troubleshooting

Hi I tried to make liquid soap for the first time using this recipe: https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-diy-liquid-castile-soap/ All was going great for the first 2 hrs of cooking it Then it stopped gelling and for the next few hours didn't change at all, it was white on the outside and gel on the...

Yesterday I decided to finally try making bath bombs. I am using recipes from Swift Crafty Monkey's e-book BATH TIME FUN: BUBBLES & FIZZ. First I tried the recipe titled Bubbling Bath Bomb. The ingredients are baking soda, citric acid, SLSa, oil of choice (I used Fractionated Coconut Oil) and...

I’ve looked just about everywhere for why this might be happening and I cannot for the life of me find an answer. Please help !! So, I’ve been having a weird issue with my candles. I just started making them a couple months ago and I’ve only just now started actually burning the “successful”...

Does anyone know what these little spots in my soap are? They are translucent like glycerin rivers, but they only showed up a week after I cut my soap and they don't have the typical texture of glycerin rivers. The FO I used discolored my white soap to a light tan - could a FO do this to a...

Hi all! I cut this loaf yesterday, and I’ve never seen this in my soap before. I did a search online to try to troubleshoot it, and nothing is really answering the question. This is my recipe: Coconut oil - 25% Olive Oil - 25% Palm Oil - 16% Kokum Butter - 12% Hemp Oil - 8% Castor Oil - 4% It...

Now my soap Looks like this

when I look closely at this batch, I think I see crystals. I'm afraid this is undissolved lye, but I can't find any good reference images for lye pockets that look like this. They don't necessarily look like stearic spots due to the shape. Glycerine rivers would be more pronounced too, I...

Hi all! I made this body balm a few weeks ago and it looks like it's gone bad. I'm thinking it's condensation from putting the lids on too early but I'd love to hear your thoughts too! Is there a need for preservatives with this type of recipe? Ingredients: Unrefined shea butter White beeswax...

I successfully produced my first batch of liquid soap using this recipe: 70% Olive Oil 20% Coconut Oil, 10% Castor Oil 14 oz. Olive Oil 4 oz. Coconut Oil 2 oz. Castor Oil 4 oz. Glycerin (subtracted from the initial water amount - helps speed up the process of getting to the cooking stage). 8...

I'm occasionally having issues with the recipe I've been using for the last year or so. I've made this same recipe (with different FOs, sometimes no FO) about a dozen times, but I've had issues with it 3 of those 12 times. My process with the lyewater is: Dissolve non-iodized salt and citric...

hi everybody, i made soap yesterday, which ‘traced’ immediately after i poured the lye mixture ( lye with green tea and tumeric tea) wich i had chilled) into the oil mix (coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, beeswax) it turned into a thick pudding like consistency as soon as i...

Hey, guys! I've made this solid conditioner using my usual recipe, stored it in a cool, clean place, and less than 48 hours later it had those weird spots that, to me, look like a petri dish!! I used 10x orange essential oil and all the other solid conditioners I made the same day (with the...

hi! More woes with scaling up to large batches of goat milk soap. Had great success with 62 lbs batch, but now at 110 lbs, it looks like this (see pic). Here’s the backstory: I’m using Shea butter, olive oil, and coconut oil. The oils were 95* Lye solution is 2% superfat mixed with frozen...

Hello! I’ve been making bath bombs for a while now but I’ve had the same issue with every one I’ve made- as soon as I put it in the water I get an initial poofy cloud of foam and color that floats on the surface unless I break it up. Is there a way to get rid of this? To make it so the bath bomb...

Hey all, We make cold process soap here and just some background info we also make and harvest our own coconut oil (both cold pressed virgin coconut oil (VCO) and normal heat processed coconut oil) as we live in the tropics. However over christmas someone left the virgin coconut oil in with...

Hello all! I've been lurking for a month or two while enjoying the fruits of my first amateur batch. My first batch was a CP that I converted to a HP recipe (CO/EVOO blend using oils I had on hand) and it turned out OK considering it was my first batch. I tried today to follow a recipe/formula...

I started making them about 3 weeks ago and have been experimenting with my recipe and different ingredients nonstop since then. Ive ironed out a million mistakes so far, but now I'm having another issue! They pack and mold perfectly, fizz like a dream... but after they dry, they crack! Usually...

I have a few batches under my belt but definitely still a newbie. I made a standard-size loaf of cold process soap yesterday with a piped top. The batter was difficult: I think my fragrance oil was a super-accelerant and my batter was hardening faster than I could pour. I did get it into my...

I'm a new soaper with several great experiences. My most recent one was a problem and I'd like to know how to prevent this in the future. I poured using the thinnest trace yet. After pouring in the mold, it was the hottest soap yet and yellowish-orangeish oil appeared on the surface of the...

Hi, I've been making bath bombs for a year now and am having this problem for the first time. I typically make mine with citric acid, baking soda, coconut oil, essential oils, and food coloring from Kroger (like baking coloring) These all worked fine aside from the colors being dull sometimes...