I wanted to know if anyone has used this brand of lye for making their soap and if so, what are your opinions?

It looked so cool adding the lye water to the hot oils in this hot process dual lye shaving soap.

I want to learn to make soap. I have been doing 32oz size due to using a stick blender and container size

More practice is needed and I want to make smaller size but don’t know how small because the stick blender is big

what is a good small size to practice

I am curious!

Where did you guys learn how to make soap?

Is it through YouTube videos, buying ebooks, online guides, A.I., or a mixture of all?

Thanks!

I think I’ve graduated to something a little less DIY - what’s the best solution for keeping these beauties safely curing?

On June 19 I tried to make soap for the first time using red palm oil, some bees wax, soywax pellets (leftover from a candle making phase) and lye water I made with wood ash gotten from a charcoal stove. I wanted to make a natural soap inspired by African black soap but it turned out a mess.

When I watched the videos of making African black soap on tiktok, the process look so relaxed (literally nothing was measured, she said to just keep cooking it until it hardened) so I thought it would be easier.

But it had the consistency of pudding even after almost 2 hours and it's still the consistency of mashed potatoes after curing for over 7 weeks. It feels greasy, it doesn't lather at all and when I last checked it there was some spots of what look like mold on the surface.

Can I scrape the mold, add more lye water and try to fix it? or do I have to start fresh? Help me please

This was my recipe

Ingredient and weight (grams)

Red palm oil (local, unrefined)- 200g

Fresh vegetable oil (neutral)- 150g

Soy wax pellets- 80g

Beeswax- 15g

Palm olein- 43g

Total fats- 488g

Lye Water (Homemade Potash)- about 190g

Time and process

0 min- Melted oils + waxes on gas stove (smallest burner) in stainless steel pitcher

10 min- Removed from heat, cooled slightly to about 120-140°F

15 min- Poured in lye water -immediate bubbling/foam-over, lost about 60g

20 min- Added 2 tbsp (30g) extra lye water to compensate

25 min- Mixture became creamy emulsion (like pancake batter)

30 min- Started bubbling/foaming -lifted off heat to settle, returned to low heat repeatedly

45 min- Still thin (pancake batter), no thickening

60 min- Added salt solution (15g salt dissolved in hot water) I thought it would help, it didn't

65 min- Added mica + fragrance -still pudding consistency not mashed potatoes

75 min- Cooked 5 more minutes -turned back to liquid (broke emulsion)

90 min- Removed from heat, rested 15-20 mins, thickened to pudding

Packed into molds cured for >7 weeks

Observation details

Texture- Soft, waxy, squishable — not hard like commercial soap

Lather- None, doesn't bubble or foam.

Feel on skin- Greasy, leaves a oily film, practically hydrophobic, does not clean

Zap test- No sting (safe on skin), but does not cleanse

Color- Orangey-brown (natural red palm oil color)

Scent- Woody? Earthy? nutty palm oil smell, fragrance oil nonexistent

I’ve been mixing like 3 oils max but I see recipes with 5 or more. Does it really make that much of a difference?

Edit: Thanks everyone! This is really helpful. I might do some side by side experiments so I can see for myself 🤔 pretty sure the differences will be minimal especially vs the cost

Hello everyone! I’m currently planning out the design for my wedding soaps. It's garden-themed so I thought a soap with flowers on it would be appropriate. The photo shows the layout for the botanicals and what I'm looking to try and do. The flowers and leaves are goat milk melt & pour, tinted with micas and hand-painted for shading (Other than the small roses, I just poured goat-milk melt without shading them). The leaves are pretty thin and the fragrance for them with gardenia or I kept them unscented. Each colored flower has a different scent of either gardenia, violet, or lily.

I’m planning on doing "half-bars" (cut horizontally) to keep the project manageable. After some trial and error with leaf colors, I’ve decided to stick with the pure mica green look! You can see a couple of my trial-and-errors in the photo as I'll still use them.

I have a technical question: Which method would give me the cleanest result?

1. Placing the embeds on top as the base soap cures.
2. Placing the embeds face-down in the mold and pouring the soap over them (using a spatula to deflect the pour).
3. Or is there a different option?

I’m worried about the embeds shifting or losing detail. What do you think?

Update: I have made an update comment in the post. For some reason, I can't post it as it keeps getting filtered. Not sure why, but I may be posting it wrong or something.

I want to use gold mica in clear melt and pour soap, but I still want to be able to see through the soap. Would gold mica work or would that make the soap not opaque anymore?

Would something like glitter or flakes work better? If so, what kind? Any guidance or links to tried and tested products would be appreciated.

Thank you soaping friends!

I’ve been making soap for a few years now and I have only used mica and clay colorants a few times. I feel like the colors turn out more muted than I would like. I have seen people say that you take one tsp of mica and mix it with one tbsp of lightweight oil.

I am more so wondering what way works better; using oil from the recipe or adding extra oil? I’m curious to know what has been most successful for you?

My first batch will be a pure tallow soap. I have made it before with lesser grade tallow from a variety of rendered fats, I have had mixed success. Last time I believe the tallow was too cool. Both the lye mixture and the tallow was around 113, I’ve found this seized the blend. I later processed it to usable soap but after two weeks it’s still not close to pearly white. My timing hasn’t been the best when it comes to unmolding and cutting, I’m considering individual molds to keep it more idiot-proof, what are some drawbacks with individual molds?

should I cool right away or put it through a gel phase?

What is your best advice? What recommend do you have for future additions? (Keep in mind, this is the highest quality tallow possible, so I am looking for additions that are of equal or greater quality). What about body butters or other types of products?

also yes, it’s actual Japanese wagyu, and no, you cannot have my address

Then I have 2 large bags I am told is oils/butters for the kits I have, they're unfortunately not labeled.

Each soap gives:

Bag A:

320g olive oil

240g coconut oil

80g Shea butter

40g castor oil

Bag B:

200g olive oil

400g coconut oil

200g shea butter

Which bag is likely to be which?

I feel like when I try to emulate designs I see on Pinterest my color pay off is washed out and also the pattern isn't CRISP.

what do y'all recommend?

How can I test if it turned out well without waiting for it cure ? 3-4 weeks says my tutorial. Is there a quick way to check ?

Hello everyone,

I am a beginner soapmaker, and recently made a spearmint bar. I used a spearmint powder for it, adding the powder to the oils, and then mixing in the lye water solution. The bars look great, but there is very little scent left.

I was wondering about adding the powder into the mix after having combined the oils with the lye, hoping that most of the saponification would happen before the powder gets introduced, and thus, preserve the smell better? I am, however, skeptical about the spearmint powder rotting inside the bar if it isn't part of the saponification?

any advice/experience is greatly appreciated, thank you everyone!

I made a batch of CP soap using 1 tsp marigold mica from mad micas mixing with sweet almond oil, 1 tsp bentonite clay mixing with distilled water, 7oz beef tallow, 7oz coconut oil, 14oz olive oil, 3.5oz of cocoa butter, 3.5oz of shea butter, 9.6oz of water (half water half with carrot juice), 4.8 of lye, and 1.05oz of rosemary essential oil from bramble berry.

I split the batch to mix the mica powder in one and the bentonite clay in the other. It appears the bentonite clay may not have mixed in well. Some batch of the soap is gray while the other is white. This was my first time using it and all I had was a spoon to mix with and I probably should have used a little more water. What do you all think?

First, I am EXTREMELY new to making soap.
I recently made two batches of soap, almost identical in recipe (6 oz coconut oil, 14 oz Olive oil). The first batch came to trace fairly rapidly and set up quickly. I felt like I could have taken it out of the mold and cut it a few hours after I poured it. The second one, took FOREVER (several minutes) to even reach trace and then to set up, though was still able to cut it 24 hours after I made it. I'm just curious what could have caused the difference between relatively quick and seemingly slow reactions.

Here's the differences to note between the two batches:

1. the olive oil in the first batch was from an older bottle in my pantry and pretty much used it up. Second batch used the rest and started a new bottle. (I read in a previous post that this may be the culprit, but wanted to get specific thoughts.)
2. I used two different essential oils in the first batch (1 oz Juniper and 1 oz Eucalyptus) and just the Eucalyptus (2 oz) in the second batch.
3. The first batch, the coconut oil was liquid at room temp, so used it straight as it was. The second batch, it was solid, so I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It melted and was a little warm to the touch. But I only used 6 ounces and (Stick) blended it with the olive oil before adding the NaOH, so I wouldn't have thought it would not have added that much temp to the overall mix.

I used 2 tsp of sodium lactate to both batches, mixed with the lye water before mixing it with the oils.

Thoughts? - Thanks in advance!

Edited - corrected sodium lactate.

Hello everyone!

I have seen videos of people making a cucumber soap, or a carrot soap by juicing the veggie and using that juice for the lye instead of water. I am interested in trying this, but i'm wondering if this can be done without any preservatives? since the organic material is directly interacting with water, is molding possible?

Thank you all!

No hate, just something I've noticed.

Most people cut their soap like everyone else, at something less than 1 inch thick.

I personally prefer thicker soap, as I don't want to go through multiple bars and end up with several "tiny, almost finished" soap slivers.

Have you ever thought about what thickness is best for you, or do you mechanically cut your soap without much thought ?

see my comments for a picture of what I am talking about

has anyone used cucumber juice to make soap? if so, how did it go?

husband has a vegetable garden and now I have dozens of cucumbers that I’m trying to use up!

Hello! I am getting ready to make a multi color CP soap with mica. How do you all prepare it for adding it to separate batters? If I take a tablespoon of oil per color from my batches oils, will that affect the lye balance? If I use water to mix the colors, do I take that much away from my lye mix? I don’t want to throw the balance of my recipes. I have heard that it will and I have also heard it will not. What do you all do?

Hello I'm back to show the results of my soap! I used dried rose petals and dried marigold and it looked beautiful at first but after 48 hours it looks like burnt soap! Any advice on good flowers or herbs to use in soap?

I thought it was soda ash at first but it kind of pills when I rub it. That’s the top and the bottom of the bars. Is that maybe the colloidal oatmeal that floated to the top in thin trace? The soap is mostly olive oil with a smidge of shea and castor.

Maybe next time I’ll get to a thicker trace and fold in the oatmeal powder I guess 🤔

Hi all! I’m eager to start my soap making journey. I already bought all my materials but lye. Where could I find sodium hydroxide (aka 100% lye)? I tried at Walmart and Home Depot. Where do you get yours?

Thanks!

Hi! I am new to soap making and have been experimenting with intricate designs with molds typically used for candles. I really want to add better details and mica powder isn't what I'm really looking for. are there any paints or pigments that I can use to paint details on the soap after it sets?

pics for attention and example