For reliable color in soap, reach for mica or mineral pigment, disperse it in a little oil first, and start at about 1 teaspoon of mica or half a teaspoon
A soap making tray is simply your mold, usually a silicone or wooden loaf or slab you pour soap into, or a cavity tray that gives finished shaped bars
Canola oil makes good soap, and you can use it up to about 40 percent of your oils as a cheap stand-in for olive oil. Expect a softer bar, a slower trace
Whipped soap making means beating air into your soap so it turns light and fluffy like whipped cream, then globbing or piping the airy batter into molds.
A kit sold as “professional” or “complete” is only complete if it contains a digital scale that reads to 0.1 gram and proper eye
For my first year I collected soap formulas the way some people collect recipes, pasting them into a binder without really reading the percentages.
Pioneers made soap from two things their farms produced: lye leached from hardwood ashes, and rendered animal fat like tallow and lard. They dripped water
My first attempt at a clay soap was a shaving bar, and I dumped two tablespoons of dry bentonite straight into the batter hoping for a slick, cushiony lather.
Making jelly soap without gelatin means swapping in a plant-based gelling agent, either carrageenan or agar-agar, both from seaweed. You dissolve the gum
For my first year I chose soap oils by their names and their reputations, reaching for anything labeled luxurious or nourishing. A bar I built entirely