I made a batch of Lollypop swirl soap and a ball soap that I call "my Saturn soap".
All the five boys, my grandchildren, like it very much but I can not yet part with it.
These two videos are very informative, thank you for posting them. It also confirms my choice of beef tallow and lard for most of my soaps. Additionally they are locally sourced which means a lot to me.
When I use 100 % beef tallow I always make it a dual lye and add sugar for bubbles. I like it very much: it is gentle to my skin, not brittle at all, produces enough lather and bubbles. It is quite popular with those I either donate to or sell.
Hi! I am on Ravelry but could not not find a member named knitsoapmaker, until just a few minutes ago when I noticed, here on SMF, a name peachandpurl, and I found a heap of wonderful projects. Congrats, Knitsoapmaker!
Except me - I started making soap with 50 % sheep tallow, about 30 % olive oil with the rest being coconut and castor oils, 1 kg of oils altogether. The tallow almost never has enough stick blending with me. The shortest time to trace was half an hour and the longest about two :(
I always used store bought soap for felting as do all my soap felting friends. The felting itself has its price and if we used handmade soap I can't imagine who could afford it except for very rare customers.
I have not felted my handmade soap yet, primarily because I'm afraid the bar could not...