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I tried my hand at shrink wrapping today. Just one bar of MP soap. I have some friends who were interested in my recent batch and I HATE wrapping in cling wrap/saranwrap. It went...eh. Mostly ok but I couldn't get the final seam right and then the soap started melting a bit. :/ Another learning...

I'm still new at this myself, but I've found that so far, 4 weeks is the bare minimum cure time for a soap to not feel drying on my skin. Even then, it's more drying than soap cured at 6 or 8 weeks. I also find CO to be particularly drying, but I've never used it at a 20% superfat. Hopefully...

For keeping track of supplies/ingredients, recipes, curing time left, etc. I have to say that soapmaker 3 has been really helpful.

Not at all!! It's a shame you can't share a single page of a OneNote notebook. That's one of the few things i don't like about it.

It's funny you mention that b/c I created a OneNote notebook last year when I started soaping, and still use it gather notes and such. That's where I created the checklist too. I love OneNote! So @SPowers that's another recommendation for OneNote. The online version is free. @TheGecko That...

Getting batter just to emulsion is something that I think I realized the last time I made soap, and then....forgot somehow? And after this weekend and doing searching and reading and watching, I realized it again and it was like a lightbulb moment. So that's definitely part of what I want to...

Honestly, it really depends on the specifics of the patchouli. Where is was harvested, how the oil was processed, when it was harvested. Like any plant derived source, there's a bunch of variables that will effect (affect? I never get that right) it's final smell. Aging makes a difference too. I...

I'm trying to make soap more often and chose recipes that help me to learn and understand techniques. Something that I know I need more experience with is when to stop stick blending and using trace to my favor to create designs that I intend. I am fascinated with swirls, and since they require...

That's really pretty. I love the simple elegance of it.

Cut these! Despite all the things that went wrong making the batch, they look pretty neat (Even if the mica on top is too much) and preliminary testing shows that they'll perform well.

well it turned out ok! Mostly. One of the things that went wrong is that I mis-understood/mis-calculated the amount of soap to separate to color and wound up having too much fragrance for the amount of soap that was separated, AND for the container. So much of my fragance wound up at the top of...

12 mini batches since Wednesday??? Wow. It took me a year to do 6 full batches. LOL. When you say mini, what do you mean? The learning curve certainly is steep, but sounds like you've got a good handle on it already!

Oh my goodness, you sound like me the first time I made lye solution. :) I had little tiny lye dust specs that seemed to want to go everywhere. I was making my solution outside bc I thought it might be safer, but because I live in Florida, the air was humid it was reacting with the lye as I was...

DeeAnna, I'm so glad you posted. You're one of the folks I look up to and I value your insights and thoughts. And I very much feel that first line! I'm a mathy, nerdy, science-y, checklists and research and notebooks girl. In theory, this should be easy. Heck, working in the chem labs was less...

Also, amd, your signature made me laugh. "I write on calendars & make lists... [whispers] and I still have no idea what is going on." i feel a kinship there. XD

Yes! I got a rolling island too, and it has helped me to be more organized and have a dedicated space. Since getting the island i've been able to soap more often which helps. But mine isn't as well organized as I'd like. I don't have my oils in it(I keep those in the pantry) and one of my...

Ok new friends, what do you think of this. In order to help my broken brain out a bit, I've created a "before you start" checklist to go over every time I make soap. I'm putting it in a prominent area at my soap station, and a copy in my soap notebook(where I keep notes on batches)so that I have...

I;ve been keeping a soap notebook, and making notes when I soap. This time I printed up the recipe I was using and made notes there to transfer to the notebook later. I like the idea of checking things off. I think once I have a set of "regular" recipes, I'll put them in plastic so I can check...

AlliOop, those are all great suggestions! What's frustrating for me is, I usually do most of that! I honestly don't know where my head was today. I usually cover my soaping table with a plastic sheet, and use rags (that I wash) instead of paper towels. I gather all of my stuff ahead of time. I...

You and me both! I told myself just this weekend that I absolutely need to stop buying soap stuff. I have enough right now! I just bought a stainless steel mitre box because I too need precise cuts. I can't cut straight to save my life and I can't use the cheeseslicer with MP. So of course, I...