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Welcome! Out of curiosity, where do you keep the bees in the winter?

I have fond memories of the Aloe plant. My grandmother kept few plants and she used the fresh gel directly on burns or irritated skin. As much as I like the idea of aloe, the use of processed material internally or externally isn't well studied. There are compound in aloe that are toxic in the...

You also need to test the pigments/micas you use in your recipe in combination with the FO/EO. Now that I'm using more micas, I find that they accelerate more often than FOs. There is no such thing as an essence. It's an FO, EO or various forms of extracts. I wouldn't go by the soapcalc...

It is the Sea Island Grapefruit. The scent has faded quite a bit. It still smells citrusy with grapefruit notes. It isn't as bright as when first poured. I'm not sure if it is going to survive a long cure. It hasn't developed any off notes. I didn't have enough time to do a quick review...

I suspect the cocoamphodiacetate is what made it smoother. If it is, you might want to consider if it is worth using because it is not readily biodegradable as opposed to cocamidopropyl betaine which is degraded in under 24 hours. I wonder if you could add a small amount of propylene glycol...

Lenarenee, I'm so glad you are getting some help. Situations like the one you described are unfortunately common and these women had more than their fair share of bad luck. There used to be a young woman who panhandled politely at an intersection near where I used to work. I always thought...

I'm with you on the privacy issue. I've always avoided social media like the plague. May be your friend can give you some advice. We had a case locally of an elderly man who was attacked to steal few dollars. A young guy in the community wanted to raise some money to help him. He ended...

Would it be possible to contact the Salvation Army to ask for help? They may be able to provide temporary housing and food for few days. Also, Amtrak may have a community outreach office. Another possibility is to try Uber public relation office. They could set up a chain to get these poor...

Thanks everybody. If you saw what went into the mold you would be surprised that it came out usable, literally chunks of soap of different sizes squished together with confetti. It is really worth gelling those scraps.

Real bummer:(. That was such a nice soap before the discoloration monster did its damage. There are so many nice FOs that end up unusable because of discoloration.

I was testing the base oil mix I planned to use for the swap soap when disaster struck. My plan calls for a geometric design that is poured, sectioned and then assembled into the final soap. I used a mix of 2 FOs I had and added it to the batter barely at emulsion. I needed to add micas and I...

Try New Directions Aromatics. Their EOs are good for soapmaking. If liberty Naturals ships to Canada, it would be another good supplier with more options.

That makes perfect sense. I'll have to order some myristic to compare. My last diswashing soap had 10% lauric acid, 20% coconut, 5% castor and the rest HO sunflower oil. I haven't tried side by side comparison yet but I think substituting 10% coconut with the lauric acid makes for a soap that...

I think the moderators need to consider closing this thread if this moron comes back. His "method" doesn't pass the smell test. He is just looking for attention to justify his existence. Ignorance, stupidity and arrogance make for a dangerous combination and this guy is not interested in...

Just curious why you used myristic instead of lauric. Did you try it with coconut oil and does it make a difference in the diluted soap?

What everybody else said! Just lovely. Plus what do we have to do to get on your Christmas list?:)

Your pot surface is most likely all stainless steel. If you are nervous, you can use lye to find out. Just make a small amount of about 10% lye and put it in the pot and let it sit for about an hour. If you have layers of aluminum that were exposed, they will react and you will see it. If...

It is a good habit to check the IFRA maximum usage rate for FOs particularly when mixing them. It is just an added safety measure. Body safe doesn't tell you enough about how much you can safely use.

My suggestion is to recook it to mix it all together. It should be fine as long as your lye is good quality. If it is in a crock pot, just reheat to melt. It looks like it wasn't fully traced when you put it to sleep. It needed to be stirred a little longer. Getting a solid trace with KOH...

You've been incredibly generous sharing your process with all of us. Your LS recipe is on my to do list. I think it'll make a much nicer hand soap than my usual LS.