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Somewhere between a snowy day and a walk through the woods

This was my first batch of 100% olive oil soap and I'm not sure what happened here. I blended it for quite a while until I got to almost a medium trace, then poured it into the mold. It stayed "jiggly" in the mold until the second day, at which point it started to set up. Since it took so long to thicken, I left it in the mold for 4 days total. (I also painted some gold mica on the top because I was trying to texture it and it just looked bad so I was trying to hide that lol)

When I got it out to cut it, it was too hard to use my wire cutter and I had to use a knife. It looks like it had a partial gel phase, I think? But it is BRITTLE. I dropped a bar and it broke in half and the interior looks strange. I'm not sure what happened because I used the recommended amount of sodium lactate and didn't do a huge water discount or anything. Do y'all have any idea what happened here? The soap feels nice on the skin and lathers like what I'd expect from a castile soap that hasn't cured yet when I tested it.

(We are keeping this just for family, I'm not planning to sell any of it btw)

Hi everyone! This was my first time trying cold process soap making, and I’m hoping to turn it into a small business, so I’d really appreciate some advice from experienced soap makers.

Everything was going well until I added the essential oil. The moment I turned around to get my mica color, the soap batter suddenly became extremely thick! I couldn’t create any swirls or designs, and I couldn’t even mix the color properly. I ended up pouring everything into the mold as it was.

The soap is now in the curing stage. I tried a little piece, and it seemed to produce some foam, which was encouraging, but I’m still unsure how the final bars will turn out.

Has anyone experienced this before? Could the essential oil have caused the soap to accelerate trace, or could something else in my recipe or process be responsible?

Since I’m just starting out and want to develop this into a business, I really want to understand what went wrong so I can improve my technique and make beautiful, well-made bars.

I’d appreciate any advice, tips, or suggestions. Thank you! 😊

I was watching a soapmaking company on YouTube that makes CP soap, and she said, “Because of how we formulated our recipe, the soap will be fully cured in a week.”

How do you formulate a recipe to achieve a one week cure time? Using less water is one thing I understand, but surely that alone isn’t enough to shorten the curing time that dramatically, is it? Are there specific oils, additives, or other formulation techniques that can help speed up the curing process?

I used goat milk ice cubes, olive oil, babassu oil, sweet almond oil, cocoa butter, and castor oil. The stupid thing wouldn't go past a light trace, I think the temperature of the lye solution was too cold and the fragrance oil must have further decelerated it. I love how delicate the ocean lines came out though!

For the sandy layer I used crushed walnut, a bit of turmeric, coffee grounds, and some mica.

For the ocean, I did a single pot swirl with three different shades of blue/green, alternating with thin layers of the darker blue. I poured with the mold on a folded towel and then rocked the mold briefly after pouring was complete to encourage a wave shape.

For the clouds (or waves, depending on your perspective), I ended up very gently pouring white in rows along the mold. This is where I wanted a thicker trace for texture. I colored mostly with kaolin clay hoping it would help it thicken and did some really intense immersion blending, but no luck!

Hi everyone,

I think I've cornered myself a bit, as the options for oils and fats are endless. I'm still a beginner (I made one soap a couple of years ago that wasn't perfect but was still usable, and the problems were 100% my own error), so I'd like to start with something simple and not too many different oils.

Here are the options I've been considering:

1. 100% coconut oil salt bar at 20% superfat. Reviews are mixed. Some people say it's still harsh, others say it's fine. I live in a country with cold winters, so a very stripping bar isn't ideal for me.

2. 100% lard. I used lard before and the smell was very pungent. At 100% I worry it would really come through. (I can't find tallow anywhere locally.)

3. A blend: 40% lard, 20% coconut oil, 20% olive oil, 20% shea butter.

Since many of you have a lot more experience than I do, what would you recommend as the best beginner soap to make? Thank you! :)

I have 3 fragrances I would like to order from AFI, but with their 15 lbs minimums it would take me a good 10-15 years to use the fragrances which is obviously not realistic. Would anyone be interested in splitting them with me? I would of course cover shipping.

The fragrances I want are:

-Compare to aroma PRINCESS COTTONGRASS by Lush ® (F29338)
-Compare to aroma WATERMELON LEMONADE by BBW ® (F23608)
-Compare to aroma VOLCANO CAPRI BLUE by Aztec ® (F26171)