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When you order lye, it important to know how you are going to store. Much more so if you order in 50 pound bags. It needs to be in an air tight container or else moisture will get in there and ruin the lye. There are several places that have lye. Look around and see if you can find one close...

Borax is Sodium Borate, The name brand I get is 30 Mule Team Borax. Washing Soda is Sodium Carbonate, and I get the Arm and Hammer Brand. You can get these on line but add shipping costs and it can get rather expensive. Try your smaller, more local grocery stores instead of a super walmart...

Blackbird, yes that was me who made the soapmakers reference thread. It has saved me a few times too when I couldn't find a site that I swore I had saved and didn't. Millersoaps.com is a great place for anyone interested in learning to make soap.

I think you can get most of those at Brambleberry.com

I put my soaps in muslin bags. They allow the soaps still breath. I wrap some of half sized bars in glassine envelopes. But prefer muslin. Mystic Mountain Sage has shrink wrap bands that are open ended and also allow the soaps to breath. For Crafts Sake has shrink wrap bands and boxes also...

Great post and pictures! And congrats on the ribbon.

I really like pumpkin in soap! The texture becomes thicker and creamier. General rule for adding stuff like pumkin or sweet potatoes is one oz per pound of oil. So if you have a 5 pound (oils only) recipe, you would use 5 oz of pumkin. And discount the 5 oz from your water. Just make sure...

We are in Hempstead Tx. Kinda between Houston and Brenham.

No, the lye kills any nasties and preserves the soap. Now, I'm not talking chunky milk, lol. Just milk that is soured.

4 Chicken Thighs sliced (boneless skinless, I have tried this with breast and it is not as good) 1 bell pepper sliced 1 onion sliced 2 bags of saffron rice ( I like Mahatma best) a little oil In a big sauce pan, cook chicken until almost done. I add the onions and peppers half way through cause...

If you ever have milk or cream that is starting to go bad, use it in soap!!!

I'll be different and tell you that I always add some honey and a splash of vanilla to my milk when I am heating it up. Never had any problems. ETA word

I am just getting into making liquid soaps, but the bible of liquid is Catherine Failor's Making Natural Liquid Soaps. Read hers for directions on liquid soaps. You could make a Gallon of Shampoo for way less than $8, as long as you don't use pricey essential oils. This place also has great...

I'm still working on perfecting my shaving recipe. It's ok right now, but I know it can be better. Here are somethings I have had reccomended to me and what I have found to help in a shaving bar. High Olive oil- I know that OO soaps suck as far as lather, but because of the high Oleic acid it...

Yes, coconut will harden then soap. It has a lot of Lauric acid in it. So does Palm Kernal Oil and Babaussa. Stearic will also harden your bars, but can make soap trace faster if you have a LOT of it. Look around on soapcalc, you will see a tab that says learn, click it down and go to soap...

From your list I have used: Honey, tea (not ginger), yogurt, bananas, coffee, cinnamon, carrots, cucumbers, oatmeal and goats milk. Others I have also used: Avocados, buttermilk, lemon and orange peel, pumkin, coconut milk, salt, paprika, tumeric, apple cider, cocopowder and seems like...

Coconut will add hardness to your bars. If you are using the default amount of water on soap calc, most recipes will be soft because they reccomend a LOT of water. It's something like a 26% lye solution I think? Anyway, if you want a harder bar faster, go to the number 3 step, water. The...

The reson why you got several different calcs was because each calc prob has a different sap value for the oils you entered. Some online calcs have a 5% superfat prebuilt into the sap values. One reason why I try to always use the same calc when formulating a recipe. My personal preference is...

Stick Blenders are not made to be on constantly. I pulse my in 5 second burst while I also use it to stir. So far I have not burned out a stick blender, even when I make 30 pounds of soap a day. I like the Hamilton Beach SB so much better then the Oster one. Different oils trace in...

There are 3 different kinds of Palm oils used by soap makers. Palm, Palm Kernal, and Red Palm. Red Palm and Palm are basically the same, but the Red is unrefined and that is why it has the red color to it. Refined Palm oil is white and looks a lot like crisco when hard. This is from the...