In Cold Process (like the soaps pictured) I use distilled water. Using distilled water helps cut down on "ASH". Ash sometimes develops on the outside of the soap for different reasons. If I adhere to a few techniques I rarely get enough ash for me to be aggravated with. I use distilled water, I spritz the top of the freshly poured soap with rubbing alcohol, then cover with plastic wrap(loosely so I don't mess up the pretty top (the top of the soap is below the top of the mold, so the plastic rests there). The alcohol and plastic wrap keep the air out during the chemical reaction of saponification process. If I can keep from peeking and lifting the plastic until at least 6hrs that really helps prevent ash. When I have used regular tap water I do get worse ash. That's the main reason I use distilled water in the Cold Process soaps.
Some people use rain water and snow for their Cold Process soaps. They filter it through a coffee filter then boil it. Of course there is always beer, every kind of milk you can imagine...even human breast milks, root beer, cream soda, aloe liquid....the list goes on and on. If you can get your hands on it, people put it in their soaps. Some with success, some not.
For my laundry soap on the other hand. I do not care at all. I do boil the tap water, but that's it.
Naoh is for Cold Process, Hot Process, Laundry Soap. KOH is for Liquid, Cream soaps and Shaving Soaps.
Be SURE to check with the company you bought the Fragrance Oil from to see what products the fragrance oil is safe for. Some are only for candles, some are not skin safe, some are skin safe and would work in a hand cream but would ruin a batch of cold process soap.....etc. There are plenty of great suppliers out there though and I know that there is a company that sells cold process skin safe GAIN fragrance oil. I would have to go back through and see if I could find it again though.
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