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Lye is caustic but safe when handled with care. Always wear gloves, goggles, and long sleeves, add lye to water (never water to lye), work with good ventilation, and keep vinegar nearby to neutralize small splashes on surfaces. Store lye in an airtight container away from children and pets.

Popular base oils include olive (conditioning), coconut (cleansing and lather), palm or tallow (hardness), and castor (lather boost). Use a soap calculator to set correct lye concentration and superfat. Beginners often start with 40% olive, 30% coconut, 25% palm, 5% castor.

All paid courses come with lifetime access. You can revisit lessons anytime, and you’ll receive all future content updates at no additional cost. Your progress is saved per lesson.

Rapid trace can be caused by high temperatures, high stearic/palmitic oils (like butters), or accelerating fragrance oils (spice, floral). Soap cooler (room temperature oils and lye), reduce butters, and blend in short bursts. Add fragrance at light trace.

Some food colors bleed or fade. Stable options include micas and oxides designed for CP soap. Natural colorants like French green clay, indigo, spirulina, or cocoa can work; test small batches to avoid fading or morphing.

Each course includes a completion certificate. After finishing all required lessons and quizzes, you can download a PDF certificate and share it on LinkedIn or print it for your records.

The white film is often soda ash caused by unsaponified lye reacting with air. Prevent by spraying 99% isopropyl alcohol on the surface and covering the mold. Remove with a warm water rinse, steaming, or planing the top.

We offer a 14-day refund if you haven’t completed more than 20% of a course. Contact support with your order ID to request a refund. Refunds return to the original payment method.

Yes. Curing allows excess water to evaporate and the bar to harden. Place bars on a rack in a cool, dry, and ventilated area for 4–6 weeks, turning occasionally. Gel phase and water discount can reduce curing time but test lather before gifting or selling.

You can download lessons for offline use in our mobile app. On desktop, offline download is not available, but transcripts and recipes are downloadable as PDFs.

Superfat is the excess oil left unsaponified, increasing mildness and conditioning. A 5% superfat is common. For high cleansing recipes, consider 6–7%; for high conditioning oils, 3–4% may suffice. Always recalculate if you change oils or batch size.

If oil pools on top, scoop the batch back into a pot and hot-process it on low heat until fully emulsified. Stick-blend in intervals, then remold. Check your lye concentration and temperatures to avoid recurrence.

We provide SDS and allergen information for fragrances, colorants, and additives used in courses. Access them from each lesson’s resource panel or request via support with the material name.