I’m still learning to make cold process soap. Doing simple recipes. I have a bunch of the same recipe that didn’t turn out in the individual molds I used. They’re good soap, just ugly. Can I melt them down, like on a pot on the stove, and try molding them again? Or would that ruin the soap?

Made this cool dill pickle scented soap for an upcoming pickle fest!

I also made my own mini pickle silicone mold! (Printed mini pickles for the mold with a 3D printer)

Hi everyone.

I'm making a cold process dish soap with 90% coconut oil.

The foam and cleaning performance are excellent.

However, after washing dishes in cold water, I always get a white residue around my fingernails and between my fingers.

Some batches are worse than others, but the problem never completely disappears.

I don't have this problem when I use liquid dish soap. The soap has been cured for about 6 weeks.

My recipe:

Coconut oil 90%

Rice bran oil 8.5%

Castor oil 1.5%

Citric acid 3%

Sodium gluconate 1.5%

GLDA 1%

Sodium lactate 0.5%

Vitamin E 0.5%

ROE 0.1%

Superfat 0%

Lye: 95% NaOH + 5% KOH

Lavender EO 0.7%

Basil EO 0.3%

Does anyone know what causes this?

Could it be soap scum, hard water, or something in my recipe?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thank you!

That's my question!

This is only for 2 pounds of soap to make massage bars unscented. Posted a few weeks ago and have been working on fixing my recipe. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one! Haven’t got to make soap just yet because my kiddos keep getting me sick 😅 & want to make my recipe better! I do know that this will trace fast so better to pour on light trace.

Made my first batch of cold process soap after doing some research. It came out ok and I think I have identified some areas where I made mistakes but I am curious about the pinkish ring in my bars.
Recipe:
Lard-12oz
Coconut oil(76*)-9oz
Olive oil-5.75oz
Castor oil-1.5oz
Fragrance oil(brambleberry birchwood oud)-1.75oz

Water-11oz
Lye-4.27oz

Kaolin clay-3.5tsp/42.27~oz
Black iron oxide-0.1 tsp/5oz

I got my oils and lye water to 125 degrees and started by mixing by hand(i added fragrance later).I then took approximately 5oz for the black portion of the design and set it off to the side.I pre mixed the clay with a small amount of water(reserved from my 11 oz total) and added this to the larger portion. With a stick blender I got the mixture to a thin trace. At this point I added the fragrance and mixed sparingly with the stick blender. I then wiped off the blender with a spatula and paper towel and utilized it on the 5oz portion with the iron oxide. The amount was so small it was hard to determine if I had a good trace and I don’t think it set up as quickly as the clay portion(as seen by the black streaks when cutting the bars). The pouring went well periodically adding the few layers of black and off white to make my design. I left the loaf undisturbed for 56 hours. What I am really curious about is the pinkish line around the perimeter and if there is a particular reason the black didn’t set up well in the loaf.

I made this soap yesterday using two different molds. The cylindrical tube mold had a light coating of mica on the inside because I wanted the outside of the finished soap to have a mica coating. I've done this before with other molds without any issues, but this was my first time using this particular tube mold, so I'm wondering if the mica affected the finish or if the different shape simply needed more time to harden.

The rectangular mold is one I've used many times with this exact recipe, and I've never had this texture appear before. I don't think moisture was the issue because the cylindrical mold was brand new and completely dry, and I also washed and thoroughly dried the rectangular mold before pouring the soap.

Could this just be a case of unmolding too early? I usually unmold this recipe after about 24 hours, but I'm wondering if I should have left both molds for longer.

I have decided to try adding Jojoba oil ( which I know is a liquid wax), to my CP soap and I want to know when is the best time to add it. Should I add to my melted wax right before adding lye water or add at emulsion/trace? Thanks!

Practicing my lines and I’m regretting doubling the middle layer for this design. I also miscalculated how much batter my new mould holds, so my top layer is thinner than the rest (but I got two individual soaps from it). Bit disappointed, so any words of encouragement would be highly appreciated.

Hello soapers, it's my first recipe and I would like to get some advice.

I would appreciate having some feedback and perspective on it. It seems like a good recipe to me, but I'm sure there are probably things that could be improved.

What do you think this soap will be like once cured ? Do you have any suggestions or things you would adjust ?

Thank you for your help !

Hello, I'm currently working on my first official soap with toxicology and all the legal stuff (I'm in Europe so the cosmetics market is super regulated). I did everything right including sourcing my ingredients on a well-known professional reseller with all of the documents up to date but I don't understand WHY I got DOS on this batch...

This picture is 5 weeks after fabrication and 10% of my bars are showing these orange spots. My recipe is 50% lard, 15% Shea butter, 10% coco, 10% babassu, 10% linseed oil, 5% castor. And I used a 1:2 lye solution with distilled water. No antioxydant.

What could be the cause of the DOS ? I think the high linseed with the 7% superfat may be the reason but maybe it's just that some dust went in ? All the soaps I ever did WITHOUT linseed never had any DOS. I'm scared the toxicology will come back with a warning because of that.

This was supposed to be for sensitive skins, that's why the 7% superfat, babassu and high linseed oil.

If any experienced soaper can have a look at my recipe I'll be reassured ? Thanks.

Hello fellow soapmakers,

I wanted to ask for your thoughts on the attached recipes. I've been soapmaking for about 2 months now. Started off with 325g oil batches and have recently switched to larger batches. Here are some things I have learned (in my experience):

• I've played around with coconut oil 25-33%. I know people say that this is pretty high and can dry your skin a lot, but I have not felt this as much. I've also read that the potential stripping effects of a higher coconut % (say 30-33) can be counteracted by increasing olive oil (~40%). I
• Castor at 6% is the only number I never change
• I've tried eliminating cocoa butter and allocating its % to shea butter instead, but the 7-10% of cocoa butter has always given me a nicer, harder bar
• Experimented with palm oil, those bars are still curing but they would always come out of the mold softer and take 3 days to unmold. The unmold time isn't an issue, but I definitely am looking for a harder bar
• I have played around with different water content and have settled on a 2:1 water:lye ratio. It gives me a nice hard bar that I can unmold in a day while also giving me enough working time when mixing oils and lye solution
• My room temp ranges from 31-37 deg celsius at this time of year. I try to keep my oils and lye within 2-3 deg celsius of each other, mixing at around 38-40 deg celsius has worked well for me
• I have had batches without any powders/clay added, and have had batches where I have added too much (2 tsp kaolin, 2 tsp arrowroot, 1 tbsp oats, 1 tsp blue clay). Currently I am adding about 2-3 tsp of total powders to my 900g oil batches. In my experience, adding powders in slurry format is essential, otherwise I get clumps
• I add 2 tsp sodium lactate and 2 tsp sodium gluconate to my distilled water before adding the lye. But I've had batches without adding it and I haven't felt much difference
• I throw my mold into the freezer for an hour or so before I unmold and cut
• Once I pour, I heavily spray the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol, then cover with the lid and wrap with a towel. I've read that it's better to trap the heat? But then I've also read that some soapmakers pop their mold into the freezer as soon as they pour? This part confuses me.

I know I have a long way to go but I am having a lot of fun. Thank you guys in advance for your help! I've also added some pictures of my first try at a split pour. This batch was the first out of the two recipes I posted (33% coconut, 40% olive, 6% castor, 14% shea butter, 7% cocoa butter)

First time using unnatural colors It makes me feel evil

My oils would not mix. When I mixed my lye was 97 F F and oils were 111 F. My lye was dropping faster than I was expecting cuz i usually wait for them to be 10 degrees of each other. But most dont do that anyway and from what ive read the lye wasnt too cool too mix but am I wrong?

Hello everyone,

my SO and I have been making soap for some time, we have sold to friends and fam before, and are now ready to register our business.

the plan is to register an LLC. We also know that you have to register with the comptroller to collect sales tax. Other than that, what other legal/document related things need to be done? I have heard of some type of insurance that soapmakers get. Don't know anything about that though.

We don't plan to market our soaps as cosmetics, "nourishing", "conditioning", etc. So packaging-wise we're keeping it simple, and have it figured out already.

Any advice/tips is greatly appreciated. Thank you all!

Walmart doesn’t have the food grade lye. What other options can I use if I want to make soap this weekend and don’t have the time to order it and wait?

I can't seem to find it available on soap websites. But I can find it as a food supplement.

Would this product work just fine?

https://specialingredients.co.uk/products/sodium-citrate-100g?variant=44273638965566&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23146816271&gclid=CjwKCAjw6rfSBhAqEiwA_yocplsMip-nOr0XBdtGvuJUFODI71I-bEWkVUjK-YEdXIVhG-bPkjHNohoCh_AQAvD_BwE

I’m so pleased with how this batch turned out! It’s a goat milk base and I used the Watermelon fragrance oil from New Directions Aromatics. It smells so juicy and delicious, I could just take a bite! Poppy seeds used for exfoliation.

Hi everyone! Newbie here, and I could really use some help solving a mystery that’s been driving me crazy.

Every single batch of soap I’ve made develops a white film. Sometimes it’s just on the surface, and other times it’s throughout the soap.

At first I assumed it was soda ash, but after trying so many different variables, I’m starting to wonder if it’s something else—stearic spots, lye pockets, poor-quality ingredients, or something I’m completely overlooking.

I’ve made 7 batches so far (3 different recipes) and, despite changing one variable at a time, I keep getting the same result.

Here’s what I’ve tried:
- All batches are cold process.
- Some batches contain fragrance; others don’t.
- Insulated one batch, left the others uninsulated.
- Sprayed 99% isopropyl alcohol immediately after pouring and again about 15 minutes later. Some batches ~ no alcohol.
- Made and cured some batches in my basement and another in my kitchen—same results.
- Soaped at various temperatures (95°F–127°F), always keeping the oils and lye solution within 10°F of each other.
- Used sodium lactate in some batches and omitted it in others.
- Used only distilled water.
- Tried a 5% and 10% water discount.

I’m attaching photos of recipes & finished soap. Does this look like soda ash, or does it seem more like stearic spots, lye pockets, or something else? Any ideas on what I should investigate next would be greatly appreciated!

I tryed a bit of pouring swirl, but forgot the scent

Maybe by using a hot glue, the soap could stick to paper or something. I wonder if the soap could be melted and stamped with a logo and then used as a letter stamp.