Congratulations on your first batch of soap!!!! Waiting for those first batches to cure long enough to see how they turn out seems like forever! LOL!

Regarding have the oils and lye solution being the same temperature, that's an often repeated myth. I use steaming hot lye solution and room temperature oils. You can also use room temperature lye solution and either room temp or warm oils. There are a lot of ways to do it. It just depends on experience and knowing how the oils in your formula behave and whether or not you want to gel your soap or not. There are so many different options that I encourage new soapmakers to read about the different ones, try different ones and find what works best for you.

Good to know! The soap cut up nicely and is sitting on a rack waiting for the passage of time. It was fun - I can see myself 'over-making'!

he he he and we have another convert! Now the experimentation begins.

All I need is another hobby. This sounds interesting . lol

Trisher, I'm excited for you. I make all my body care products and laundry detergent, cleaners etc but have never made soap. However, I only buy soap that's made by someone.
I love using oils, butters, essential oils etc. It's a blast! Someday I want to make soap. Have fun!

Hooray, another soap maker :)
I started making and exclusively using my own soaps 2 years ago.
It is so much fun and very addictive.
And it makes my sewing closet smell so good!
One tip I have is to use fragrance oils in place of essential oils. They are more affordable and come in so many scents.

Soapmakingforum.com is a great board for inspiration and help in your soap making quest. (no affiliation)
I'm JanelleTrebuna on there as well.

Thanks! I will look up that forum ASAP!

I enjoy getting homemade soap. I haven’t made any but like buying from those that do.