Experiment day today. Had some "off" cooking oil I didn't really want to toss in the trash, so used it to try out some hardware store lye by withholding some good lard and hot processing at zero SF. After half an hour of waiting for the oil to warm up for hot processing, I figured out that the ceramic insert will go in the microwave -- I'm a bit slow, eh?
Got it up to temp (200F) and dumped in the hot lye, and it went pretty well. Also discovered I have a multi-speed stick blender (again, I'm a bit slow) and that you really must keep blending if you want fast hot process, even when it's thick. It will stay at applesauce for an hour otherwise, and goes pretty much to vaseline as soon as you get the blender going again. I'll get this figured out sooner or later....
Used Bulk Apothecary Amberwood Moss to scent it (20 drops -- yeah, I don't like strong scents) and it's OK. Won't use it for shaving soap, certainly, but it should be OK for bath soap. Not really my cup of tea, so to speak.
All in all a fun day, although I really should have been working in the garden.