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These soap bars look and feel like a glued together Mr Dumpty. Chunks of very hard soap in a matrix of very soft soap and free castor oil. There are no lye pockets that I could detect. No zaps on the runny bits. I washed my hands with a few crumbs and it was like washing my hands with a wax...

Well, I HP'ed a 200g batch tonight. With 2% Citric Acid, 4% Sugar, and Aloe Juice for water. I made the whole batch in a ziplock bag, which made it easy to pop into the microwave. The oils were hot when I added the lye, of course. The Stearic hardened instantly, the castor had to be massaged in...

I found a guy that did a 60:40 SA:CO soap. Seems like it worked well enough. Probably not a great bath soap though. Would be interesting to try it. A small batch wouldnt hurt.

Playing with the calculator on Soapee led me to the realization that some oils have way more benefits than others. The best of these are: Castor Coconut Stearic Acid Castor seems magical because it is listed as 100% "Bubbles" and 100% "Conditioning". No other oil is like it. The condition...

It certainly is a bit confusing. For these two soaps I was trying to maximise the skinfeel of the soap, even if some of the other aspects of the soap bar are degraded to some extent (lather and longevity). From what I've read, high linoleic oils have high conditioning properties, even after...

Rice-a-roni is in the oven. $6 of oils down the drain if it doesn't turn out, but it looks like it's turning out so far. It took about 15 seconds of blending to start to trace (warm oils and lye water). Lanolin might speed up the trace too. I'll do Sunflower Power tomorrow night I think. DOS in...

I bought two containers of oil at the supermarket today, mainly as a result of reading about the wonders of sunflower oil and RBO. I formulated a recipe for each. I am after nice feeling skin after the shower. Both soaps are a bit low lather, and a bit on the soft side. The CA, sugar, and salt...

Thanks Earlene, especially for the link at the end. I read all over the internet about borax and didn't see that article. It's a recent article too! Now I somewhat regret not adding borax. It will be interesting to see if the lard can rescue the bars from melting too fast. I hadn't thought...

Thanks Zany, I was hoping to escape without buying from an online supplier. Which is why I was trying to use some of the chemicals that I have on hand. I have looked at d-limonene, and if it wasn't so absurdly expensive at the hardware store I'd have used it. I like the idea of linseed oil...

My hands get wrecked when cleaning them with acetone, and I was hoping to find a gentler way. When working in the shop I often get grease, oil, varnish, or oil paint embedded in my hands. After washing my hands a number of times, they get cracked and raw. I've read a few threads recommending...

Its a hobby for me. Something I do in my spare time after the kids have gone to bed. I can't remember the last time I've been to the movies and I have a newborn, so the process has started all over again. It will be a while before I have busy evenings. I reckon you are right about beef tallow...

Thanks everyone! That is a great idea. I believe I will do lard coconut next. Three recipes all varying by a single factor is a great approach to finding out what's going on.

This time I tried 95% lard, 5% castor oil. I added 2% each of salt, sugar, and citric acid. I colored the soap with a half teaspoon of tumeric and used a scant dusting of cocoa powder for the line. I want to see how this soap lathers compared to my first soap which included 15% coconut oil...

Soapee looks great. Allows me to save the recipes, share and journal results. Thanks Earlene and Susie. Good luck with the move Susie, we moved house just before Christmas. Its a stressful and busy time.

I made the soap today, it went quite a bit more easily than I expected. I had a false start yesterday, so the oils were already weighed and mixed. I just had to zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds so they ran clear. I added 1% citric acid to my recipe to help with soap scum and to aid...

I imagine I could get sheep fat reasonably easily. We export and eat a lot of lamb here. It has a heavier smell than pork fat, but a baking soda wash should help with that. I washed my lard with a tablespoon each of baking soda and salt, and a litre of boiling water. I boiled it all up for...

Excellent question. In the States I could buy gallon containers of lard for a pittance, here in Oz its $4.50 for 250g, roughly on par with coconut oil (at the grocery store). By rendering it myself, I was able to reduce price of the lard by about 75% and place this hobby within my financial...

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies. I hadn't considered the effect of getting a droplet of uncured soap out of the lining and ruining a loaf tin. The Mrs wouldn't be too pleased. I'll keep an eye out for a good alternative mould, or might build a wood form in the shed. I have a few...

I originally planned on making soap about 14 years ago, but got into brewing beer instead. Now I'm back in it. I've browsed the first 150 pages of threads in the lye soap forum, and settled on a direction. I want to make a lard based soap. Lard seems to be the best bang for buck as far as...

I was thinking about that. I guess I cant think of a terribly compelling reason to make it into a lotion rather than leaving it as an oil other than it wont be so runny as a lotion. Also the stuff I'm using now calls for the oil to be applied before getting rubbed in with the cream. So I thought...