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Oftentimes when you use the glycerin method, you can stick blend for too long and you are ultimately stick blending finished soap (since the glycerin method speeds up the entire process, based on your formula and temperature, it can be done in as little as 15 minutes). When this happens you end...

I think some of you misunderstand the use of phenolphthalein in soapmaking. It is used to determine excess lye in your paste/soap not the overall pH. I use it successfully each and every time and never have and never will do a zap test on paste. It all comes down to the methods we choose and...

I always use glycerin amounts as 3 x the weight of the KOH when doing full glycerin method - any less and my KOH just won't fully dissolve. I also find it easier to add the KOH to room temperature glycerin, then slowly heat the two together to allow the KOH to dissolve. I find that much easier...

Glycerin will not saponify which is why adding it will not affect the excess lye in your soap paste. Add a bit more oil to give the excess lye something to saponify.

Here is an interesting read on that subject that might be helpful. It is more about gravity than density though: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2014/12/weekday-wonderings-using-polysorbates.html

Brambleberry premium bases are SFIC bases which are available from many suppliers not just them (shipping can be very $$$ based on their far northwest location), but they are usually cheapest on price/lb for the bases. If you are interested in SIFC bases, shop around for other suppliers too...

Have you considered superfatting with water soluble oils like WS shea butter or olivem 300 (water soluble olive oil). You can add these at small percentages to your diluted soap with no issues since they are water soluble. Note that the olivem 300 will thicken high olive oil soaps though.

I would be concerned that using the paste without diluting it may be too concentrated for skin use unless you used a very, very tiny amount - plus you may waste quite a bit of it due to the concentration of soap. Water amount to dissolve your lye is important - use too little and you will have...

If you want to make it harder add some stearic acid (some SCI has stearic acid in it, most I find do not and I believe Susan uses or assumes the SCI in these recipes has stearic acid in them). You can also add sodium lactate to them. You will obviously have to adjust some of your other...

Yep - to each his own, just trying to offer insight into why you may be seeing what you are seeing in regards to clarity issues.

I would urge you to buy a bit of distilled water and test a small amount of your paste diluted in your tap water and the same amount diluted with distilled water to see if there is a difference in clarity. Home filtered tap water is not the same as distilled water and if you are ever going to...

To me - liquid soap is a different beast than cold process soap and things you can do with cold process soap (like water used, superfat amounts, oils used) are not always transferable to a liquid soap and still get the results you want. From my experience, liquid soap has had the biggest...

First if you used a recipe straight form the Failor book, it will have a lye excess that will need to be neutralized after dilution so I am not sure how you would get a clean "zap" test unless your measurements were not accurate. Second, what type of water are you using to test for clarity...

I know this might sound like a silly question - but are you sure that you used KOH (Potassium Hydroxide) and not NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) in your paste?

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/ddc/CosmeticManufacturer.html http://blog.mariegale.com/florida-cosmetic-regulations/

Again, it is not about the individual bath and body maker that will get the unwanted attention of the FDA, it is the cumulative outcome of the overwhelming number of those who are not abiding by the laws (which are put into place to help inform and protect the public at large) will result in...

Start here: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/search?q=hair+conditioner

Well it's not just about what the fda or other organizations will do to those who mislabel or make false, unproven claims on their products but how doing so ultimately affects the rest of us trying to run our businesses successfully within the laws. When you (generic you, not anyone in...

"Soap" does not fall under the FDA cosmetic regulations (as long as it is true soap and you call it nothing other than soap and say only that it cleans - anything more than it falls under FDA rules for cosmetics or drugs) BUT falls under the consumer product safety commission (CPSC) and must...

I think you have a great start - best to list a few products and get feedback before filling your whole shop. I agree about being careful with your labels and descriptions. If you want some great info on labeling laws check out this website...