Search results

I've never made this stuff, but I've fermented lots of other things. Carbonation should be higher when ferment temperatures are lower because more CO2 will stay in solution that way. But unless you contain pressure somehow, it will always equilbrate to one atmosphere's pressure at whatever...

I'm still using the hack saw and piano wire. The important part is to stretch the wire very tightly, then use the tensioning screw on the saw to stretch it even tighter. Straight cuts are as easy as a slot cut in a board to guide the wire.

I grabbed one of these bars to test last night, just shy of eleven months old. This is a hard, hard bar, Folks. It feels more like a block of Delrin than soap. It lathers very well, though the process is a bit different. My balanced bars just become lather when you rub them. This bar...

This is great advice. Then after that, bake them in the over for an hour at 350F to drive off any volatiles.

If you are in the USA, the olive oil you buy should be fine - especially if we're talking about "regular" olive oil typically used for soaping and not EVOO. The shelf life of classic olive oil is 18 months to two years, and suppliers simply are not going to be keeping it in the pipeline long...

I would suspect that the massage device he's hacked is strong enough for your purposes. You'd just need a table large and strong enough to hold the full mold. And the idea is to vibrate the mold after it's filled with soap batter as a replacement for knocking the mold on the countertop. My...

Assuming you planned a 5% superfat, you may be okay without the almond.

You need to run the recipe (as actually made) through a calculator again to make sure it's not lye heavy without the planned almond oil.

FWIW, Amazon carries sodium citrate for cooking purposes. In addition to soap, it's great for cheese sauces. :D

I agree with this, wholly - especially the bolded parts. IIRC, the primary reason it was banned was because the bio accumulation in insect-eating birds caused egg shells to weaken to the point that bird populations were threatened. It wasn't banned because of its danger to mammals.

If you do confirm that it's truly bubbles, I would imagine that the larger batch size makes it difficult for you to remove all the bubbles via the typical "slam" method. Take a cue from plaster casters and look into some kind of vibratory table to help you get the bubbles out.

Try gouging that orange section out with the tip of a spoon or something. Just to get down to the original color. Sometimes it might be caused by an impurity there or something that it touched and getting rid of the problem area will keep it from spreading. I've tried that a couple of times...

Lemongrass is typically considered a hard herb like rosemary or bay leaves. In for the cook and out for service - not to be eaten. You can shave the barest bit of the bulb end (if present) and leave that in a dish for service.

Fantastic. Thanks, DeeAnna!

Firstly, all bets are off when you do the dual-lye soaps - at least when comparing them to single-lye soaps. That is, I don't think you can reliably compare how an oil behaves with the 95/5% mix to how it behaves with a 100% mix. Second, 5% castor is great, I think, but more is usually not...

Does anybody have a feel for how much the honeysuckle from NG accelerates CP? She wants the scent left over from making the perfume as soap now. It will be my vegan recipe which is 50% Crisco, 20% coconut, 20% HO safflower, and 5% each avocado and castor. Will I have time for an ITP or drop...

You might want to hold off on the castor. It doesn't really bubble much on its own. It's reputation for bubbles is because it stabilizes bubbles created by other soaps.

If you try a 100% lard soap, it basically doesn't lather. It doesn't slime like 100% olive, either, it just sort of rubs off on you like a thin, slippery lotion. If you have a poof or washcloth you can work that into a bit of a lather with tiny bubbles (Anybody else old enough to remember Don...

I noticed that a package of microwave popcorn I bought last week had ROE in the ingredients, so I assume it is safely edible. Does anyone have links to information on how much is safe? Can the amounts typically used for soaping-oil stability be eaten without issue? Can you taste it at that...

I'm sorry, but what is an 'ooth?' Even google failed me on that one.