Oil Weight Cheat Sheet?

[jewels621]

Not sure if this is the right place to pose this question.....

Does anyone know if there is a comprehensive listing somewhere of the weights of oils and butters used for soaping? I feel like there should be one somewhere and I just can't find it.

 

[Susie]

What do you mean weights?

 

[jewels621]

As opposed to volume....like how much does a cup of coconut oil weigh? I can usually find individual oil weights and then convert it to grams, but sometimes it takes forever to find, so I thought if there was a magic list somewhere it would give me less of a headache.

 

[SaltedFig]

Jewels,

Some of the cooking websites will have conversions for common oils.

(eg. This one for Olive Oil: http://convert-to.com/549/cold-pressed-extra-virgin-olive-oil-with-nutrients-amounts-conversion.html)

"Specific Gravity" is used in volume to weight calculations.

 

[Steve85569]

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/IngaDorfman.shtml

Makes it clear as possible. The problem being that liquids will have a different mass to volume ration ( specific gravity as compared to water) at different temperatures. Liquids expand when they are heated and contract when cooled.

There really isn't a "magic" to make it more convenient. Weighing - measuring mass is still the most accurate way( weigh?).:mrgreen:

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Or also avoid any recipe where the author uses volume instead of weight - that in itself is often a bad sign

 

[Zany_in_CO]

"Specific Gravity" is used in volume to weight calculations.

Understanding Specific Gravity

https://www.thesage.com/calcs/specificgravity.html

 

[BattleGnome]

Edit: others got here first (forgot to refresh). Leaving this just in case it helps someone


There might be a list out there but volume:weight ratio changes with the weather (and possibly other factors). A few weeks ago I came across a thread here (it was one of the EO threads but I don't remember exactly) where someone weighed one ml of EO by the drop two days in a row and came up with two numbers that were significantly different. If I remember right it was roughly a ten drop difference.

If you need a rough approximation it might be best to compile your own list (averaging weights over several days) or to do the math based on the numbers on the particular container (weight on the front of the bottle vs serving amount vs number of servings). If you do your own weights then you have a better idea of how things look in your climate.

 

[Susie]

You need to weigh every oil.

Avoid all recipes that use volume measurements.

If you just feel you must convert one to weights, please run it by us to verify after you get the initial conversion done.

 

[aihrat]

+1 on not working with oils by volume when soaping.

That being said, I do sometimes find it useful to have volume-to-weight measurements because I buy oils from suppliers who sell by volume. Knowing approximately how many grams are in a mililiter at a set temperature helps me with better estimations for the cost of my batches - I would rather end up slightly overestimating the cost of my batch than underestimating it.

 

[jewels621]

Thank you, everyone. This is exactly what I needed to hear. I never ever soap using volume...but I sometimes use the same oils and butters in my lip balms and a lot of the recipes I have on file are based on volume and I'm looking for a more consistent product by converting those recipes to mass. I'll just keep converting the way I have been....just needed to know I was spending that time wisely. Thanks, again!

 

[Susie]

You know, now that you mention that, all my lip balm recipes are by volume, also. As are my body butter recipes. I wonder why I never converted to weight for those.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

...oils from suppliers who sell by volume. Knowing approximately how many grams are in a mililiter at a set temperature helps me with better estimations for the cost of my batches - I would rather end up slightly overestimating the cost of my batch than underestimating it.

Thanks for that tip! Good one! I measure fragrance in mls while weighing in grams and, more often than not, there's always a difference. Gives my pipettes an opportunity to make themselves useful. :mrgreen: