Soap Makers Help!

[chiknwhisperer]

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You've come to the right place and welcome to your next addiction lol. Everyone here will guide you and walk you through it and you have to include pics lol. We all love seeing pics. There is a soapmaker's reference thread and recipe swap thread. I'll have to post the links up but Morgaine or one of the others ladies might beat me to it lol.

And Morgaine,
GREAT JOB!!! I hope I can do that well when I go.

Breconbcs, the soaps are beautiful. I have a question though. What is another name for calendula? I have no idea what kind of flower it is. It is a flower right?

 

[Buckhorn Farm]

chiknwhisperer, Thank you....my DD and I are so looking forward to getting into this...oh well my poor DH, I can hear him now....what next..LOL. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!!!

 

[Morgaine]

Thanks, I just can't believe it. I'm rebatching a bunch of soap scraps into buttermilk & grits and I going to scent with lavender and orange eo's.

I'm going to do 2 batches of lavender & goat's milk and 1 black raspberry cream later. I've got to take dh to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth taken out later.

Buckhorn Farm The book I liked the best was The Soap Maker's Companion. She walks you through it step by step. Here is the reference thread , Toward the bottom of the list is a catagory for general soap making info, it will help get you started. And feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I also have the Soap Maker's Companion and I have Everything Soapmaking. The rest of what I need to know is all here with all these lovely people and on some of the reference sites that are listed in the other thread. You'll love it!
Moragine, here I am itching to soap and I completely forgot that I could be rebatching my cucumber soap right now

On a side note real quick. Do any of you have or have had a broddy BO? Mine went broody so I gave her some eggs 5 days ago and now she won't eat even though all she has to do is stretch her neck and she's not drinking much either. Any ideas?

 

[Morgaine]

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LOL, Get chopping!

I just glopped my soap into the mold. I think I melted way too much soap. It went ALL the way to the top of the mold. I knew I should have weighed the scraps instead of just eye ball it. It's going to be 4'X3.5"X1" now

. I think I'm going to have to cut this soap in half.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

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LOL, Get chopping!

I just glopped my soap into the mold. I think I melted way too much soap. It went ALL the way to the top of the mold. I knew I should have weighed the scraps instead of just eye ball it. It's going to be 4'X3.5"X1" now

. I think I'm going to have to cut this soap in half.

You got to into it

I still need to figure out how much liquid to add per pound. Any ideas? The soap was brittle.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

I'm going to cast a descenting vote on Soapmakers Companion. I got that book a few years into soapmaking and found myself crossing out paragraphs and making plenty of correction notes in the margins.

IMHO, she superfats too highly, she lists incorrect SAP values for some oils, she discourages the use of Animal Oils in soaps (falsely stating they will clog pores)

I think the best online reference you can find is Kathy Miller's Soap pages

 

[Buckhorn Farm]

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Thanks again guys for all the info. I am trying to make a list of what I need to start....we butchered a hog and I cooked out the lard and have it in the freezer...can I use that???

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Did you render the lard dry or with water?

If you rendered it dry, then it should be fine to use. I do it all the time.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Wish me luck I'm rebatching right now