troubleshooting

Im kinda confused!! this is my 6th batch of soap. i've done goats milk, and water based. the other day i went to the store and couldn't find any fresh goats milk so i opted for almond milk (unsweetened) just to try it out. so i used the Lye calc on brambleberry. the usual amount of coconut oil...

Hi everyone! I'm EXTREMELY new to soap making and had just completed my first recipe a few days ago. Of course, this new experience brought on the feelings/thoughts of "Holy smokes! I made my first soap!!! I AM AWESOME!!!". Making the soap had a few of crap moments. I poured in accidentally 20g...

Is anyone out there working with magnesium stearate in lip balms or other products? I ask because my balms are behaving rather strangely. I've been working on a tinted lip balm. My balm base is satisfactory to me, (although it could be a little firmer, possibly). My main concern was color...

I've made HP soap off and on for years and have always rendered my own tallow - almost always from pure suet. I just rendered a huge batch from a really large cow and it came out yellow and mushy! Not hard, not white like it always comes out. My question is why? This was truly just suet - no...

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to solve a soapy mystery, and any help/insight you could provide would be appreciated! (see photos attached for reference) Last night (~24 hrs ago at this point) I made two 5-lb loaves of soap using the same oil masterbatch. I used different fragrances and colorants...

I just made some lip balm earlier today using (in descending order) 2.5 TBSP Coconut oil 2 TBSP Beeswax 1.5 TBSP Shea Butter 2 tsp Castor Oil 1/2 tsp Argan Oil just a teeny bit of Vitamin E oil some lip safe essential oils I thought putting them in the fridge would harden them up...

Hi! These boards are amazing, thanks y'all for saving me time and money and keeping me from losing sleep about my soap fails- it's so easy to find out here what went wrong! Question: I have a few super concentrated fd&c pigment powders that I bought when I was a newbie from a food store (who...

I made CP soap with the same recipe many times, and I need expert opinions from you guys in this forum because sometimes my soap turns like this (attached picture) with the same process and recipe. I thought at first it is because I am starting to master batch the recipe, but turns out it's...

Hi Fellow Soapmakers, I’m fairly new to soap making and this is my 5th soap. I was hoping that some experienced and friendly soap makers could help me in identifying (and avoiding in future) the main problem with my soap - semi transparent pockets of something that looks like melt and pour...

Hello! I'm new to soap making (it's so much fun!) and i could really use some help. I've tried googling and searching around here, but i can't find any good answers. This might be because english isn't my first language - i apologize in advance if my grammar is messed up. :) Anyway! So! I've...

Hi all! I've been making CP soap for about three years ago. I was making one of my tried and true castile soap recipes with calendula petals. I went to check the soap (now 3 weeks into the curing process), and it looks like there may be mold on the tops of my bars... Only in the calendula...

I finally gave up on it cooking to nuetrality and put it into a mold and then cut and left to cure like a cold process batch. That was the last week in June, '14. It's still testing pink. Will it ever cure? I didn't make the batch, it's one I talked my SIL through and I don't know what happened...

Hello all, So, I am a newbie to the whole CP soap making. I have made 4 pretty great batches, so I tried to challenge myself by making a batch which involved coconut milk, honey, and layering. I did run into problems though. One layer never came to trace, and I ended up burning out the motor...

hi there. im fairly new to soap making but have done it a few times really well(from luck) and a few not so well.. i've read a book and im starting a new one which has helped me heaps. im compiling the info in my brain and have been, over time, despite the overload. (wish i was better at...

Hi everyone! :wave: I am new here and hoping one of you brilliant soapmakers could lend your insights into a hairline cracking problem I am experiencing with my soaps. I have a recipe that is similar to the 'Breaking the Rules'/75% CO, 25% CB-SB soap, superfatted at 15% and using coconut milk...

Hi All, We are new to the forum, but have used its threads for trouble-shooting in the past. It's a wonderful resource, so we just wanted to first say thanks to everyone that administrates and contributes! The reason for this thread is to share an issue that we had with a recent batch...

Hi all, So I made a batch of CPOP soap, and the coloring in it didn't work (I used beetroot powder hoping to achieve a nice shade or reddish pink, however, it turned an ugly shade of light brown instead). That, combined with the fact that the scent wasn't great either (jasmine and black pepper...

I've been making soap for about 6-8 months and this is the first time I've really had a screwed up. I was making two batches this weekend, one seems fine, and one is so lye-heavy it crumbled. Backstory: I did two 3lb batches. The first was a body bar sented with BB Passionfruit Rose. The...