I think now would be a good time to mention a couple of things if I haven't covered them previously. First off, all the Feral Moon products mentioned so far (and probably a good many of them to come) are highly experimental. I'm constantly playing around with ingredients and techniques to see what works and what doesn't. What I'm aiming for is what works WELL. It also is imperative that my 'testers' like the products. I like all the soaps I've done so far, but there are some things that I would do differently the next time round. Tinkering with ingredients, process, technique, fragrance, and color are all things that I'm probably going to be doing for a while before I settle in and keep my recipes stable for each product. So if some things work for you and some things don't - please comment and let me know. Also, if you have a really great suggestion for soap or other product, let me know that as well. Maybe I can put something together for you.

I also am going to be coming up with different products. Different soaps for different purposes, different fragrances and colors for a templated soaps, other bath and body products, etc. So our inventory might be in a constant state of flux for a while before we figure out what we should stick with and how much inventory to have.

As far as specifics go - I tend to superfat (or use a lye discount) by between 5-8%. This assures that there is ZERO trace of lye left after the saponification and curing stages. I run a pH test on all of my soaps before I consider them usable. After I test them, we use them around the house before releasing them to anyone else. I want to make sure my soap is good. :) FYI - all of my soaps to date have tested neutral BEFORE they have cured or dried. I guess this means my balance of ingredients is spot on. Therefore, the curing time is to let the soaps harden up, not for them to neutralize since they've already done that.

If I use any fragrances or colors in my soaps, it is all skin safe! I don't use anything questionable. I use only the best ingredients from reputable suppliers. I prefer to use essential oils but will use fragrance oils if the fragrance doesn't come in an essential oil or if using the EO would not be cost effective. I pretty much have to use mail order for most things - there are no local suppliers around here.

Right now, I use a small wooden mold for all of my soap. So basically, what I have after I mix everything together and it saponifies, gels, and hardens, is a loaf of soap. I then trim it up and cut it into bars using a soap cutting device. This makes sure that the soaps are pretty uniform. I aim for an average bar weight of 3.5 ounces at the time of cutting. The bars can weigh less if they've been hand-milled. My bar size is roughly 2-1/2 x 3-1/4, with a thickness of around 3/4". I say roughly, because during the curing/evaporation stage, the bars can shrink a little. I use any extra soap that is remaining after trimming to make soap balls or other things. I've made little soap 'chicklets' before and have even rolled out the soap scraps like dough and have used cookie cutters to make soap 'cookies'. So needless to say, nothing goes to waste. I plan on experimenting with different molds in the future.

My favorite methods of making soap are either cold process or 'in the mold' hot process. If I'm in a rush, I'll use HP, but otherwise, CP works just great for me. I've used other methods so as to get experience with them and to see if I like them or not.

I'll post more on various aspects of the soapmaking process as time permits or as inspiration hits me. If anyone has any questions or wants to learn more about the soapmaking process and how I do things, please leave comments or shoot me an email and I'll try to address them. :)