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About 5% of the total batch will be eo. 5% (around) of each bar will be eo. 5% of the amount of soap used per use will be eo. That's not much if you think that a 100g bar should last at least 50 hand washes (should be a whole lot more, but let's err on the side of overestimation), that is 2g of soap per use, that is 0.1g eo per use at an absolute outside.
 
No, it doesn't, because an essential oil is not at all like a soaping fat. An EO is not soluble in water, IS soluble in fats, and has "oil" in its name, but that does not mean an EO is fatty/greasy.

Pure EOs should evaporate quickly, leaving no trace behind. (Tip: If you put a drop of EO on paper and it EO does leave a greasy trace after 24 hours, the EO probably has been diluted with a carrier oil.) Some EOs are even solvents for fats (citrus comes to mind), meaning they dissolve grease on the skin so the grease can be more easily washed away.
 
I don't think there is any one "perfect" lye solution concentration for all recipes all of the time. You have to know your recipe and choose a reasonable lye concentration. Some lye solution concentrations will work better for some recipes than others. I'm finding differences in how my soap batter behaves with just a 1% or 2% change in lye solution concentration, so you don't need to make a big change in the concentration to get distinct differences in behavior from a given recipe.

If we're talking about a 100% olive oil recipe that will saponify slowly, I would use anywhere from 33% to 40% lye solution concentration (this is NOT water as % of oils). I would use whatever lye solution concentration I felt most comfortable using within that range -- some people are uncomfortable with 40%, but okay with 33%. Less water = faster trace time. Experienced soapers even use up to 50% lye concentration, but I don't recommend that for a beginner.

For a recipe with a balanced blend of fats, I might use anywhere from 30% to 33% lye concentration. Higher concentration means less time to trace, all other things being equal. That's fine if I'm making an uncolored or solid color bar and want to "get 'er done". Lower concentration means more time to trace, and that works better if I want more time to do whatever fancy decorative work I am able to do.

Lower concentration also means a greater tendency for the soap to go into gel (and possibly overheat) on its own without additional heat. There is also more tendency for the soap to show streaking or mottling. If any given recipe traces too fast, I might try reducing the lye concentration by 1% or 2% and see if I get more time before the soap comes to trace. If the soap shows streaking and mottling and I don't like that or if it tends to gel and overheat easily, I might increase the concentration by 1% or 2% and see how that works.

For a 100% coconut oil soap that saponifies quickly, a 28% to 30% lye concentration would be fine.

That said, I seldom use "full water" (about 28% lye concentration) because the soap batter may not stay emulsified with that much water, especially for recipes with liquid oils (vs. lard, tallow, palm, PKO, and/or coconut). If the emulsion "breaks", the batter will separate in the mold into fat and lye layers. That is not a good thing. Also a high-water soap can tend to be too soft when I want to unmold at 12-24 hours, again this is more likely if the recipe contains liquid oils.

Related threads: What is wrong with my soap? and lye solution/concentration vs. water as % of oils
Hello ma'am,
I'm from India and last week I made 100% coconut oil soap(cold pressed one which we use for cooking), frozen coconut milk substituted for water to make the lye solution with 20 percent super fat. It took nearly 20 minutes to reach trace with a stick blender. My hands started to hurt by the time I poured the batter into the mould. I used 35% lye concentration. Have I committed any mistake??
 
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@winusuren -- I don't think you did anything wrong. I get the impression the temperature of your soap batter was fairly cool, and that might be why it took so long to come to trace. Hard to say. Sometimes soap behaves unpredictably.

You don't have to stick blend continuously. That's a good way to ruin a stick blender and wreck your patience. I am also not sure it gets the batter to trace any faster. Some tips that might be useful for making your next batch -- Trace, Stick Blender | Soapy Stuff
 
@winusuren -- I don't think you did anything wrong. I get the impression the temperature of your soap batter was fairly cool, and that might be why it took so long to come to trace. Hard to say. Sometimes soap behaves unpredictably.

You don't have to stick blend continuously. That's a good way to ruin a stick blender and wreck your patience. I am also not sure it gets the batter to trace any faster. Some tips that might be useful for making your next batch -- Trace, Stick Blender | Soapy Stuff

Thank you so much for your reply and suggestion ma'am. I read the article and found it very useful and I'll follow as you say. Thank you so much. I'm a new soap maker and I've never used a thermometer so far. I always work at room temperature. After preparing the lye solution, I let it cool for almost 2 to 3 hours. Then I'll heat up the hard oils( coconut, palm, shea and cocoa butter) directly in the stove at low flame. Then after the butter melts, I mix the soft oils and let it sit for some time. I usually take a drop of oil with my spatula and just touch it. If I feel they are very warm, I mix the lye solution. This is the procedure that I've kept following for all my soaps. I've made 7 batches totally till now. Is this process ok ma'am?? Can I proceed this way??
 
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No need for "ma'am" here -- just call me DeeAnna. :)

I think your method sounds fine -- I don't have any suggestions for improvement.

Sometimes soap doesn't behave the way we expect it to.
 
Just curious, should we always heat Coconut oil as this is in the liquid form in India. Only in some places in India, when the climate is very cold, the coconut oil is solid.
 
If it's melted ... it's melted. No need to heat it further to make soap unless you specifically want the fats to be warmer than room temperature. Some soap makers do.
 
Just curious, should we always heat Coconut oil as this is in the liquid form in India. Only in some places in India, when the climate is very cold, the coconut oil is solid.
Actually it's not required. I use unrefined coconut oil and at the bottom of the bottle some sediments which we usually find out in all our unrefined oils are present. While measuring the oil, it might come up. So I just heat it along with the other hard oils.
 
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