Well, I'm not sure if I understand what you are asking. I make CP (cold process) soap and melt and pour soap. I have never had soap "stick" to the molds, if that is what you are referring to. What type of soap are you interested in making? If you are just wanting to learn, I would suggest you begin with melt and pour soap, using a top-quality base like SFIC. Making good soap takes a lot of practise and trial and error. Start simple, as with any hobby, and work your way up into better recipes, etc. Susan

Hi Nancy, "It was a mix of sunflower, olive, and coconut oils. I measured everything correctly" Make sure that your scale is consistently correct. "according to the book, the soap traced as it should, Well, if youÂre sure. "I added the Fos" Fos for soap, vice candles? "I then started pouring the soap into the mould and YUK! It look like it curdled and kinda separated once in the mould. " What FO did you use? (Let me guess, a white floral? ( What temperature did you soap at? (The cooler, the better. Try around the 100F to 110F mark "I poured it back into the pot and tried to remix it, but it didn't remix completely. " Are you using a stick blender? Hope so. I poured the mix back into the mould and let it sit until tonight. "Took it out of the mould and noticed it was kinda floating in an oil/water mix. I would guess total amount of the oil/water floating around was at 1/4 cup in a 4 lb batch. " (Guessing): Either the wrong FO, or it wasnÂt mixed thoroughly enough. My question is...do you think this is going to be safe to use? The back of the book mentioned separation...a little separation was OK, but a lot meant a caustic soap. I have never had separation. If you think about it, your superfatting would be around the 5% to 8% mark of the total recipe. If youÂre looking at the percentage of oils/fats floating around in the mold, then I would HP it. "if you think this stands a good chance of being caustic, " If you measured everything correctly, then it would be lye heavy because all of the fats/oils didnÂt mix in with the lye solution thoroughly enough. You could HP it (crockpot? Maybe?) Into soap. I donÂt care for HPÂed soap, itÂs usually rustic looking, but it is soap, nonetheless. Usually, if you post the recipe and method of soaping that was used, maybe others might be able to pipe in?

Kat, I would recommend that you follow your nose. As long as the purchaser can detect the EO with the theraputic values, you are good to go. If any EO has the properties that you are after, then we are just discussing how much is enough. This is now a discussion of depending on what you are trying to achieve/cure/fix/effect; and this can be different to anyone who may buy your product. If it was CP soap (which I do have some experience) I would add no less then .3 of an ounce to not more then 1 ounce per pound of soap. So, depending on the weight of your lotion bars, you may go from my suggestion. Now, .3 would be for a very strong EO, like Cinnamon/Rosemary/Peppermint, and I would an whole ounce of most citruses like lime/orange/lemon; the citruses tend to be fleeting. Most any other EOs will fall somewhere between these amounts, and rarely outside of these amounts. If you have a specific EO in mind, shoot me an E mail thru this site (hopefully, I will get it), and I will suggest amounts if need be. (There isn't much traffic for me to come here often, although I do visit other forums here). Good luck!

Jody, thank you for your comments; over the many years I�ve been coming here, not many that I have seen thank others for their help. I have looked into both hot press and cold press and thing CP is the way to go. CP is my favourite process to make soap, HP was too rustic for me, although some soapers can successfully make HP look like CP. I, like melissa have bought several fried herbs, oils, lye, etc and I am trying to find just the right recipe. I�m hoping that you meant "dried" vice "fried"? lol! (Sorry, I�m a bit of a kidder) Experimenting is a large part of this hobby; but the expense can get out of hand, especially with the scents. I would like to make soap with hemp seed oil. Do you happen to have a recipe you might share or recommend? I have stayed away from hemp oil; the shelf life is too short, if memory serves me, 6 months in the raw state? Used hemp like any other conditioning oil; like shea or coco butter. The herbs/colorants I am working with are things like lemongrass, chamomile, burdock, turmeric, spearmint leaves, dandelions, and a few more whose names escape me at the moment. Jody, what are you hoping to do with the above list? I have used turmeric for colouring a recipe, but none of the others in your list for colour. If you are hoping to use those herbs for scent, you�ll be disappointed. If these are EO (Essential Oils) or Fos (Fragrance Oils), then you�ll be ok. I have use parsley in some recipes, but after a year or so the parsley will fade into a pale yellow colour. I have successfully used clays for earth tones as well as Stevia for green. As for EO's I have several, and my favorites are lavender, lemongrass, mint, jasmine, etc Lavender EO or FO, I would use at 1 ounce per pound of oils. Lemongrass EO, is quite strong, I would consider around � ounce per pound of oils. Peppermint Eo is stronger then spearmint EO, peppermint I would use no more then � ounce per pound; spearmint slightly more, maybe .6 Jasmine (hint: remember white florals) can hurry trace, so make sure you have all equipment ready to pour before hand mixing the lye solution into the oils/fats and soap on the cooler side. I am looking for a reasonably small recipe for my first time, maybe 4-5 lbs. (even less) Jody, what are you asking here, if you can use the calculator, then what advice can I offer? About 2 pounds maybe a good start. I saw some soap in an organic store yesterday and couldn't believe how strong the fragrances were! I would love to make something that has a strong scent. These are all Eos: Peppermint, Spearmint, and Lemongrass would be good for strong scent. Some others would be; tea tree, Clove (not really recommended), Cinnamon, Rosemary and Patchouli.(You have to like the sent of these oils) Fos, will depend on who has manufactured them, not all are created equal. August is the beginning of my holidays, so I may not be available soon. My old stomping grounds used to be TheSoapDish (if it is still called that) lots of good info there. I understand the lye calculator and how to change measurements to % Hemp is a good conditioning oil, so you could use 5% or so of your recipe, although I have not personally used that one; but I do use Caster oil from time to time, depending on the other oils in the recipe. Good luck Jody, if I can be of more help, just let me know! (I hope the formatting is good here I had trouble with Word 2010)