How much do I use?

[jessieh]

I am very new to soap making, and am going to be making my 2nd ever batch. I would like to mix grapefruit essential oil, sweet orange essential oil, and lavender fragrance oil. I am making a 4 pound batch of cold process soap. I have been trying to research how much of the oils (in oz. or teaspoons) I would need to add. Can anyone help?
Jessie

 

[cmzaha]

These particular oils I would use at 1 oz per lb of oils. This is about 6.25% of your oil weight. You would use this as a total you would use, so you would have to figure out the percentage you want of each fo and eo. Can't give you the exact amount in oz since I do not know your actual oil weight. It takes less than 64 oz (4lbs) of oil for a 4 lb batch of soap.

 

[jessieh]

Hi, thanks for your reply.
The recipe I am using is a basic 3 oil - 4 pound recipe
2.4 lb of olive oil
1 lb. coconut oil
12 oz. palm oil

9.6 oz lye
1 lb. 8 oz water

 

[cmzaha]

First of all you need to become friends with a lye calculator for soaping such as soapcalc.net. I think there is a sticky on this forum giving a good explanation of how to use it. You also should measure all ingredients in either grams or oz. Most like grams I usually measure oz. In soapcalcs you cannot mix the method of measuring, stick to grams or oz.
As for your recipe I would lower the coconut oil to 20%, yours is 24% and either up the olive or palm or split the difference between the 2 remaining oils. Coconut oil lends very cleansing and bubbly values to your soap. Most soapers do not go over 20% I go well under 20% for most soaps.
This recipe will also give you more batter than will fit in a 4lb mold. Lye and water contribute to the volume of the soap batter. There is also a sticky explaining how to measure a mold. If you use soapcalc you will see a total for your batter weight on the print /review page.
Remember, do not just use a written recipe without running it through a calculator, since not all recipes are written correctly