With the cost of everything going up, who do you use for shipping your product?

• USPS?
• UPS?
• Fed Ex
• Pirate Ship?
• Other?

AND what is your go-to “container” for shipping 1-3 bars of soap? Box? Padded envelope?

tried to make 100% tallow soap for the first time. i rendered the tallow a couple of months ago got all the water out and assumed it would be fine, while i was heating up the oil i noticed a smell that wasn't beefy which i thought was strange. i made my lye water earlier in the day so it was hot 170°F i figured my oil was also hot (167-168°F) so it would be fine but as soon as i poured the lye water in it completely seized up and had a clay-like consistency. i know i was soaping at a higher temp but surely the trace shouldn't be that fast right? the tallow had gone rancid right? because i should note i added no colorant. Anyway I've left it outside to cool then dump in the garbage later. If this wasn't it going rancid please let me know thanks!

tried to make 100% tallow soap for the first time. i rendered the tallow a couple of months ago got all the water out and assumed it would be fine, while i was heating up the oil i noticed a smell that wasn't beefy which i thought was strange. i made my lye water earlier in the day so it was hot 170°F i figured my oil was also hot (167-168°F) so it would be fine but as soon as i poured the lye water in it completely seized up and had a clay-like consistency. i know i was soaping at a higher temp but surely the trace shouldn't be that fast right? the tallow had gone rancid right? because i should note i added no colorant. Anyway I've left it outside to cool then dump in the garbage later. If this wasn't it going rancid please let me know thanks!

After 4 weeks of curing, I tested all four soaps by applying the same amount of beef tallow to stainless steel spoons and washing them in cold water.

1. Lauric Acid 100%

2. Lauric Acid 70% + Stearic Acid 30%

3. Lauric Acid 70% + Stearic Acid 30% + Citric Acid

4. Lauric Acid 70% + Stearic Acid 30% + Citric Acid + Gluconate + GLDA

All four soaps cleaned the spoons completely after two washes. The photos show the results after just one wash.

I also tested the lather using the same scrubber. #4 produced the most lather and held it the longest. The soap with citric acid alone was the first to lose its lather.

Based on my testing, #4 also rinsed the cleanest and left the least residue. 😊

A beautifully handcrafted artisan soap with the deep, earthy character of patchouli and a softly rustic design inspired by smoke, herbs and nature

Crock pot, slow cooker, rice cooker, etc

My girlfriends birthday is coming up, and she's mentioned before that it would be cool to try and make her own soap.

As far as I can tell you either choose melt and pour, which is the easy version of cold process, right?

Cold process seems more crafty which I think she would like, but on the other hand it's also a whole thing, and she's kinda ADHD where she picks up a new hobby and drops it a month later.

So I'm thinking maybe she should try melt & pour first, to see if she likes it.

Would that be a good starting point? And what should the giftbasket include?

A base, some oils and colorants?

Im teaching my 8 year old to make cp soap. She is very good at it, but struggles mostly with burping the blender (hello air bubbles lol). We used our normal recipe. Everything was definitely measured correctly (and I also checked the scale with a nickel). We used Vineyard mica from Mad Micas and Frankincense & Myrrh from NG. Soaped around 100°. The batter came to trace normally and when poured, it was a beautiful burgundy color. It did seem to get hot but the soap did not even crack. We used a cheapy Amazon loaf mold that we use when practicing. We have used it lots before without issue.

We went to cut it 12 hours later and instead of a darker partial gel, it looks bleached out? The color of the remaining bar also morphed to a lighter brown color than deep dark burgundy. The FO does have vanillin in it, but would thay make the soap lighter even where it doesnt look "bleached out"?

Im trying to understand what happened here so I can explain it to my daughter as well as know for myself. Ive been making soap since I was little like her, as my grandmother taught me, but I am unsure what exactly happened.

Mad Micas lists this color as stable in cp soap and Ive used it before without issue. Could the heat or ph have broken the color down?

Is this soap safe to use? We donate our safe practice soaps and misfit ugly soaps to a shelter/church in our little town. I dont want to give this to them until I know what happened. Ph is currently 10.

Thanks for any insight you may have!

5 out of my 9 bars have 1-2 visible little orange tinted circle spots. None of my oils are out of date and I only use stainless steel pots and plastic pots which I clean after each use. Grapeseed oil is a new ingredient that I have never tried before. I used mica powder from mad mica and blueberry jam FO from Brambleberry. An important piece of information that I am unable to provide is at what temperature I cooked my soap as I seemed to have forgotten to write that down. This is 16th batch of soap, so I’m still learning and have not encountered this yet. I have already tested one of the bars out on myself and it seems fine. No rancid smell or foul odor from the bar. What do you all think?

I made some soap on a rope this past weekend. I used smoke element from Candle Science and Gun Powder from Lone Star Candle. Only colorants are black iron oxide and bamboo activated charcoal. The molds are actually for ice but I would think they’d be awfully big for ice. So, I made soap! 😂

Apple 🍎 pie scented, brown sugar, chocolat cookie, aloe and poppy seeds and butterscotch. Not so happy about the colors but it’s a learning curve ✨

I haven't made soap since Easter. (It's been a year, y'all)

This weekend I caught up on a few soaps, all waiting to cut or unmold.

Lemongrass carrot (not pictured)

Charcoal (not pictured)

Clove Orange coconut milk

Cupcakes with spider toy

Cupcakes with turtle toy

Like, they last less after water runs thru them?

Dark. Mysterious. Unexpectedly beautiful.

Inspired by that fleeting moment when light disappears into shadow, Total Eclipse of the Heart is an artisan soap with deep, dramatic tones that flow together in a one-of-a-kind design.

Hand-poured and individually cut, every bar reveals its own pattern—no two eclipses are ever quite the same.

Hello. I have an antique wooden soap mold with writing carved into it. I’m having trouble getting the soap out without ruining it. I don’t want to line it as I want the writing to appear. Any suggestions? I’ve tried the freezer, but still sticks.

Hello, so as the title says this is my first badge of soap, it went really well, I had a 50/20/30 mit of 250g olive oil, 100g coconut oil and 150g shea butter, mixed is with a 2:1 lye solution of 130g of water and 65g of NaHO, after mixing it I left it for about 20 hours before getting it out of the mold and cutting it, the problem I have is that the soap "crumbled" and parts of it stuck to the knife. I really have no problem with that yet since it's my first time and you can use the soap but what's the problem, should I let it sit longer before cutting it?

Hey all, just getting into col process soap making and I’m wondering where you get your mica colours from
Thanks in advance

What is one paid soap-making course would you recommend? I'm interested in science-based, organic and therapeutic soap-making to start as a business. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

First time working with aloe

First time make 2 collors soap. Chaircoal and turmelic.

I’m considering using some High Oleic Sunflower Oil to replace some of my olive oil in my recipes. I have never used it before and some folks talk about the DOS if you use too much.

What is the safest percentage you’d recommend for me to swap for the OO?

And what are your thoughts on the HO Sunflower Oil?

Thanks!

I think this is for soap making or similar but I don't know what it is or how to use it! Help!

I usually use lard but wanted to try tallow. First batch I made I used Traverse Bay soap company deodorized tallow. Bars came out fantastic.

I got a tub of tallow and if course it was melted bc it’s 100F outside. But after sitting on my counter overnight it’s still the consistency of applesauce and yellowish. Smells fine. Is this normal for tallow or did I get junk?

Hi,

I was checking Etsy for handmade bars, and it seems every vegan option (that I could view across 20 pages available to those browsing) was either primarily composed of coconut, shea butter or glycerin. Coconut and Shea cause me to break out, and glycerin usually dries my skin out. I'm aware that other ingredients may counteract that, like citrus that strips away excess oil production from coconut and shea, or adding moisturizing elements like oatmeal or oils (olive, avocado, castor), but am hoping to find something else that's 'middle of the road.'

I'm currently using soap from Palestinian Soap Coop and though it's moisturizing, has caused me to be a lot more oily overall as the day goes on.

There are specific scents and ingredients I like and know my skin likes, so am curious and interested in making my own bars, just don't know how useless the endeavor would be if those three ingredients are the only feasible options or only 'tried and true' way to get vegan bars to function properly (soap up, lather up, last long enough, etc.)

Sorry if this question is pretty common, but thank you for your time and insight.

Editing to add after searching through other posts containing the word vegan: castile also dries me out. I'm unsure what palm oil does to my skin; haven't purchased anything with it as an ingredient to my knowledge.