Could I make my Soap smell like one specific Deodorant

[TheGecko]

How do they get away with pricing it so high... maybe people are just paying for the brand?


I didn't know that, so that's interesting, something to look out for on labels. So i take it handmade soap makers don't need to list glycerin as an ingredient because its just part of the saponification process?


Thanks for that. I had to google masterbatch, so i have a rough idea now. If your lye is 33%, does that mean the water amount is 67% or is that completely wrong!?

I have all those ingredients here including the sodium lactate, but i'll just need to get some palm oil.

The brand name, the packaging, solid marketing, keeping up with the Joneses.

No, because it’s not an ADDED ingredient.

Oh no…there is no 100% Lye Solution; the highest is 50% as you have to have at least as much water as Sodium Hydroxide.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions. And start with a small batch.

 

[HoppyCosmetics]

Oh no…there is no 100% Lye Solution; the highest is 50% as you have to have at least as much water as Sodium Hydroxide.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions. And start with a small batch.

That's what i was wondering, how much water to your recipe, 33% then?

 

[dibbles]

The amount of water and lye needed to make a solution for CP (or HP) is based on the weight of your fats. If you haven't learned to use a soap.calculator I really recommend that you spend the time doing that. You can still use the recipe that @TheGecko shared. Every calculator has an option to set the lye concentration. You will want to select 33%, enter the percentage of your selected fats and the calculator will do the work for you to figure out the amount of water and NaOH you need.

If this is your first batch, I wouldn't make a masterbatch solution. It is one more step and, maybe more importantly, one more calculation to figure out the amount of additional liquid needed. It isn't difficult, but can be confusing for a lot of new soap makers.

 

[HoppyCosmetics]

The amount of water and lye needed to make a solution for CP (or HP) is based on the weight of your fats. If you haven't learned to use a soap.calculator I really recommend that you spend the time doing that. You can still use the recipe that @TheGecko shared.

I haven't made cold process yet, ive only made melt & pour so far. I know how to use the soap calc, i just didn't realise i'd need to if i have TheGecko's recipe in front of me, that's why i asked how much water.

I take it that you should put all recipes though the calculator?

 

[dibbles]

I haven't made cold process yet, ive only made melt & pour so far. I know how to use the soap calc, i just didn't realise i'd need to if i have TheGecko's recipe in front of me, that's why i asked how much water.

I take it that you should put all recipes though the calculator?

It's a good idea to run every recipe through a calculator, even from a trusted source because typos can happen. The reason she is giving you the recipe in percentages is because the amount of fats, water and lye she uses based on the size of her batch which will fill her mold(s) is likely different than the amounts of you will need to fill your mold. Having a recipe in percentages makes it easy to adjust the batch size for your own needs.

 

[HoppyCosmetics]

It's a good idea to run every recipe through a calculator

Thanks. Math, numbers, calculations, etc isn't something im good it, i struggle with that. So far ive had to write everything down. Its overwhelming sometimes that i just give up and go back to it at a later date. I was stuck on knowing how much essential oil to use in soap, based on the maximum usage rates, and someone sent me these calculations to use as a guide. Can you or TheGecko double check its right? Its still confusing! I don't want to give up soap making because im crap at math! See below:

Use a calculator...

Bergamot EO (0.4% max usage rate)
My Soap Base Oils Amount (794g)

Type:
Base amount x %
In this instance, type 794 x 0.4%
Which will give you 3.17g essential oil.

So if you are using bergamot in 1000g product, you would type:
1000 x 0.4%
Which will give you 4g essential oil.

0.4% = 0.004 (in case you don't have a % button).

You can calculate using this method for all the % max usage rates.
If you could use 3% in whichever size base, you would type the base amount x 3%

 

[TheGecko]

I haven't made cold process yet, ive only made melt & pour so far. I know how to use the soap calc, i just didn't realise i'd need to if i have TheGecko's recipe in front of me, that's why i asked how much water.

I take it that you should put all recipes though the calculator?

How much water you would you would be determined by the size of your batch. You will note that I gave you the recipe in percentages as opposed to weights because I don't know how much soap you want to make. And you may want to go with a higher or lower Lye Concentration...33% is what I typically use, but I go up to 35% during the rainy season.

EVERY recipe should be put through a Soap Calculator...doesn't matter if it is given in percentages or weights because people aren't perfect...which is why, even though I can give you my recipe in my sleep, I have it saved as a text file so I can copy/paste it. If the recipe is in percentages, you want to make sure that the Total is 100. If I had mistyped Olive Oil at 30%, you would get a popup that says that the Total doesn't not equal 100%, to Adjust by 5%. Or maybe you typed it in as 30%; either way you know that there is something wrong.

If the recipe is in weight, what you a checking for is that the Water and Sodium Hydroxide weights are appropriate. Example...let's say I gave you my recipe in weight to make a 20oz batch of soap:

4.90 oz Olive Oil
2.80 oz Coconut Oil
2.80 oz Palm Oil
1.40 oz Cocoa Butter
1.40 oz Shea Butter
0.70 oz Castor Oil

3.93 oz Distilled Water
2.93 oz Sodium Hydroxide

3/4 tea Sodium Lactate
3/4 tea Kaolin Clay

Because I'm obviously an experienced soap maker held in gawd-like awe by my peers, you don't hesitate to print out my recipe and make your very first batch of Cold Process Soap and can't wait to wash your precious newborn baby in it.

Except.

You just made a very dangerous batch of soap.

Had you run the recipe through a Soap Calculator FIRST, you would have found that I had typed the wrong amount for Sodium Hydroxide...the correct amount should have been 1.93 oz and I told you 2.93 oz. That much Lye would have burned your baby's skin.

I would like to say that I am grossly exaggerating the danger of not running recipes through a soap calculator, but I'm not because it only takes one time. Regardless of whether you are using a 33% Lye Concentration or a 40% Lye Concentration or a 50% Lye Concentration...the amount of Sodium Hydroxide will ALWAYS remain the same; only the amount of water will change. Most of the time, recipes are fairly spot on...there might be a tenth or a hundredth off and I just go with what the Soap Calculator says.

If it is the oils/butters that are off...that is where experience comes in. And if you make any substitutions, always run the new recipe. And ALWAYS...when in doubt...do NOT use the recipe.
.

 

[artemis]

Also, putting existing recipes into a lye calculator is a great way to learn how to use the calculators. Try a few of them. Learn your way around. You'll pick a favorite calculator pretty quickly and use it all the time.

My current favorite is Soapee.com

 

[Zing]

Psst, @HoppyCosmetics , I created a new separate thread to answer your questions over at Using an online calculator for usage rates .