Soap Makers Help!

[Jenlyn9483]

Does anyone happen to know how many OZ or cups are in 2/3 of a can of Red Devil lye? I was looking at a really neat recipe for goat milk, honey, and oatmeal but it gives THAT as the measurement of lye. Everything else is in OZ. Red Devil run it course before I ever had the opportunity to make soap so I have no idea what volumns it came in. If anyone can help me out with that I would appreciate it.

 

[Morgaine]

I would be very cautious of a recipe that called for 2/3 can of lye and not exact measurements.

Here is a recipe for an Oatmeal, milk and honey from millersoap.com


*Note on Milk Soaps: Milk and honey both can cause overheating in soap. When you make a recipe with milk or honey or both, you should only slightly insulate, or not at all. With a deep mold, I think I would completely pass on insulating. If you are sure the soap is at thick trace when you pour and don't insulate... hopefully, you won't get a separation like the one shown at the top of the "Botched Batches" page!

This was posted by Michelle M. on the Latherings Board in January of 1999. She based it on Rachael's recipe that is on the animal fats page. It calls for goat's milk, but you can use cow if that's what you have.

Oatmeal, Milk and Honey
48 ounces shortening (a 3# can)
18 ounces coconut oil
12 ounces soybean oil
10 ounces canola oil (olive can be used as well)
12 ounces lye crystals dissolved into 18 ounces cold water
One 12 oz. can of evaporated goat's milk added at light trace (for lighter colored soap with a firmer texture, you may use 6 oz. evaporated milk and increase the water to 22 oz.)
Temps: 95-100 degrees

Add at trace (Michelle):
2 ounces of A Garden Eastward's "Flower Power" (soaps very cinnamony)
3 T. honey
A sprinkling of cinnamon Add at trace (Kathy):
2 ounces of Sweet Cakes "Oatmeal, Milk and Honey" FO
1 cup pulverized (blender) oats
1/4 cup honey

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
Yes....Tracing is where the top of the batch leaves a swirl in the soap. I think that when you get to the 'pudding' consistency you have gone too far??....BUT does not make a difference....ONLY harder to pour at this stage. Pudding consistency means it is 'setting' up. I try to pour into molds BEFORE this setting up stage. Then I whisk it every 20 minutes in its loaf mold....which prevents the gel....and it usually stays the same color this way.

Pour out some commercial shampoo in your hand...you can see the ribbon swirls in the liquid.....this is what I look for when swirling it around on the surface. It is not as pronounced in cold process....but will give you a visual.

I'm sure others pour at different times....

I've even been known to take 10 minute stirring breaks....for some reason this helps with the trace when I've got a stubborn batch taking too long to trace.

 

[Jenlyn9483]

OK I think I finally found it, Red Devil comes in 12oz cans, so 2/3s would be 9 oz of lye. I think that is correct. This is a smaller batch and I have all the ingredients already. I have some goat milk that I thawed out to make the first batch and I want to use it so it doesn't go bad.

This recipe is

6 cups goats milk
4 cups lard (2 lbs)
9 oz of Red Devil lye
2 cups dry oatmeal processed in a blender
1/2 cup Honey

1) Carefully mix the lye and milk in a stainless container

2) Allow to cool to 85 Deg F

3) Stir in the refined oatmeal and Honey

4) Warm lard to 85 Deg F and slowly add to milk mixture

5) Mix for 15 min, let stand for 5 min, mix again for 5 min, watch closely as soap takes shape suddenly

6) When thick like honey, pour into prepared Molds

7)Let stand 24-48 hours until set

8) Cut into bars and Air Cure for 3-4 weeks.

 

[Morgaine]

I know I haven't been soaping for long and maybe should just keep my mouth shut, but that recipe does not look very balanced to me at all. Six cups of gm seems like way too much and would make a really soft bar of soap. Running 2 pounds of lard through soapcalc, it seems like you are also very very lye heavy. Soapcalc says you only need 4.292 oz of lye with a 5% superfatting, that's more more than half what your recipe calls for. And I think you are only supossed to use 1 tsp of honey ppo(per pound of oil), but it might be TBL, either way, that seems like to much honey.

Ok, I've said what I needed to and am going to leave it up to you to still try the recipe, but I just thought you should know.

 

[MissPrissy]

I wouldn't use that recipe.

 

[ninjapoodles]

The recipes with no measurements by weight are just something I would never, EVER risk. I want to see measurements in ounces or grams, and then run it through a lye calculator.

Also, be aware that a recipe with large quantities of milk, oats, AND honey is going to get HOT. Be prepared to keep a batch like that super-cool.

 

[cheeptrick]

Ditto...on the recipe.

Safety first!!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

By the time I get my DH to let me make soap I should know a little of what to do since I'm following this thread lol. He has said no right now becasue he doesn't want me working with lye. I think he is scared that I will blow up the house or something.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
My husband was kind of that way, until he saw me do the first batch. He loves when I make soap now. It's not any more dangerous than the stuff we use to clean our drains--you just have to respect it and treat it with caution.