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I just got word that it is being held in an art gallery. I'm coming up in the world! It's a one man show, no less!

188 grams. About 6.5 ounces. I do like a big bar of soap! My Quantity Control is not the best in the world. I do end up with smaller bars which I either use myself or give to friends and family.

I have been informed that I am to appear at a friend's house for a soap "house party" (kind of like a Tupperware party.) They are so taken with my soap at work that one of the security guards wants to do this at his house this coming Sunday. So I said Ok, I can do that. So maybe, I will have...

Went to Maine for Thanksgiving. I'm still here. I really haven't had time to unpack the fo bottles and evaluate the oob scents. Kind of exciting to have all these FO's here waiting to inhabit soap bars.

@ResolvableOwl Sure, I could do that. What am I looking for, though?

I used the soap in the shower. It performed very, very well! And the smell is fantastic. If I didn't know there was something wrong with this soap, I would never guess. With such a high superfat, maybe it won't last as long as a regular bar? I'd be tempted to call this one of my favorite bars.

And again @ResolvableOwl I found this in Google. Is this how I do it? Stock solution, 50% (by weight): Add 100 mL of distilled water to 100 g of reagent grade sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets and stir until solution is complete.

@ResolvableOwl Well, I took the plunge and tested the 7 week old soap in question. Not the full In-The-Shower test, but the Wash-My-Hands-In-The-Sink test. The lather and bubbles were excellent. The scent (Frankincense & Myrrh) was glorious. My soap partner agrees. Next test: In The Shower.

@ResolvableOwl Did it foam/fizz a lot when you added the citric acid? No Are the flakes/beads/pellets very sticky and clumpy, and appear “wet”? No Is a naïve 50% solution (1 part degraded NaOH + 1 part distilled water) clear or turbid? I'm not sure. Can you say more on this? Have you...

@earlene @DeeAnna I did a lye purity test using the formulas referred to us by DeeAnna . ( NaOH or KOH purity check | Soapy Stuff ) My old lye seems to weigh in at 78% purity. According to my numbers, I have to add 204 more grams to the SoapCalc calculation for lye. I made a whole batch of...

@ResolvableOwl I like the blended lye idea! I have to go out now to the lye store to buy new lye. The streets surrounding it, however, are ALL under construction. It is SUCH A PAIN to try and get near that store! I will also cut the superfat down to zero percent in soapcalc. At 5%, the lye...

If I reduced the super fat level to 1 in soapcalc, would that help any?

My new label:

Yah, I know. I HATE doing normal test batches. I've had a couple of surprises (e.g. accelerations), but so far I've been able to handle any curve ball thrown my way. I suppose one day I will really get caught!

Progress note on my old lye usage 6 weeks ago I made a batch of soap (Frankincense) using 18 year old lye, As I mentioned above, Belle Chemical says that lye does not go bad. The Soap Queen, however, says it must be carefully stored. Mine is in a heavy duty plastic bag, but the top had been...

Lavender is the worst one! Peppermint not so much. Eucalyptus is also bad. My soap tester says the patchouli is also bad but I don't smell it. She also says the peppermint is bad, but again, I don't smell it. The other 5 or 6 scents I have left are all fine. They were all made around the same...

@ResolvableOwl The thing is, not all of them from that time period went rancid. Say I made a dozen batches during that time, they all would have been made with the same recipe. The only variable would be the essential oil. Storage conditions would have been the same. The ingredients would...

@TheGecko I have an incomplete list of who ordered what. I can approach them and a few others. All of my new soaps are swirled, and, I have to say, beautiful! They will be surprised to get such upgraded replacements. (My old soap bars are all just plain ol' tan.)

I joined this group in September of 2019 and at the time I launched into a soapmaking spree. I didn't stop soaping til I got into the 200+ bars of soap. Then a switch in my head was tripped and I stopped making soap altogether. Then I just lived off the fat of the land and was also very...

@CreativeWeirdo I also buy from Windy Point. 100 gms is $16 for their micas. Good product and good experience. In Calgary. @CreativeWeirdo Oh! Btw! "You're much more knowledgeable than I.". HAHAHAHA. Don't let the Owl see that!