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As a ginger haired canvas for a million freckles, perhaps I am a little sensitive to everyone's tendency to be intolerant of the Dreaded Orange Spots. So, I must ask. Do the DOS's have any effect on the efficacy of the soap, or is this simple snobbery of the lowest order against those of us...

Sniffing the raptors in my care. Yeah, hawk sniffing, owl sniffing, falcon sniffing... Each species has a slightly different aroma. The kestrel used in my avatar smells a little of chicken coop and peppery spice.

Ms Grooms, it appears you have some bragging rights on this batch! Let me add my congratulations. Feels a little satisfying, doesn't it?

I am not interested in starting a soap making business. There are already half a dozen in town trying to make their way and struggling. I am happy to make a little for myself when I need it, hand out a few bars to certain friends that have an affinity for self-reliance and esoteric crafts. It...

Because we are in the new Middle Ages and actual, real science is considered witchcraft and evil and "unnatural". There are entire websites out there about the health benefits of pee for curing everything from cancer to the crack of dawn. Gravity is the law, science is real, and soap happens.

Ok, minerals reduce lather, create scum. Gotcha. Simplicity is my watchword, so I will just work on remembering to use the distilled water so I can not have to worry about adding other compounds to the ingredients list. Gotcha. Thanks Steve.

Oh, Meena. You don't know the half of it. My work carries a particular burden regarding death that I can only hope to lay down some day. There is a struggle to remember that reverence, respect, appreciation, and maintain my humanity. On a brighter note, the soap passed the zap test this...

I will let these bars age for a month and get back to you on what I think of them at that point. They look just fine to me, at this point. They smell completely normal. And they feel "soapy" (wow, really?) on the surface. So. I got that going for me.

It was my third or possibly fourth. I will probably stick with tallow based soaps because this is about an ethical use of every part of the animal that I can.

Careful how you say that! My mind is dirtier than my knuckles!

Here it curing in the basement. Again, I am pleased with how paper white it has turned out. Donee, same here. I make every possible use of the game I hunt and practice the most ethical means to do so. Recently, I switched to Non-Lead ammunition so that the offal left in the field contains NO...

Until I have an excellent grasp of "the rules" and why they are "the rules", I try not to break them. In this case, that is what the soap calculator said to use. Several others have also suggested less water, so I am gonna take this advice to heart, though considering the sieve-like state of my...

My last batch of soap lasted ever so much longer since I became parsimonious about giving it away to anyone crossing my path (I strongly suspect much of what I gave away from batches one and two got set aside as curiosities and went unused). Consequently, my memory was a little hazy on a few...

I have made two batches of pure deer tallow soap now and have been VERY pleased with how long a bar lasts, how incredibly well it cleans everything from dirt to blood to motor oil from my dirty knuckles. But I have noticed that I get very little sudsing from my soap. Can you explain the...

After a marathon rabbit butchering episode, friends were washing up at the kitchen sink and someone mentioned the bar of soap was an odd size/shape. I stated it was from my first batch of deer tallow soap (see Rebatching Woes thread). One person was fascinated and smelled the soap, scrubbed up...

Just to update this thread, I cut/broke the batch into usable sized blocks and left them to cure further. About three weeks ago I picked a small and odd shaped block and headed for the shower. Decent lather, not what I would call slimey, as some people have described deer tallow soap. And it...

It is solid! But of the structure of rice krispy bars! I would not hesitate to estimate it is 40% air. Swiss cheese soap! Obsidian: I held it in the oven at 170F for 2 1/2 hours, but thicker than vaseline was the best I got out of the deal. And, lastly, to The Efficacious Gentleman: I...

The recipe: 900 grams pure deer tallow at 125F/52C 100 grams canola oil, 125F/52C 150 grams of Red Crown brand lye in 1 cup distilled water also 125F/52C I had trace at 19 minutes, poured into a plastic tub where it cured for 24 hours before I cut into blocks. Hard blocks, and they didn't...