u/Happy_Towel_3109

My first batch will be a pure tallow soap. I have made it before with lesser grade tallow from a variety of rendered fats, I have had mixed success. Last time I believe the tallow was too cool. Both the lye mixture and the tallow was around 113, I’ve found this seized the blend. I later processed it to usable soap but after two weeks it’s still not close to pearly white. My timing hasn’t been the best when it comes to unmolding and cutting, I’m considering individual molds to keep it more idiot-proof, what are some drawbacks with individual molds?

should I cool right away or put it through a gel phase?

What is your best advice? What recommend do you have for future additions? (Keep in mind, this is the highest quality tallow possible, so I am looking for additions that are of equal or greater quality). What about body butters or other types of products?

also yes, it’s actual Japanese wagyu, and no, you cannot have my address

I recently ran out of store bought facial cleanser. I have tried all kinds of brands and products over the years but I’ve always had this flaky skin on the underside of my chin. I have a scar there so I wondered if that was the problem. in any case. I have some homemade pure tallow soap that I used to wash my face for the last few days.

The flakiness is GONE. I realized today that it just feels like skin there now.

My skin otherwise feels a bit more dry than usual, however at the same time, the skin barrier has already recovered after only a couple of days.

I suppose the next step is tallow balm to even out the dryness. I’m so excited! I’m going to end up saving SO much money, not wasting it on futile department store skincare.

has anyone used cucumber juice to make soap? if so, how did it go?

husband has a vegetable garden and now I have dozens of cucumbers that I’m trying to use up!

I have moderately hard to hard water in my area and did not realize how much that impacted my washing machine and method of cleaning. normally I just used Amazon unscented basics, a tablespoon per load, and vinegar in the rinse cycle. My clothes never really felt clean, though, and there was always lint caught on the fabrics after a wash and dry.

then I found this sub and went down the rabbit hole.

I got some citric acid and did a machine reset. It was awful how much mineral buildup there was. I got the Whole Foods brand unscented powdered detergent, washing soda, and a stronger cleaning vinegar, and I even got a FurZapper. I have a top loader machine without an agitator.

i put the proper amount of clothes in per load, lined the sides of the machine instead of dumping it all in, and let my clothes presoak in the detergent and soda for 15 minutes.

It is kind of weird to be so excited about pristine laundry but I am 40.