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I make laundry butter and have used it for years. Mine is made of lard soap with a slightly negative superfat, borax and washing soda dissolved in water. A lot depends on your machine and water. I have a water saving side loader and laundry butter works well. I made a batch of powder once, and...

I’ve used the same ceramic inner bowl for HP for about 6 years now and it’s still good. Just make sure there is no coating or paint on the bowl. I used one once a long time ago that had a coating on it, and the coating came off because of the lye. 176-194 F is a good range. I keep a meat...

I make 100% lard soap and have found that the temperature of the lard and lye solution have a dramatic impact on how brittle it is when I cut. The higher the temperatures, the faster it becomes brittle. Weird. I like to soap when the lye and lard are in the 90’s Fahrenheit. Then I can cut the...

It wouldn’t help much if any. Hemp seed oil contains linoleic, linolineic and oleic acids which are all unsaturated, meaning they contain a double bond. Think of a double bond as a spot where something can react or the bond can break. When this happens the soap becomes rancid.

I wonder if there was a difference in the concentration of isopropyl alcohol? Bottles in my local pharmacies are 70%, and from chemical supply companies can have several concentrations.

Once I used a brand new red candy mold with my shower fizzies and they turned orange instead of staying white. There must have been some red dye left on the surface of the mold that bled through. I ran the mold through the dishwasher after that and now it’s fine, so you may want to give that a try.

I use citric acid as a chelator and it also helps with bubbles.

Sometimes our mistakes turn into what I call an “ A-ha moment” where you learn something new and the mistake turns out beautifully. You had one!!

Zany, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Yes, it’s just a canopy on the top so air can circulate.

I put a wire rack over the bars (it doesn’t touch the bars) and drape a kitchen towel over the rack. It allows for air flow and keeps the dust off.

I donate soap to the local food pantry. The director once told me that many clients have skin conditions but use the cheapest soap they can buy, so she is always happy to get my donations. Mine isn’t off cuts, old bars, etc just because my family uses that up. But I have a deal with a local...

With stearic acid it won’t get to a glossy smooth stage. Believe me, I made several crumbly batches when learning to make shaving soap. Try a short cook next time. Mine is HP and I cook it for 20 minutes before plopping into the mold. No stick blender or just a few very short bursts, instead...

Beautiful! Lavender Patchouli is one of my favorite blends. I do a blue ombré swirl with mine using indigo.

Could be the quality of your essential oils. Cheap, adulterated EOs will weep.

Lesson learned! Glad you are OK!

It might come to trace faster. Try it and report the results!

You might want to try the heating pad on top of the loaf too. Just cover the soap with some plastic wrap and put the heating pad on top. That works better for me, seems to heat the loaf more evenly.

Is your Shea butter creamy white (refined) or yellow (unrefined)? I’ve found that unrefined gives my soap a yellow tint.

I can sympathize with having a mess! My first ever soap batch was HP in a crockpot and I swore I would never make soap again! But it made pretty fabulous soap and I was hooked. Keep at it!