeswax I had trouble with claims a melting point of 147 F. My usual source melts at 149 F. Could those 2 degrees...

All beeswax is not created equal! I'd always bought it from the same supplier until I needed some in a hurry and bought some from a different source. My recent batches of LBs with this new beeswax came out softer and feeling different. So today I bought beeswax from my original and usual...

Used the same recipe I've been using for years with no problems. Today the bars are softer than they've been before and they partially separated with what I think is the beeswax on the bottom. And yes, I mixed it very thoroughly. (Seems to be a week of weirdities. Must be a strange moon phase...

Yep, 76 degree CO. I'm totally mystified. That's why I poured too soon the other day -- just couldn't believe it wasn't ready after about 2 or 3 minutes. I will try soaping hotter next time and let you know how it goes.

I'd love it if you could shed some light on this mystery! I used 35% lye concentration. Lye water was about 101. CO was 97. I added the limonene after it (finally!) traced. Only thing different from my previous soaping is my new Braun Multiquick SB. Used that one at middle speed -- for a...