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In this article, we will examine the hot process soap stages that you can expect to see as your soap cooks. Hot process soap stages are a good indicator of where in the process your soap is currently as far as completion.

Once you have mastered the basics of home soap making, learning soap swirling techniques can be a fun challenge. It is also a great way to increase the appeal of your handmade soaps.

Part of the art of creating good soap is being able to control the batter and produce a consistently pleasing result. Granted, most soap mistakes can be salvaged to create usable, if not beautiful soap.

From exfoliants as gentle as powdered oatmeal to a powerful, grease-scrubbing pumice soap recipe, there is something for everyone in homemade exfoliating soap recipes.

When I was designing this beard oil recipe, I spent a good amount of time studying and comparing ingredients in a beard balm recipe as well. If I am going to compare beard oil vs. beard balm, it only seems appropriate to design a beard wax recipe as well.

I wanted to formulate a beard balm recipe that would be simple to put together, hopefully from whatever materials you had on hand, and would require minimal shopping. For this reason, I divided the beard balm recipe into three parts — wax, liquid oil, and solid butter.

Does soap go bad? Whether it is due to rancid coconut oil in your recipe, too many wet additives such as fruit purees or fresh botanicals, or just the ravages of time, eventually all soap will develop the dreaded orange spots that show you how to tell if oil is rancid.