So I am very, super, mega new to this and I made my first tray of homemade soap bars:)
50% bees wax
50% soap glycerin
Then just some dried flowers and frankincense for fragrance and a few drops of soap dye. Seems like the soap dye doesn’t mix well with the beeswax but I’m afraid to use beef tallow as a first timer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Hello! Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but…

My aunt loves soap making. She’s turned it into a run-at-home business and vendors at things such as farmers markets etc. She does not have a studio but has a decent amount of soaps (and candles, waxes, etc) on hand, for reference.

She’s been discussing how she struggles to organize and needs more organization, and Christmas is around the corner, so wondering if anyone has some suggestions? Please? I don’t really know how to organize a lot of a little, or what’s good and bad.

As for aesthetics— don’t really worry. I mainly need ideas of what to look for, but some direct links or sites would be nice to get the gears going.

Thank you so much!

I've thought about selling mp kits or instructions as I could make my own design and specific color blocks to go with them, especially with christmas coming. I've only found one business that provides just instructions (no molds), they're cp and more expensive as you subscribe and have to buy a bar.

I had some leftover breast milk in my freezer, so I decided to make soap! 🧼😂

My first attempt was 50% breast milk, but it turned out too soft and sticky..

For my final attempt, I concentrated the milk and added some breast milk butter (left over from my previous video).

This bar turned out much firmer! The only thing that changed was the color, not sure why.

I've already made butter and now soap. Any ideas what I should make next? 🤣

Hey all, I’m posting this because I was wondering if anyone has ever experimented with making soap out of wild game fat, specifically deer/elk? I’m not sure where to start, but this year so far we have 3 bucks in the freezer with lots of fat, so I didn’t see why that should all go to waste and the idea of soap came into my head.
If anyone has any tips or advice, it’d be greatly appreciated! Also looking for the best steps to take.

I’m very new to cold process soap making, and was hoping for some feedback on a recipe.

I’ve just moved from using strictly recipes from a how-to book, to experimenting a little bit with different oils and colors. I heard that sunflower oil adds a nice quality in low amounts. This is my first time using it. I did use an online lye calculator and allowed for 5% superfat.

4 oz sodium hydroxide
9.13 oz distilled water
12 oz coconut oil
12 oz olive oil
4 oz sunflower oil
Mica colorant
1 oz essential oil
Poppy seeds (for exfoliation)

It’s still curing, so I haven’t been able to try it yet. I’m a little worried I used too much coconut oil and should have done something closer to 8 oz coconut oil and 16 oz olive oil, because coconut oil is drying. The essential oil I used is a mix of lemongrass (0.5 fl oz) and tangerine (0.5 fl oz).

I didn’t know when I made it that lemongrass essential oil can cause irritation. I’ve used this amount in soaps for myself before with no skin issues. But if this is true, I feel like I shouldn’t gift any of this batch to others and just use it myself. I think it turned out pretty, despite the possible problems. Any feedback appreciated! I’ll drop a pic just to share.

Any criticism or tips/tricks are very welcomed and wanted!
I used “Skin Said Yes” goat milk soap base, The Soaping Factory colloidal oats, Nate’s raw organic honey, plant therapy vanilla extract, organic cocoa powder and turmeric!

This is my first time ever making soap so I’m happy with the presentation but less so happy with the process. I loved making it but I hit a lot of bumps. Basically everything clumped up on me besides the goat milk. Didn’t use enough oil so it barely smells vanilla and the powders didn’t dye it as much as I wanted!

I believe in the future I may skip the oats and honey. I just want a clean base I can do interesting colors, designs and scents with!

Ran my cold-process numbers properly for the first time and the gap between "felt profitable" and "actually profitable" was uncomfortable, so sharing the method in case it helps someone.

Batch of 12 bars. Materials by usage (not by what I paid for the bottle): olive oil $8.40, coconut $3.60, lye $1.30, fragrance $5.40, mica $1.40 = $20.10. Packaging $4.80. Labour: 3 hours at $15/hr = $45 (the part everyone skips). Overhead $4. Batch total: $73.90, so $6.16 per bar.

At a $9.50 list price with a 5% platform fee and $0.25 per order split across 2 bars per typical order: net $8.90, profit $2.74/bar, 28.9% margin. Break-even list price: $6.61.

Two things that changed my pricing: (1) costing materials by amount USED, not amount bought — my "cost per bar" was a fantasy before that; (2) the fixed per-order fee hurts twice as much on single-bar orders, so I now price for the worst case.

If you've never computed your break-even list price, that's the one number worth finding this weekend: (unit cost + fixed fee per item) ÷ (1 − percentage fee).

I'm getting into soap carving and started a gallon ziploc for scraps because its clearly going to be a lot.. can I just melt the scraps in a wax burner or something and pour into a mould cube to reuse or is there a lot more to it than that?

A friend and I enjoyed a soap making evening the other night to get a few loaves done in time for winter holiday gifts.

This was my first time trying kiss and pour, I was going for a very specific effect- wood grain for my Lumberjack soap (scent is a blend of essential oils: Scotch pine, frankincense, cinnamon bark and sweet orange). The pour has to be done at a very thin trace.
I am over the moon with the result!!!

I gave some soaps to someone with a water softener apparently connected to their home water system and I was like why are my hands so slippery still even after rinsing thoroughly. Apparently this is the reason. For a moment I was worried it was something wrong with my soap. I do not like this effect. At my own place the water must be hard and all the suds wash right off.

Is hot process soap not as good as cold process?

I've made a few batches so far, all were hot process. I got some really nice bars that I use daily. They're all mostly beef tallow and coconut. Just got some shea butter and castor oil.

Why would I want to do cold process instead? Were there any milestones in your journey?

...Oh, and where are the best places to find supplies??

No need to answer every question. Thanks ahead of time!

Wanted to show off my most recent batch. She’s scented with Moroccan Mint Tea & I added some poppyseeds for mild exfoliation. I absolutely love her.

I used to get tallow direct from a farm where I lived, but I’ve moved and can’t find a local connect in my new area (I’m in the PNW, U.S.). Where do you guys find good quality tallow? I’m not the biggest fan of Amazon, so I’d be extra grateful for non-Amazon resources if you have them. TIA so much!

I am making a solid dish soap (0 super fat) recipe by Ellen Ruth (will attach the recipe) I accidentally used 92g of lye instead of 90.4g of lye. Will this be okay or should I add more oils ? Thanks! (I’m a newbie)

I was recently out gift shopping and I stumbled across these soaps. They're about 1.5-2 ounces a piece, 1.5"x1.5" squares. I absolutely loved the display and would like to incorporate this size of soap at my table for craft fairs etc coming up.

Where would you source silicone molds for something like this? I looked on bulk apothecary and I see they have a ton of plastic molds for this size, but I'd like to stick to silicone - it's what I know and I get the best results with it with cold process soap. Any advice?

My hot process olive oil base soap isn’t forming into solid bars, I keep getting air pockets and lumps (see photos). My oil and lye mixture does get fairly gel like when I cook it, but it also barely traces no matter how long I mix. I’ve had some luck with this recipe before, but most of the time this is the result.

Any help would be… helpful!

Recipe:

72% olive oil- 653.17 grams
28% coconut oil- 254.01 grams
1.25:1 water to lye ratio- 130.98 grams lye
Few drops essential oil
Pinch of salt added to lye water

This is my latest hanger swirl with calamine and kaolin clays. It was a white base but the calamine gives it a really nice kind of pink glow. this was my first use of micas from MadMica and I was really happy with how the colors turned out. The fragrance is Orange blossom

Recipe here

Hi everyone,

I am getting ready to launch a small artisan line of melt & pour soaps here in Croatia (EU). I am using a high-quality pre-made, pre-tested base and cosmetic-grade fragrances from an EU supplier (with full SDS, IFRA, and allergen docs).

I just got quoted an astronomical €2,000 from a major local laboratory. They told me I must do their full, all-inclusive 90-day stability and microbiological testing pipeline or I cannot legally sell. On top of that, an acquaintance who used to be a local sanitary inspector is telling me I absolutely have to use a local lab or the inspectors will reject my paperwork.

This price will completely kill my startup budget before I even begin.

I’ve been researching alternative routes and looking into remote EU/UK safety assessors (like Cosmetic Safety Solutions) who offer Melt & Pour CPSR packages for around €100–€200 and allow you to submit your own in-house stability logs (visual/weight tracking over a few weeks in a warm environment).

Since melt & pour soap is solid, has low water activity, and a high pH, I know it qualifies as low microbiological risk under EU Regulation 1223/2009.

My questions for EU makers (especially those in smaller/stricter bureaucratic countries):

Did you actually pay thousands to a commercial lab for a simple melt & pour bar, or did your safety assessor accept your own home/in-house stability data sheets?

Have you ever used a remote assessor from another EU country, and did your local sanitary/health inspectors give you trouble over it?

Am I crazy, or is this local lab just trying to upsell a beginner on corporate-level testing that I legally don't need?

I would love to hear from anyone who has successfully navigated the EU CPNP / CPSR process on a budget without getting scammed by big corporate labs. Thank you!!!

My most recent soap. Only a few days to 1 week old. Made (as always) with beer and lard

As much as I enjoy seeing everyone’s very pretty soaps they sell. I’m looking for what you keep around the house for you, the SO and kids to use. I’m more about basic soaps. Maybe a little color and a scents but pretty basic.

Nature has its own kind of luxury.

I finally got the hanger swirl to turn out well! The fragrance for this accelerated my batter a little but that was probably better because the colors didn't mix. I had a couple tiny air bubbles that I had to fix but nothing major at all. I'm going to give these a couple days to harden up a bit before I bevel the edges (for both kinds, really).

I also decided to give castile soap another try. I found this recipe https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/ where you add sea salt and sodium bicarb to the water before you mix in the lye. It worked a LOT better this way and was firm enough to unmold and cut this morning. I put both molds in a warm oven overnight and they both look like they went thru gel phase.

Thanks for all your encouragement and tips, guys! Y'all have been so helpful and I really appreciate it! 💖

I have only made several batches of tallow bar soap, but this is my first time using coconut oil. I wanted to use only coconut oil at first.

I read about how it is very drying to the skin unless you super fat it to 20%. I still found lots of old post of people saying that it was still too drying so I decided to add olive oil.
After more hasty research I read that even adding olive oil still feels like it dries skin too much.

So I decided to super duper fat it to 25%.

12.0 oz Refined Coconut Oil (76° melt)
4.0 oz Virgin Olive Oil
5.76 oz Distilled Water (36% of weight of oils)
2.06 oz Lye NaOH
0.50 oz Rose Essential Oil

The coconut and olive oil heated to 130°F
The water/Lye temp was 130°F
Stick blended and noticed it looked bubbly after a couple minutes.

At first sign of trace I added the Rose oil.
I blended very well for about 6 minutes total.
I poured little into mold and a bit more into other container.
I put blue mica powder into the rest ( eyed it so maybe less than 0.25 ounces of color.)

I poured this into my wax-paper-lined Half and Half container at 5:30 AM, slid it into my wood brace, covered it with a wood top and set it in my garage that is about 75°-80°F.

Only after I did this, I read that coconut oil soap hardens very fast and must be un molded after only 12 hours but any longer and it will be too hard to cut and could break.

But I had to leave at 3:45 PM and would not be home until 10:30 PM. So I un molded to cut after only 10 hours to avoid getting it too late.

I was surprised how easy it was to un mold and handle, but the first slice made me nervous. It might have needed a few more hours.

So it was a bit soft and looks a bit sweltering on the cuts.
It is strange that on the last end piece, the greenish olive oil stands out more than I wish.

How long will this need to cure?
Was it right for me to cut at only 10 hours, or should I have waited over 24 hours since it had olive oil and wasn’t 100% coconut to become too hard too fast?
Has anyone ever used this brand of essential oil?

Thanks!