Search results

This site is really helpful for things like that: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2009/03/conditioner.html and I plan to make that normal hair conditioner from that page. But her recipe for solid conditioners is really nice too, I've tried one in a swap and love it. I'm not sure what you...

Different water amounts / lye concentrations can make swirls like these ghost swirls. Or yeah, maybe stearic clouds or just not mixed enough. In any case its pretty :)

When I want a slippery soap I add clay, but this recipe also makes a slippery soap with fabulous lather, despite the lack of castor oil: Lard 65% Coconut oil 15% Sweet Almond oil 20% 5% superfat AND I used citric acid in the recipe because hard water, so I recalculated the lye to accommodate...

IF the food is pretty much just water, fat and sugar, AND there are no "chunks" of it, then no it shouldn't spoil if properly formulated. I've made soap with 100% avocado puree instead of water, as well as coconut milk instead of water with good results. Other people have reported good results...

I've given up on scents or any "goodness" surviving the lye monster and cure. But for colors, oh heck yeah. I have had good success with: Carrots (use puree and hot infusion of grated carrots), annatto, alkanet, madder root, paprika and turmeric. Red palm oil also can contribute fabulous color...

I have a theory that molds with paper liners can "breathe" and tend to set up a little easier, while silicone doesn't and takes more time. Completely unsubstantiated except by my own experiences, but I do find unmolding my wood + freezer paper lined soaps easier. That and not soaping with full...

You CAN use any soap once its saponified. Some speshul snowflakes confuse "safe" with "good". The only 100% OO soap that is good to use almost immediately is liquid soap. Make a batch of 100% OO castille soap and put it away. Then make anything else and use in 4-6 weeks (or more, most bar soaps...

I've made melt and pour soap with propylene glycol, glycerine and a sugar solution (which would be the syrup I imagine). That looks like a recipe for a melt & pour soap. Making M&P from scratch has several steps and is quite different from regular soap.

Ok now I just gotta show off my first harvest - they went into a pickle jar this weekend.

I quite like that green! I would try it with a yellow background just for fun.

Beautiful soap! A thinner trace helps the bubbles to rise and go. If you are just getting bubbles on the sides and you're using a silicone mold, that's a silicone mold thing that I *think* is from overheating.

I haven't had much luck with infusions for scent, but I have had very good results for colors for colors like alkanet, madder root, turmeric and annatto. I've only used more durable oils like olive or sweet almond oils.

Oh that is too bad, they were the first place I ordered from and I love their wooden mold with the slice guides built in. And their EO's and clays...

Congrats!! You know whats funny too? My old castile soaps like that last a looooooong time. I've had one by the bathroom sink for over a year and it just keeps going.

I... I can't even imagine the work that went into those! Amazing!

Yeah 2/3 soap batter, 1/3 confetti or embeds. Trace thick enough they don't sink, but thin enough to let the air bubbles out. Oh and briefly rinse the soap scraps and drain - helps the batter stick in my opinion. Your calc looks about right - just have a small mold handy in case there's a bit...

Those are higher amounts of beeswax and stearic than I would ever use for soap - is there a reason for them? And why are you using ice in your water? I think shunt is right, false trace.

LOL and I also have the smaller version of that - I use it for making lotion stuff and e-liquids. Hubby likes the KD8000 for baking as well.

Regarding the scale that you linked to - it runs on batteries only. That can be a problem when it runs out of batteries or goes into auto sleep mode and you lose your place while adding things. I really appreciate that I can plug my KD800 in and turn auto sleep off, but I know thats an option on...

re pH - once you lower the pH of real soap past a certain point, it stops being soap and separates out. Your idea has been tried and nope, doesn't work. The only successful pH lowering I have seen involved synthetic detergents in the recipe. Stop worrying about pH - it was a marketing ploy to...