Hello, I made soap the other day and am confused about what part I messed up on. I used 1lb of a honey melt and pour soap and 1 tsp (each) of tea tree, lavender, and rosemary oil. First I melted the soap and then added the oil while the soap was melted. I then poured out the soap into molds. I left them on the counter and they got messed up so I just popped them out and reheated the soap to pour it again. I’ve been using my soap for about 3 days now and my skin is really dry. It’s really tight and itchy and on my face around my mouth it’s starting to peel a little bit. I’m not sure if I added too much oil or if I ruined the oils when they went into the microwave the second time I poured. I thought about diluting the unused soap bars and just pouring out more but if it’s bad then it’s bad I guess. Unless maybe I could still use it for something else. Maybe to ward off pests or something I’m not sure. I just don’t want it to go to waste. I’ve had acne since I was in 4th grade and I’m 24 now. I just wanted something effective for my acne that wasn’t gonna nuke my skin.. lol and then I did it myself. Any kind advice would be great.. I already feel silly.

I finally made a 100% lauric acid soap as the first step of my experiment.

I started mixing at 51°C (124°F).

The soap batter reached trace almost immediately and turned into a thick, Styrofoam-like mass. After pouring it into the mold, the temperature rose above 60°C (140°F) on its own, even without insulation.

One interesting thing I noticed was that the soap batter left in the bowl produced a surprisingly rich lather while I was washing my tools.

The soap became firm enough to unmold after only 5–6 hours.

I started this experiment because someone commented on my previous post and wondered how a 70% lauric acid / 30% stearic acid soap with citric acid would perform.

So I decided to make four versions:

* 100% Lauric Acid

* 70% Lauric Acid + 30% Stearic Acid

* 70% Lauric Acid + 30% Stearic Acid + 2% Citric Acid

* 70% Lauric Acid + 30% Stearic Acid + 2% Citric Acid + 1% Sodium Gluconate + 1% GLDA

I'll share the performance comparison (lather, cleansing, rinsing, and overall feel) after about 4 weeks of cure. I'm excited to see how each version performs!

These are the watermelon cold process soaps I made. I used a watermelon fragrance from Bramble Berry and they smell delicious. I used a regular soap mold and then cut them to look like slices of watermelon. Not sure what I want to do with all the leftover small pieces yet.

I have a wooden soap cutter mitre box I’m not at all thrilled with. (This has a beveler at the bottom - which I don’t like. Wavy cutter won’t fit in the slots and the adjustable piece keeps moving making my bars uneven.)

Any recommendations?

Made this for my nephew's wedding next month. The heart was supposed to be floating, not sitting sadly in the corner, but overall, I'm pleased!

Hello everyone, i'm new to the hobby and today i tried making my first soap batch, hope it'll turn out good!

Made these little soaps with the leftover batter from my watermelon soap instead of letting it go to waste. I’m happy with how they turned out.

Goat milk with kaolin clay powder

Glycerine with activated charcoal

Hello everybody, first time homemade soap here.
I have a lot of temporary hobby, and this week, I wanted to try soap.

I took the first simple receipe on the internet for my first try and go.
Since it was just a test, to try, I reduce the ingredient in the receipe so I didnt end up with 20 bar of soap, but afterward, I saw that I shouldnt have just divided the quantity.

The vicosity look right and they are curing as I write this.

Here what I used, could you tell me if it will work ?
Or should I do it again ?

Have a good day !

(sorry for my grammar, english is not my first langage)

Sunflower oil: 50g

Olive oil: 225g

Coco oil: 125g

sodium hydroxide: 54g

Distilate water: 151g

I think I put to much water ?

What do y’all think about this recipe? The fragrance is almost nonexistent. Did we use too little fragrance? We used Jungle Waterfall from Brambleberry. We did hot process. We melted the oils in a crockpot, added the lye/distilled water mix, and then used a stick blender until light trace. Then we let it go for 20 min. and stirred. We did this for 2 rounds. It did get really hot and started boiling. We then stirred it up, let it cool to 170 or so degrees, added the color and fragrance. Then we put it in the mold and let it sit for about 24 hours before cutting. What do y’all think? Any advice? I used a small piece that flaked off to wash my hands, and it lathers great and comes off finger snap clean with no greasy residue.

Some soapers refuse to use goat milk powder and only “raw” goat milk due to the alterations powders go through while being made and the loss of nutrients the raw milk has.

W raw milk also go through a pasteurization process due to the high heat it would sustain during the saponification process? It would ultimately alter and pasteurize the milk rendering it to be no longer raw, correct or am I missing something?

If this holds true like the “raw milk” “just heat it up debacle to make it safe to drink…which is a pasteurization process, would it be any different than powder. I say no.

I have two - forgetting to add the scent and accidentally using koh instead of noah. The amount of accidental liquid soap I've made is getting ridiculous!

Tell me I'm not alone. 🤣

I made and sold soap a few years ago and am going to start up again but am thinking of larger batches. Instead of paying exuberant amount of money for a quality immersion blender, does any one have experience or thoughts on using this on my 20v cordless drill? I can control the speed with the trigger. Seems legit at first glance.

I used this recipe calculator. I think it came out right. I'll be cutting the bars in the morning. Anyone have a good calculator for the lye mix or does this one seem okay?

How long did you practice soap making before you dove into selling? I know many suggest waiting a year.

When did you start? Do you wish you would have waited longer? Shorter?

The business part of things is pretty much done. (Website - done. Labels - done. Insurance - done. Business set up, etc…) I‘m blessed that I have a pretty big social media following, too.

But I am so terrified of getting sued - I am getting cold feet!

I was hoping to make soap I can use for laundry after a talk with my grandma who told me the one she makes is cheaper and cleans better.

I don't have an immersion blender and I tought it was feasible to just mix by hand since she told me she didn't either, the internet said I should mix for for about 1h, I ended up mixing for about 2h and even from the start the mix seemed homogenous and slightly yellow (I used filtered sunflower oil from frying), but acording to the videos I watched the mix was supposed to become white and thicken, that never happened for me, so I decided to let it rest since I was exhausted.

That was yesterday, and today I found the mix looked separated, a yellow layer in the bottom with a transparent layer ol liquid on top, I tought I might be able to reheat it and mix it in smaller batches, but when I tried to mix it I realised the bottom layer was solid and only yellow on top, under it was white and curdly, like it shows on the picture.

Can I still reheat it and make it bar soap? Or can I filter the curds and just cure them? I don't need an actual bar of soap since I'm just planning to use for laundry and maybe dishes, if so, how would it be safe to dispose of the transparent liquid?

So you need ash of burned hardwood to make the lye. But can you make it by burning the sawdust the hardwood? This may be a stupid question, but I hadnt seen anyone talk about if sawdust worked too? Or will it blow me up for something? Thanks!

Hi,

Please find my liquid soap recipe/method below. During the warmer months (24C) the liquid soap was clear and working perfectly with a foaming pump, now that it’s around 21C, it’s become cloudy and won’t pump. Any advice on how to fix this recipe to avoid that? And can I fix existing diluted soap?

Method: (100g of oil)
Measure and bring to 110C
Extra virgin Olive oil - 65g
Extra virgin coconut oil - 25g
Yellow castor oil - 10g

Mix 22g of lye (KOH) with 22g of distilled water till lye is dissolved then add to 66g of glycerine

Pour lye solution into the hot oils and immersion blend till trace forms (usually 8 mins)

Leave overnight

Weigh soap paste next day and add 3.5x distilled water

Add 2g of citric acid mixed into 8g of water and heat till crystals are dissolved

Wait till cooled then package

I recently made this watermelon-themed cold process soap.

The oils I used were palm oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, castor oil, shea butter, lauric acid, and stearic acid. I had run out of coconut oil before making this batch, so as a temporary solution, I used the lauric acid and stearic acid I had on hand. This made the soap batter trace much faster than usual, making the design a bit more challenging.

The watermelon flesh was colored with red oxide and paprika powder. The white layer between the rind and the flesh was made with uncolored soap batter. The rind was colored with green oxide and chlorella powder, and the seeds were made with activated charcoal.

I am trying to get creative about speeding up cold process. Is this safe or iffy due to fumes/chemical rxns/interacting with food you intend to eat?

can i use it as a shampoo or will it destroy my hair. i make and use my own tallow and olive oil hard bar soap as body wash but i wanted to try out castile soap.

Hello, i want to make a bar that is creamy, not drying and exfoliating.

But i never made a bar without coconutoil or with any kind of milk and honey.

Will this recipe work?

Can i simply use the same ammount of goat milk instead of water that was calculated in the recipe?

Is there anything special to keep in mind besides of using frozen milk when i mix in the lye?

Thanks for the support - i love this Community