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Thanks. They sort of did what I was trying, in a very first-try kind of way :-) A couple of questions: Sorry, that was just me being not-so-familiar with the terms and lazily choosing a 'near enough' chemical. Wrong! I used TD. I was hoping the base soap might lighten, rather than the...

I used a double saucepan method with a hemispherical stainless steel bowl sitting in/on a large saucepan of boiling water.

I'm a rank noob soap-maker and just, this weekend, made a small syndet shampoo bar batch from scratch – SCI > SLSa >> Other ingredients. Mine ended up nowhere near as pretty as yours, but they do smell delightfully lavender. I found the initial melting phase (SCI) very slow until I added some...

Ummm, I learned that you could burn soap :-) It was very effort intensive, and I was not prepared for the gloopy consistency. I suspect I added too much liquid in the endstill in the mould and I'll see how that goes tomorrow. It does smell lovely though, and I did get to play with some...

Brilliant, thanks you very much. I've thrown together some timber and clamps to make 6cm (variable) x up-to-10cm x 40cm which will hopefully let me make 6 x 9 x 40 (ish). Fingers crossed. Thanks DeeAnna. That *is* going to be useful in the future, but it seems to start a bit early in the...

I am new to all this, but enjoying immensely ... as long as I don't dwell too long over this morning's effort. Anyways, I do not have any of those nice silicone moulds yet and bash some timber scraps together, and throw in some baking paper, to make my soap moulds. I need to make a mould for...

Thanks very much. I have been using google to de[n]ounce recipes. Copied those into my log/diary now for future reference.

Okay, I did say I'd post a picture. Here's my first effort. Needs a lot of work, obviously - both soap and photography, but I like it ... and my wife and I each now have a nice cup of Earl Grey tea courtesy of the props. The soap is olive, coconut, sunflower, and castor oils. Shea butter, and...

Thanks. Yeah, having a beginners forum section is a great idea ... for just this sort of thing. I will migrate over there more further technical questions. Thanks earlene Okay, thanks. I doubt my scale will work down to ten-drops types of resolutions I had not seen that feature...

It's the weekend in a few hours, and I have many neophyte soap things planned. Hopefully I will manage to get one completed. A couple more general questions if I may ... concerning colours, flavours, and storage. 1. Colours. How much? I have purchased a few little sachets of mica colours that...

Alas, 'tis a box full of gratings now, with a couple of bars preserved to prove you correct at some later date. The shampoo is intended primarily for daughter's use, and the limited reading / searching I'd done steered me in that direction. I also liked the fact that it was a completely...

Thanks. Yes, I did that. I set two similarly sized blocks aside and returned them to the curing rack unmolested. The remaining 1.75kg has now been grated into what looks suspiciously like a large plastic container full of grated cheese. It's also back in the curing box while I look up...

Yes, that is a lovely white colour isn't it. Thanks. I have just ordered several small lots of mica colours. I hope I can use them to make a peachish orange-pink colour. I am already checking my babies daily. There's no way I'm going to be able to wait a year, like SaltedFig, to get a nice...

That was my original motivation to try and learn about soaps and their making and I, also, have not gone there yet. It's on 'the list' :) still. I have little doubt that I can post this elsewhere in a specific dedicated subforum, and it’s also likely that my questions are not new and have been...

Thanks earlene. From what I have seen so far it's an excellent practical chemistry minitopic. Soap and soap-making embraces quite a few important principles of basic chemistry and organic chemistry. I studied organic and other chemistry at university, from a biosciences perspective, but am...

Two of our kids advised that they had done a module on soap in chemistry. Our middle child regaled me with stories of the evil caustic 'gloop' that they produced in the practical session, which made my novice attempts all the more credible in her eyes :-)

Not yet, but I did bring a block into the house to show/smell for youngest child ... because he had not seen them yet. He asked a lot of disturbingly difficult questions about the chemistry. Apparently soap chemistry is a junior secondary school chemistry topic. Who'da known? :)

Thanks Primrose. Wellington is quite the lovely little city ... hugely over-serviced for its population. I am not terribly inappropriately biased. Actually an Aussie who has only been here for 17 years now. The web and soapmaking are not a good combo. everywhere I look there's awesome...

Thanks elurah I am enjoying the 'so much to learn' part of this. Everywhere I look there's new stuff to learn ... and some of those SMF-challenge videos and results are just awesome. Organisation and rememberings is gonna be a problem. I have already 'lost' the great site I was reading...

I am loving the scent and feel of the Earl Grey effort, already. Lets see how it ages now :-) Yes, indeed I think it may well have been the fragrances. Learning / making priority at the moment is cold-process bar soaps - useful and good starter place I reckon. Next it's Shampoo, probably a...