2 unsuccessful batches of liquid Castile soap from scratch...HELP!!!

[Carreiram]

Is there a way to break this down without the percentiles? I'm not sure I have the proper tools to do so. I have my scale, but I don't think that helps much.

P.s.- I'm not the greatest with math either

 

[doriettefarm]

galaxy beat me to it . . . I think your superfat is way high at almost 15%! I use 3% SF for my liquid soaps and never have trouble with them being cloudy after diluting.

 

[not_ally]

P.s.- I'm not the greatest with math either

Me either. That is one of the biggest pains in soapmaking for me. Sometimes I spend a bunch of time trying to figure things out, can't do it, and then just give up and come here and ask DeeAnna, Galaxy or one of our other math-y types

 

[galaxyMLP]

Sorry, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that. Do you want the amount of lye amounts in ounces?

Your recipe called for 9.39 oz KOH. You substituted safflower. The numbers below reflect that.

with 100% pure lye and 5% superfat, you need 9.41 oz of lye

with 90% pure lye and 0% superfat, you need 11.0 oz of lye.

Remember, these are all in weights.

ETA: 11.0-9.41/11.0 x 100% =14.5% less lye than what you needed to get 100% saponification

 

[Carreiram]

Yes, the exact measurements are what I'm looking for. Thank you so much

 

[kumudini]

Is there a way to break this down without the percentiles? I'm not sure I have the proper tools to do so. I have my scale, but I don't think that helps much.

You obviously don't know the soaper's language and its more than likely that you are not inclined to learn anything soap related. The percentages are what any soaper would use to relate a recipe, they are everything.You just want to be spoon fed like the wiki article did. This forum is more about people who are actively learning or sharing various technicalities of soap making. But since you are so distressed by this already, our lovely Galaxy might just figure out everything for you and tell you what to do next. Hang in there. But in future it might just be better for you to buy the Dr.B's liquid Castile soap. I apologize if I'm sounding rude but this is what I think right now.

 

[doriettefarm]

Where did you purchase the KOH? If we know where it came from we might be able to figure out the purity (if it isn't listed on the bottle). galaxy is correct in that lye purity is important in determining the superfat %. It takes more of the impure lye to saponify the same amount of oil than it would for pure 100% KOH. That's also why I rely on a good lye calculator (like soapee.com or soapcalc.net) to double-check all recipes . . . I'm not very mathy either

 

[Carreiram]

By the way, what is my percentage of super fat in this recipe?

 

[DeeAnna]

Doriette and Galaxy are right -- too much superfat is your problem. You cannot superfat liquid soap more than about 3% or it will separate -- the fats will float in a layer on top of the diluted soap.

I really don't like that Wikihow recipe. For one thing, do not ever measure by volume because it's too inaccurate. Back in my grandmother's day, she had to, but there's no excuse in this day and age.

Really, honestly, you need to use the SMF tutorials instead. They will set you straight --

Susie: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49852
Irish Lass: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=428988 see posts 8 and 9

And Galaxy is right -- never, never substitute or change the fats in a soap recipe without recalculating the amount of lye required.

eta: "...By the way, what is my percentage of super fat in this recipe? ..."

Others have explained this twice now -- it's about 14.5%.

 

[Carreiram]

this is the lye I am using

 

[doriettefarm]

galaxy and I both made best guesses at your SF% (15%) assuming your KOH is 90% pure. we need to know the purity of your lye to tell you definite superfat level . . . this is why a lye calculator should be your best friend (hint, hint)

 

[Carreiram]

Ok Deanna, thank you for the help, but all I did was ask a question. Sorry if it has already been answered, I have not had a chance to read the previous posts except for the ones that appear instantly. So please, no need to be that way.

And I will most certainly invest in a lie calculator

Lye*

 

[doriettefarm]

In one of the Amazon comments, the seller replied the KOH is 95% pure. If so, then at 3% SF your recipe should have used 10.11oz of KOH. Given the 95% KOH purity, the recipes you made were at 10% SF instead of the desired 3%SF.

 

[Carreiram]

And the brain fired soap maker just realized that there is an online calculator. Ughh, I'll wake up eventually.

 

[doriettefarm]

Yep, the lye calculators are free unless you want to splurge on software like SoapMaker3 that helps you calculate recipe costs and such. I've really been liking the new soapee.com calculator for all types of soap (bar, liquid & cream). It seems to be the most flexible and it will even let you save & share recipes with others.

 

[Carreiram]

Vkumudini, yes, you are quite rude actually. As I said, I AM NEW. I am asking questions. What is so wrong with that? The people on here are unbelievably condescending. I am attempting to learn just from these threads alone. Is that not good enough? I began this so I could have a hobby, and to make gifts for family and maybe even sell a couple. But the unsupportiveness is so unnecessary and quite insulting! Seriously, be encouraging, not a jerk!

 

[kumudini]

What you are learning should be good enough for you and your future victims, not for any of us. If you think that's enough who am I to say otherwise. Have fun lovelies, I'm out of here.

 

[Carreiram]

Future victims? Seriously? What is your problem?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Okay, everyone stop for a moment, before this gets more out of hand.

OP, you may well be new and wanting help, but the internet is not a good medium for picking up nuances such as how stressed you are and how many jobs you have. People don't have to help you and may also be rushed and so will pop a short post

- If you want others to assume the best about you, do the same for them.

Plus, as people don't have to help, having it thrown back in their faces is not going to endear you to the other members.

As has been said, slow down in general. If you are stressed and tired, trying to work out soaping is not a good idea. Take some time to learn some theory, read the threads, look at recipes, post questions and digest the responses slowly. Then, make soap with enough time. You cannot rush this sort of thing.

Now to be the mean one - you shouldn't even be thinking about considering the idea of looking to sell.

 

[Carreiram]

I really didn't think that asking the questions I did was so wrong. So I'm sorry to everyone here that I seem to be inconveniencing. That was not my intention.