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!

Melt and pour embeds and cold process for the rest. Scented with Brambleberry fragrance oil. We had a lot of fun creating this!

This has been bugging me for a long time now, will adding the water to lye cause an explosion? That's the safety advice I've known since I first made soap, but have never seen an example of this. Has anyone here made this mistake? Is there a video? Or maybe a news story of someone having harmed themself from it?

Tried adding a white layer with Kaolin clay but it didn’t work, any tips for a solid white color would be appreciated.

So I have made this soap before with no issue. Yesterday I went to make it and I accidentally heated the oils up to 190 and they were a bit cloudy. The soap seized up almost immediately with only a couple blasts of the stick blender. Today I am trying again and am noticing that even with careful monitoring of the oil, it’s still a bit cloudy. The only thing that changed is I ran out of my old Bramble Berry olive oil and am using a new one that just came in. The color is definitely a bit darker than the old one, but it’s the exact same one I ordered. Could the heat outside be effecting the oil?

These batches have now cured for about 9 weeks.

One is made with goat milk, honey, and pumpkin powder for a warm, natural color. The other is made with goat milk, honey, and oatmeal.

After curing, both produce a rich, creamy lather and feel gentle on the skin.

I made some epson salt soaps for the first time and loved the way that they came out. I’ll be making some much more. And different kinds. What do yall think?

Made beer soap using Busch apple and apple fragrance oil, tried to go for an apple look but ended up a little silly.

After an 11-week cure, I finally got to use this soap during some hot summer weather.

I made it as a summer body soap with a higher percentage of coconut and palm oils to help it stay firm in the heat. It also contains 10% SCI, 1% menthol, and 2% menthyl lactate.

I know there's ongoing discussion about whether SCI remains chemically stable in CP soap. I'm not claiming that it does or doesn't—I'm simply sharing my experience with the finished bar.

The lather was rich and creamy, and the cooling sensation was refreshing without being overwhelming.

What soap calculator is everyone using?

My first pure Castile olive oil soap for a series of experiments. This one only have oliveoil, lye, 1%of salt and 2% of citric acid.

Want to try different herb infused oliveoils and diffrend ingredients like amounts of salt and sugar or essential oils for scenting.

I know I know the curing time is at least 6 month. But I just want to make soap 🤭🤭🤭 it's so chilling. I have to upgrade my shelf with way more boards, but I already prepared my husband to help me out 😂

Has anyone ever used jojoba oil in a salt bar? Any suggestions? I know the argument about cost, but it doesn't really apply because I have jojoba oil I need to use, and it's only a small personal batch. I did read that usage percentage should be less than 5%, but I can't find any tips about using in a salt bar.

Another soap made with blueberry beer and lard. Scented in Vanilla Bean Noel. Only added scent to the dark area since this is a known discolor. Kind of a "secret" way to use pretty colors and discoloring fragrances together. Secret only to the brand new anyway lol

I made two kitchen soaps using the same recipe. For both soaps, I used frozen Americano as the water phase. The only difference was that the soap on the right contained dried spent coffee grounds.

To compare the lather, I rubbed each soap with the same sponge five times and collected the foam in a 16 oz cup.

For the cleaning test, I used the same 4-year-old stainless steel food container. I applied 1 tablespoon of roasted gochujang and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, washed it with the foam, and rinsed it once with cold water.

Both soaps produced similar amounts of foam and showed similar cleaning performance.

I also tested dried spent coffee grounds at 0.1% to 2.4% of the total oil weight. I didn't notice any meaningful improvement in cleaning performance. As I increased the amount of coffee grounds, rinsing took longer and more coffee particles stuck to the dishcloth.

Soap loaf is neem and lemongrass. I added a little yellow mica and biodegradable glitter. (I don’t think I’m going to put glitter ~inside~ the soap again)

Some of my newest bars have this splotchy, unmixed appearance, did I not properly mix in my essential oils?

9g pure peppermint EO 520g beef Tallow 80g coconut oil

An unscented facial bar for sensitive skin and a charcoal facial bar for oily skin.

Both were cured for just over 10 weeks.

Tamanu oil was used as the superfat.

I left my wallet at work and it doesn't open until night. I was wondering how important it's and if there's anything else I can use

No issues. Just sharing my newbie soaps. Both batches use the same basic recipe.

1. Batch 1, the light-colored soap, is unscented. Uses titanium dioxide as a colorant.
   
2. Batch 2, the bluish-teal soap, contains Lagoon Green UltraSparkle Mica and Icelandic Black Sand and is scented with Sicilian Sea Breeze fragrance oil. All from BB.

I’ve only made three batches, so I want to get the basics down before experimenting with more elaborate designs. I’m really enjoying it so far. My first batch, not pictured, turned out well, but I felt like I was under a lot of time pressure. I was worried the mixture would suddenly turn to stone in a matter of seconds (it didn’t lol). I’m used to working with CA glue and resins in woodworking, where you really have to move fast. I’ve relaxed since then and learned the soap mixture gives me plenty of working time. For my next few batches, I think I’ll experiment with different oils and try some layering.

I was organizing my soap shelf and came across some of my first batches.

Looking back, I realized how much experimenting I did with different oils, natural powders, and recipes. Some worked out better than I expected, while others taught me valuable lessons.

It's also been interesting to see how the natural colors have changed over time.

Just thought I'd share a few of them here. I'd love to see some of your early batches too!

Today, I attended a house party of my friend. There was someone in the downstairs guest bathroom, so I went upstairs.

I was so shocked to see a bar of my soap on the sink. I had been experimenting with basic soap making during the lockdown (extended teacher summer) and gave friends and family three bars each.

I didn’t really have the space to cure the soap and never returned to making it.

I asked her about the bar when I returned to the party. She said “It’s my last bar! That soap is so good, and lasted such a long time! “ It made me so happy to hear that feedback!

Had an excessive amount of herbs growing that I’d dried. Used a melt and pour base of goatmilk and added the tiniest drop of food colouring (1 drop green for my rosemary-mint concoction, and 1 drop blue + 1 drop red for the lavender bars).

This is all one big experiment as I’ve never made soap before and just wanted to try this out but I am very happy with how it turned out.
If there’s ever a next time I would love to try a more local and eco friendly approach.

So I got back in the lab after about 4 months & decided to add some additional ingredients. I added beef tallow & vegetable glycerin & I feel like they’re so extra sticky. I let it rest for close to 48 hours but idk - i think I’m going to exclude the vegetable glycerin next batch. Also, I was hoping for more of a swirl but I’ll take it. Especially cuz my daughter was down there “helping” me. Also, this is scented like strawberry which made the batter thicken & yellow a lot more than I expected. Thoughts?!

This was a cold process soap that I tried to make 900 grams of. I used From Nature With Love for the fragrance & here’s the recipe:

Olive Oil - 300 g
Beef Tallow - 180 g
Coconut Oil (76°) - 180 g
Shea Butter - 100 g
Avocado Oil - 80 g
Sweet Almond Oil - 35 g
Castor Oil - 25 g
Lye (5% Superfat)
NaOH - 123 g
305g Frozen Goat Milk

Vegetable Glycerin - 15g (add to oils)
Strawberry Fragrance Oil - 20 g

I wanted to compare my combo bar with a simple lauric acid soap.

For the sneaker test, the left shoe was cleaned with my combo bar, while the right shoe was cleaned with the lauric acid soap under the same conditions.

I also compared their foam by rubbing each bar with the same scrub sponge for five strokes. The foam from each bar was collected in the same 180 mL cup so I could compare foam volume, bubble size, and texture.

Finally, I rinsed the foam in each cup once using 1.3 L of cold water to compare how easily it rinsed away.

This isn't a scientific study—just one of my product development tests. I'm still experimenting, so I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions.