Lorna

Agreed. My first pan took about four months before eggs slid. I nearly gave up at week eight and I'm glad I didn't.

It genuinely changes, and ten days is far too early to judge. A bar at ten days still has significant water in it and the crystalline structure is still organising — early bars feel harsher, dissolve faster and lather less than the same bar at eight weeks. Try the same sliver at week six and it'll be a different product.

That said, 30% coconut is at the upper end for a hand bar. Coconut is where the big bubbly lather comes from and also where the stripping feeling comes from. Most people settle somewhere around 20-25% for a bar that still lathers well without the squeak. If your finished bar is still drying at eight weeks, that's the number to change, plus maybe going from 5% to 6-7% superfat.

So: wait it out, and if it's still harsh in six weeks, adjust the recipe rather than concluding soap making isn't for you.

That's the part that surprises everyone. Cure isn't just drying, though drying is most of it. Keep one bar from every batch uncut for six months and you'll see it keeps improving.

Switched them at 18 weeks, so that should be fine. Good thing to check though.

How would I tell if they're eating it? The dish level barely seems to change.

There's a cellar under this room so I could get at the underside. Is that a DIY job?

Worth saying — the black flakes are not dangerous, they're just polymerised fat. Annoying in food, not a health issue. So don't panic about the ones that got eaten.

We've all done it. Worth keeping a notebook column for supplier behaviour notes — after a year you'll have your own list of which ones need cool temperatures and a spatula.

Check whether the fragrance contains a lot of vanillin or floral notes with high alcohol content — suppliers often list acceleration behaviour in the product notes and people don't read them until after. Some will even say 'accelerates trace' outright.

True, though do it outside with a mask on. Cast iron dust is unpleasant and gets everywhere.

Stopping when it stops smoking rather than when it changes colour is a much clearer signal, thanks.

Room temperature matters more than people expect. A cool room during the first 48 hours makes ash much more likely because the batch doesn't gel. If your spare room is unheated, that's probably your driver.

Also the self-clean cycle on an oven if you have one, though check the pan is genuinely cast iron and not something with an enamel or a wooden handle first.

One thing your recipe is doing right — 5% superfat with that oil blend is sensible. Don't be tempted to raise it to fix the softness, it'll go the other way.

1 teaspoon per 500g of oils is the usual dose, added to the lye water once it's cooled below about 55C. Don't overdo it or the bars get brittle and crack when cut.

Mostly patience, partly water. 60% olive makes a bar that is genuinely slow to harden — high-olive soaps famously want three months rather than four to six weeks, and a castile at 100% olive can want six months. At five weeks you're not at the finish line.

The water is the other half. 38% of oils is a generous amount, so there's a lot to evaporate. Next time try 33% or use a lye concentration approach at 33% and you'll get a firmer bar noticeably sooner.

Things that would speed it up as a recipe change: swap 10% of the olive for a hard butter or add 5% sodium lactate to the cooled lye solution. Sodium lactate in particular is the cheapest, most effective hardening addition there is.

Whatever you buy, get one sized so a 1kg oil batch fills it to about three quarters. An underfilled mould gives you short squat bars and an overfilled one overflows during gel. Most 'fits 1kg' listings mean total batch weight including lye and water, not oil weight, so check.

Or just sit the bare mould inside a slightly larger cardboard box, which does the same job for free. Mine has lived in the same wine box for three years.