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agree that your recipe seems fine. when I put it all in a soap calculator - it recommends a bit more lye (probably because you changed the formula to add more palm oil than olive oil) but this shouldn't affect how hard or soft your soap loaf is. As Owl said - you're using a 2:1 water to lye...

I make soaps with high cleansing numbers all the time. But that's because I want my soaps to do more (than the current commercial soaps). My soaps cleansing # have been rated as high as 45, and I honestly don't see what the fuss is all about. If you consider that a pure Coconut Oil bar should...

doesn't lye crystals turn into soap crystals if soap is left alone to cure long enough?

yeah, I call BS on that. a quick Google of news stories where multiple persons licking a young soap required medical attention was never found. you would have to put raw lye on your tongue and leave it there for a while... Fight Club style... for "medical attention" to be needed. 😂🤣 Sounds...

whether you're wetting your finger and rubbing it on your soap... https://classicbells.com/soap/zapTest.asp or your applying it directly to to your tongue https://www.brambleberry.com/tips-and-tricks/soap/art0076-troubleshooting-lye-heavy-soap.html the zap test requires soap molecules to get in...

your soap did what's known as "seizing." congratulations! you now qualify to be in our exclusive Soap Seizing Club... I am acting President as my soaps do this more than I'd like to admit! this happens a lot when you first start out - and it's a natural part of your soaping journey... figuring...

I've seen lots of post where one person says an EO accelerates trace, while another contradicts this. Maybe they're both right?? I've recently performed a test where my 12 indiividual soaps in their mold were perfectly well behaving - and then, for grins, I added some EOs to a few of them. I...

I would want a chemical analysis of it to make sure it's really "oil" with fatty acid... otherwise, I'd use it as an additive, in the same way you might use it like aloe vera. To get a chemical analysis, you can reach out to independent chemical labs, FDA... or try a local university...

interesting that you get "beef suet." -- I just ask my butcher for any beef fat trimmings. Must be the reason why my "fat" isn't as productive as yours. Thanks for update. Good info!

I dunno. It looks like camouflage soap! Hmmm... maybe I can sell it to the military base nearby?? ha ha -- for me, I thought it was so bad that it deserved to be featured twice! Besides, not sure that everyone reads every thread. As for your Pepto-Bismal soaps -- I could see it selling well at...

i was trying for a fancy "kiss pour" -- only my trace was too light and everything blended into the activated charcoal taking over everything like the prince of darkness. I learn by doing - so, chalk it up to a lesson learned that I won't ever forget! welcome to the club @kirsten. 😂

that's how I did my additives test -- and I watched peppermint accelerate the one bar portion quite quickly. My guess is that the only drawback would be proper distribution. I just used a chopstick, but it seemed to have worked ok. @SoapDaddy70 I've found that Patchouli also seems to accelerate...

Andiroba Oil/karaba/crabwood seems to have similar fatty acid values as Lard. Palmitic 28, Stearic 8, Oleic 51, Linoleic 9 vs Lard's P 28, S 13, O 46, L 6. Avocado Butter also has a similar profile... P 21, S 10, O 53, L 6. I typically use beef tallow and if I'm out, Lard. But if you're trying...

I live in New Orleans - and our water here is considered "hard." most soaps I use rinse off without a slimy feel. So I was surprised that I needed to do an extra rinse after I got the suds off my hands. But I did use different "soft" oils from previous recipes (as part of the experiment) that...

so today was the perfect day to test soaps, as I was bbq-ing and making hamburgers (with lots of onion, garlic, shallots, etc.) - and since I was prepping and cooking at the same time - I needed to wash my hands all the time. here's what I noticed from the soaps: overall -- in all the soaps, I...

ha ha... it's a kagey special! I wanted to do a "kiss" pour using one pitcher with batter, other with black (activated charcoal) -- but I made the mistake of pouring all the EOs in the batter! and then it caused batter to seize - yet the black portion was very thin! I tried of over stick blend...

opening new thread on "lye-based soaps" forum to discuss additives I used and results: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/results-from-testing-clays-and-additives.85179/

26 hours after soaping - I'm unmolding the soaps. This is what they look like. Top left is #1. Followed by #2 & #3. Next row is #4 and so on. I created my batch of C34 (cleansing) soap batter. Poured it into the mold. Then, added approx ⅛ tspn of additive. And, if any, 1 tspn of EO. Mixed...

big thanks to @Ford for her insight into using Red Palm Oil. (I had ordered it and wanted to make an orange soap without using colorants/micas.) I, too, used 15% along with some Sunflower HO oil that had been infused with Paprika. Also used some Sesame Oil, which had a dark color. Split the...

I believe in the metric system: 1 ml = 1 gram. so I don't think this will be a problem. you've soaped at a lye to water ration that's more than 2:1 you've also used only "soft" oils this will probably mean that it will take your soap longer than usual to solidify into a hard bar of soap. I...