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The scents really are dirt and cut grass. The cut grass is so good I could almost feel my allergies coming on. The dirt is more of a loam smell than clay. Musty potting soil almost? Still pretty spot on. The pine is well, pine. More resinous than green or this one, but still nice. The bar is...

Made a loaf of soap, with extra oatmeal in (3x), at the request of my father. He wanted it to smell like "the woods". Fragrances used are balsam pine, cut grass, and dirt. My wife thinks it smells just like mulch. Think he may like it. No pictures, since its a generic white bar.... But...

Here are the cut bars from my first real color test. Wile it came out very well overall, lessons learned. First, I need to get a spray bottle of alcohol. Bad soda ash on top. Second, need to not be lazy and heat my oils better. Soaped at 100, and lots of white (stearic?) spots in the color...

My first attempt at using colors. Did a drop pour and followed with a hanger swirl. Hard to see, but is some green in there, and a small bit of uncolored soap base at the bottom. Scented with crafters choice pamalmous rose. Everything felt right, so crossing my fingers it's not a smeared...

Typically with a shaving soap, the idea is to make a "paste" on the soap bar/puck with the shaving brush, and then incorporate air and water into the soap with a brush (lather). By diluting the soap paste with water (to make liquid soap) you are removing the need to add water to the soap with...

Salt bars are magical. They are the only soap bars my wife will use anymore :)

No soapy things done in a while still. Puppy is settled in, growing up, and has learned to play responsibly with our other dog. I feel like I could leave them closed in the main part of the house and not come back to rubble! So, planning my next project, to involve color. Thinking just pot...

Have you looked at a meat grinder as a potential extruder? Various versions from hand crank to 5 hp electric available.

@AliOop Those are Beautiful! That looks like very good soap @Nada.

My goals for 2020 are to keep working towards consistency in the recipes I have, and start seriously working with colors. Once I can reliably get a bright color, I will try and get fancy with techniques!

Wife was out of shave soap, so made her 250 grams. Used "Water Orchid" scent (Crafters Choice from WSP). So also had to make a heavy (25% oils and butters) lotion in the same scent. First time using BTMS-50. Seems to set up quicker than EWaxNF or BTMS-25.

Not officially :) I just unfolded a soleseife last night, based on the Zaney recipe. Added activated charcoal and rosemary and lavender EO. Very happy how these turned out.

Tried using activated charcoal for the first time. Batter got fairly thick fairly quick. Pretty sure I waaaaay over mixed for tallow, palm, coconut. Got some swirl-lime out of it :)

I would agree that dulling the blade is only a meaningful argument for straight razor users. I have some older artisan shave soap with clay in, and I think it may be better than their current offering. (Label appeal and show boating is out of hand in the shave market.) I do not use any clay in...

Welcome Suzette. You definitely came to the right place for soap info :)

100% KOH for me. Some folks like 70/30 KOH/NaOH. KOH soaps are more water soluble than NaOH, and this makes a much slicker lather. I use a water discount, and cook for a bit to help it get more solid. Its not "solid" like a bar of soap, but I do have to push a bit to make a dent/impression...

I ended up using 100% KOH, and 33% lye solution with hot process to get a firm(ish) soap that is quite slick. It does need a lot of water to get there, but it holds up well.

To me, the question lies in at what point in dilution does a preservative become necessary? Liquid soap is a solution of (at a very basic level) water and alkaline salts. Soap is PH 8-10ish, distilled water is 7. Depending on the level of dilution, the PH can be 7.5 (nearly all DW) to 10 (all...

Wet shaving is what lead me to soap making. So, from using other artisan soaps, I already knew what may face loved: high % tallow soap and lanolin. So when I cam across the LBussey variation in the mega thread, I jumped on it. Love at first shave.

As someone that has to provide teaching and training to others on a semi-regular basis, I greatly appreciate the common sense, clarity, and accuracy you bring to all topics. I know how difficult that can be to achieve.