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I don't get the big rush on TP. Reminds me of what disappears from grocery stores in the southern US when we're expecting snow -- milk and bread. (Are milk sandwiches a thing???) There are about eleventy bazillion paper mills in this country, a lot of them making TP, so it's not like we depend...

My best bet is probably to go ahead and make a 45 degree jig. It could hold the mold at the correct angle for diagonal pouring and hold a loaf at that same angle for cutting. If I do it right, the top edges of the jig could be used as a cutting guide. Right at this moment, I think I could...

Can someone explain what the numbers after the name of the blends mean? Never mind, I figured it out after getting my caffeine levels up a bit. Derp!

@moodymama That's a great diagram! A jig like that would be really helpful and might become a necessity if I decide to do a lot of diagonal designs. I'll look around and see if I have enough scrap wood to build a jig like that. @amd Love your soap! Thanks for explaining why the loaf was cut...

@dibbles Yes, that's very similar to what I want to do. I see that in the video, she does indeed stand the loaf on end and cut corner to corner. Not sure why she cuts the loaf in half first, but maybe it's just easier to work with that way. If there were no straight lines involved, I could...

I've been doing HP for a couple of decades, but I'd like to try CP again. The design I have in my head would require a diagonal cut. Does anyone have any tips for cutting a whole loaf on a 45 degree diagonal? I'd like to put half the diagonally-cut loaf back into the mold and pour another...

Very Entertaining, Exacting Revenge (True dat, though I don't recommend it!) RAIN

See? No One Wins. BYTN

After frying my respiratory system so badly I couldn't smell ANYTHING for six months, I learned my lesson about lye fumes. Now, all my mixing, cooking, molding, anything involving unsaponified lye happens either out on my deck or in the garage with the bay door open.

@Misschief : Yay for Un-Christmas! We did away with the gift giving and began focusing on everything else that's important and fun about Christmas. No more holiday stress, just good times with friends and family, kinda like Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve had a baby lol!

I forgot to mention that with my first batch, I was having trouble finding glycerin, A guy who worked at the drugstore was helping me look, and we ended up on the aisle with laxatives. There was a tub of glycerin suppositories, and since there didn't seem to be any liquid glycerin around, I...

LOL! Yep, I've been thinking I was crazy for even trying LS when solid soap is so utterly easy. I would love to put this all aside and try that lard/PKO combo, but I only have a little more of this batch to dilute and thicken. It prolly is too oily for laundry soap, but it's not bad bath soap...

Okay, so lesson learned. The ratio of solid oils to liquid oils makes a huge difference. Your family favorite recipe sounds great. If I ever use up what I've already made, I'll do that one. Temps in the garage are above freezing, but it's still really cold there. My family has started...

Thanks so much for the info. I wish I had been able to stop diluting when this batch got to the consistency I liked, but it was only there for a moment until it cooled a little. It's one extreme or the other, depending on temperature. Even at room temperature, it has a bit of skin on top but...

@Zany, You are so right about starting with such a humongous batch! What was I thinking?! Well, I didn't know it would take much water to dilute. I was going by something I read that said to calculate the amount of water, start with twice the weight of the oils. That would have been a...

Thanks, Zany. I took a look at the link, but the only mention of other ways to thicken soap was in a comment below the article, which said salt could be used. No mention of how to calculate the amount of salt needed. Also, I've read that salt can reduce the lather, so I'm a little hesitant to...

DeeAnna, thanks for your detailed post. It made me think of all the people who have undergone chemotherapy, which left their hair (and various other body parts) permanently damaged. I can say from experience that commercial shampoo is not an option after chemo, at least not for me. I've been...

Wow, Zany! Thanks! It'll probably take me a couple of weeks to get my hands on some Poly, which will prevent me from getting impatient and messing with it sooner. (That works out okay, because according to your previous post, I still have a gallon and a half of water to add. That'll take...

Thanks again, Zany! I checked on it a little while ago, and as it turns out, this batch is still not diluted enough to stop solidifying, although it's getting there. Gallons and gallons of water... <sigh> After adding what probably still isn't enough water, the nice consistency is gone. I'm...

Thank you, DeeAnna and Zany! According to the packaging, my KOH is indeed 100% I forgot to mention that a phenol test was pale pink, almost clear, yet the soap was still harsh. I ended up deciding to neutralize with Borax solution. Did that yesterday, left it overnight, and the soap no...