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Thanks KiwiMoose I shall get some soy wax to try so I can see the difference. If I could drop the cocoa butter it would be good as it is very expensive here also.

KiwiMoose does soy wax add longevity or just hardness? As I can get shea butter for the same price so was just going to put more shea in. Wondering if I need to look at trying soy wax. Also does RBO shorten the shelf life of the soap? I know you should keep below 15 Linoleic/Linolenic to...

I will do a small test batch and see. I have managed to get my palmitic+stearic up to acceptable levels now by switching some of the oils so I think its worth testing this one. I have learned so much searching the forum and reading old posts from you DeeAnna and others. I am very grateful...

Thanks so much DeeAnna! I have tinkered with it a bit and have got it up to 26% palmitic + stearic but that's with 25% shea and 10% cocoa butter. I am not sure if that is going to be too much Shea though.

I read a really good thread where DeeAnna said aim for 30 or a little higher for stearic+palmitic. I am struggling to reach this figure and most of my recipes seem to be coming out at between 20 to 25. I am trying to formulate a palm free and tallow/lard free recipe. I know some use beeswax...

I will try that next time thanks amd. Does the same apply when you add a little sugar instead of honey? I read on a thread to add sugar to the water before the lye was added. I was going to try putting sugar in some bars and putting honey in another batch to see what the difference is.

Thanks for the tips Suzie & atiz. I was planning on using less cocoa butter next time anyway because of cost but that's good to know. I was thinking of increasing the shea butter instead as I can find that cheaper here. I also read that I might need to superfat lower if I am using milks.

Ah thank you BattleGnome! I was thinking leaving it overnight would be fine - that's another thing I need to think about then. At least I haven't ruined it completely. I am not even going for pretty yet, that will be my next level of education so it's all good.

Ok I did a honey and oat bar yesterday. Recipe: 33% oo 14% co, 18% shea butter, 6% castor oil, 18% cocoa butter, 11% sweet almond oil. 7% sf. Lye concentration 33% and half liquid was goats milk blended with oils. 1 used 1tsp salt mixed with water before lye. I mixed 2 tbs honey with a...

Thank you Zing! It is indeed an addiction. I did 3 more mini batches today. I posted a pic of my first 2 batches on the 'do I cover goats milk soap' thread. They don't look anything special I am just thrilled they didn't go wrong. I have been lucky that all 5 have gone ok so far and...

I am really pleased how it turned out they look ok and smell lovely! One is peppermint and poppy seed and one is lemon.

Wonderful link! Thanks for finding it Jersey Girl. I will get one of those damp rid tubs tomorrow to put in the bigger tub.

Yes I would always wear goggles even though i wear glasses as I wouldn't like to take the risk. And I am comfortable in nitrile gloves so think I would continue with those. I can understand both sides of the sleeves/sleeveless debate though so I will see how I get on. Thanks to the wonderful...

It looks fine but I will let you know tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I never thought I would get so excited about soap!?!

Thank you both its much appreciated. Great tips I will do as you do shunt and I am sure I will get the hang of it. Soaping has been a welcome distraction this week as yesterday we had to say goodbye to our beloved Labrador who was 13 and my son turns the same age tomorrow. So it's a bit of a...

Thanks so much for your quick responses. I will keep an eye on it. It doesn't seem too hot at the moment so hopefully it will be fine. I will try for gel and non gel in the future so I can see the difference for myself I just don't want to mess up my first soaps!

Today making my first soaps I think I did far too much faffing and walking on eggshells around the lye. I need to get my head around how dangerous lye actually is as I think I might be overthinking things a little and overestimating the dangers. Obviously I don't want to get a lye burn but is...

Hi All I have just made my first 2 batches of soap with goats milk. I did the split method using 50% goats milk of total liquid and poured in the mold and all seems well. I wrapped them in a towel and left them on a window sill - it is fairly warm here today 23oC. Is that the right thing...

I hope it works well mishmish. I didn't have any trouble finding distilled water here in the UK (I got the deionised car stuff in my local supermarket - thanks KiwiMoose I saw you post where it could be found!) but it is really strange some of the things that have been restricted supply...

Why not Arimara? Is it just the lack of smell or does deodorized behave differently? I have some on order that is currently on its way.. it was cheaper so I went for the deodorized one.