Soap Makers Help!

[MSDeb]

Thank you. One other thing that is different is the organic coconut oil. It is a new container and when I opened it, it was already liquid instead of semi firm. I attributed it to the hot weather we have been having but, the last container I was using didn't liquify like that.

I went with the maximum water with that recipe because I was intimidated by the OMH, it seems like I'm always reading someone has had a problem or two with it and I didn't want to go straight to trace and be rushed.

 

[alabama49]

How do you decide on the the amount of water percentage if the you are making up your own recipe? And if you use any other liquid then you decrease your water that amount?

Also, I am looking for a scent that Bath & Body sells in a massage oil called Bergumot. It also has some corriander oil in it. Is that a common oil to scent soap with? Haven't seen anyones recipes with the bergumot & corriander in it?
Thanks!

 

[chickenvirgin]

You need to run your recipe though a lye calculator, Google lye calculator and there are lots on-line. It will tell you how much lye and water to use for the oils that you are using. Yes if you want to use other liquids you just take away the same amount of water. You can get those fragances at a on-line store such as Bramble berry or New Directions (other soapers here probably know of other suppliers
also) and they can either be natural as essential oils or fragrance oils which are not a natural product but some of them smell very nice. When you start looking at all the fragrance oils you will be amazed at the scents of soaps that you can make.... :0)

 

[alabama49]

When I run my recipe thru soapcalc it asks me for my water percentage. How do I know?

 

[greeneggsnham]

I am waiting for my lye to get here but in the meantime I was wondering if you will give me opinions on the recipe I intend to use. It is
16 oz lard
17 oz olive oil
4 oz coconut oil
5 oz sweet almond

I was wondering if I could add more sweet almond or if I should just stick to the original recipe. It will be my first time making a batch of soap but I have been reading as much as I can get my hands on and feel confident that I can handle making a small batch for starters. If anyone has a good recipe that takes these oils it would be much appreciated. I don't have much in the way of funds at the moment but can get any of the oils that are at my local stores. Thanks in advance.

 

[chickenvirgin]

Quote:
Google "Bramble berry Lye calculator" This one is excellent and will tell you everything you need to know.

 

[kcfuerst]

Hello fellow soapmakers! I have been a member of BYC for a long time, but never saw this thread until today. Awesome!

Someone a couple pages back asked about shampoo bars. I can only vouch for my own bars, but all of them can be used for shampoo. I haven't bought commercial/chemical shampoo in many years. Lots of lather and shine, even on colored hair; a little difficult to use with long hair, tho. I make a bunch of different soaps, but my favorite special soap is a real nice hard Castile, with and without goat milk, many with oat flour, and a liquid Castile version of the same soaps. Some of my soaps have earned the seal of approval from the National Eczema Association because they are so rich for troubled skin. I live in the ci5ty and have no goats, but it isn't too far into the hills to go to find fabulous fresh goat milk. I draw the line at freshness and overall goodness, however, and must taste test every jug.....sometimes it's just plain hard to save any for soaping!

I have enjoyed so much reading everyone posts here and making a new connection in addition to our fabulous chickie babes.

I would like to offer this standby tip to anyone making soap: Always follow the soap calc for every recipe you make. Soaps will be less likely to turn out if different oils are just added nilly willy, or one oil is replaced with another. This is important because every oil has its own personal and irreplaceable saponification value. When using the calculator, pay special attention to the 'hardness' and other important values that result from any concoction headed for the mold.

Best to all, and thank you for a beautiful topic. I love SOAP!

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
The amount of water depends on a lot of things. You experience level with soapmaking, the base oils you are using, the fragrance, the how you want the color (swirls, layering ect.) and what you are looking for in soap.

If you look at soap calc (which is the best soap calc out there imho) step number 3 is water. Their standard measurment is like 26% of the oils. I personally do not go based on my oils at all, I go based on my lye (called a lye solution).

The checked box is the % of oils. The second box is % of your lye solution (water and lye only so the numbers will be much bigger than compared to the % of oils). The third box is a lye ratio of water to lye.

It is easier for me to work with %, so click the second option and inter 33%. This is a very modest lye solution. Try working at the % till you fill comfy. There really won't be much of a difference than working with full water, but it's good to start here and work your way up as you get used to it.

If you want to take a stronger solution, enter 40%. This one is pretty strong so remember that when picking your fragrance. In this range you have to be on your toes with ones that move.

If you wanted to use say pumpkin in your soap. You decrease the amount of water by the amount of pumpkin.

Have you tried looking at the fragrance oil finder site? I know a lot of places have BBW dupes.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Today I did my version of Young Living's "Magnifying Your Purpose"

"Magnify Your Purpose™ is a specially crafted blend of essential oils that stimulates creativity, desire, focus, and motivation. It helps foster a positive attitude, encouraging you to rise above adversity, seize the initiative, overcome procrastination and self-pity, and magnify your life's purpose. "

There are 7 different oils in it.. it's the first blend with patchouli in it that I actually like.

 

[Bettacreek]

Two days ago I made my first batch of soap since last year. I was planning on making a bunch of soap over the winter when it was too yucky to go fishing/swimming/kayaking/whatever, but that kinda never happened, lol. So I ordered 10 new scents and finally cranked out a cucumber melon. I need to pull it completely from the mold and cut it and start cranking out a new batch. The new scents are:
"Energy"
Cucumber Melon
Vanilla
Lavender
Dark Rich Chocolate
Coconut
Oatmeal Milk And Honey
Strawberry
Spearmint Eucalyptus (BBW knock-off)
Pomegranate And Black Currant

Plus a half ounce sampler of some tropical scent that smells absolutely delicious! The only problem with that is that my only mold is a 7lb mold, which requires more than .5oz of fragrance!!!