I'm going to use the Castile II soap recipe on millersoap.com, but going to make 110oz instead of the recipe's 87oz (because I only have one possible "mold" right now, a sturdy, small cardboard box and that's the amount I figured I need to make to get the size bars I want....I hope), so I am using a couple of the soap calculators to figure out how to scale the lye and water amounts.
I've read and read and read about lye concentration and castile soap and cure time and all that and I can't make heads or tails how much water is ideal for this. Do I want 33%, 40%, or 50% lye concentration? I've seen all 3 mentioned.
And do I measure water (or milk, beer, whatever) by weight or volume?
I'm looking at this (rounded to the nearest 10th so the totals don't equal 100%):
69.5 oz Olive Oil - 63.2%
20.2 oz Coconut Oil - 18.4%
20.2 oz Palm Oil 18.4%
15.2 oz Lye
SoapCalc tells me to use between 15 oz (50% concentration) to 30 oz (33% concentration) water.
But the MMS calculator at thesage.com says "27 to 41 fluid ounces of liquid."
Is is "bad" if I just go somewhere in the middle and use say, 35 oz (by weight or volume?), and hope for the best?
I've read and read and read about lye concentration and castile soap and cure time and all that and I can't make heads or tails how much water is ideal for this. Do I want 33%, 40%, or 50% lye concentration? I've seen all 3 mentioned.
And do I measure water (or milk, beer, whatever) by weight or volume?
I'm looking at this (rounded to the nearest 10th so the totals don't equal 100%):
69.5 oz Olive Oil - 63.2%
20.2 oz Coconut Oil - 18.4%
20.2 oz Palm Oil 18.4%
15.2 oz Lye
SoapCalc tells me to use between 15 oz (50% concentration) to 30 oz (33% concentration) water.
But the MMS calculator at thesage.com says "27 to 41 fluid ounces of liquid."
Is is "bad" if I just go somewhere in the middle and use say, 35 oz (by weight or volume?), and hope for the best?