Making recipes larger

[JoannaM.]

Hello,
I am fairly new to cold process soap making and am IN LOVE! I have so far only been making recipes that I found for free online and they have all been winners that I love so much. Knock on wood, every batch has been perfect and I feel like it comes naturally to me. Yay! However, I’m scared to alter any of the recipes at all. Can someone please help me make one of my favorite recipes just a few ounces larger with correct proportions of oil’s etc.? It currently makes approx. 46 oz. and fills a 3 pound wooden mold just a bit short for my taste. I would love to make the recipe just a bit larger, maybe 50-53 ounces?! I would also be thrilled to make this recipe in a 5 pound recipe. Please help. Thank you!
Lavender and Mint:
9.10 oz. (258 gram) distilled water
4.55 oz. (129 gram) lye
11.11 oz. (315 gram) coconut oil
12.70 oz. (360 gram) olive oil
4.76 oz. (135 gram) avocado oil
1.59 oz. (45 gram) castor oil
1.59 oz. (45 gram) cocoa butter
1.16 oz. (33 gram) Lavender essential oil
.35 oz. (10 gram) Peppermint essential oil
1 Tablespoon dried crushed mint

 

[amd]

soapcalc.net
Or google any online soap calculator
Your first step will be to figure out the % of each oil in the recipe - simply by putting it in the calculator as is and noting the % it provides. From there you will be able to adjust the total batch size or oil amount based on those percentages within the calculator. It will give you the correct liquid and NaOH amounts.

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with Amd -- this is a skill you can do yourself.

Go to Soapmaking Recipe Builder & Lye Calculator
Step 1. Choose solid soap using NaOH
Step 2. Set units of measure to ounces
Step 3. Just accept the defaults for the amount of liquid in the recipe for now
Step 4. Accept the default superfat (5%)

Step 5. Find the first fat in your recipe (coconut oil) and click on it.
Enter the ounces from your recipe
Find the second fat and enter that weight. Repeat until all fats are in the calc.
To the right you will see your recipe begin to appear with the fats listed in percentages, ounces, and grams.
Print or save the recipe.

Now go back to Step 2.
Click the Percentages button.
Enter the total weight of fats you want for your re-sized version.
Be sure to click on the correct units of measure as well.

The recipe will re-size itself to the new total weight of fats.

At this point, if you're comfortable with the fats, you can change the water calculation and superfat calculation (Steps 3 and 4) if you don't care for the default values.

@JoannaM. -- I clicked the wrong button and submitted my post before it was done. You might not have seen the whole thing as I intended to share with you, so there might be more to it now!

 

[JoannaM.]

Thank you so much for all the detailed instructions! It seems a little intimidating, but your step by step will help so much!

soapcalc.net
Or google any online soap calculator
Your first step will be to figure out the % of each oil in the recipe - simply by putting it in the calculator as is and noting the % it provides. From there you will be able to adjust the total batch size or oil amount based on those percentages within the calculator. It will give you the correct liquid and NaOH amounts.

Thank you!

 

[DeeAnna]

You can do it. Honest. Using a soap recipe calculator is a really useful skill to learn if you want to check someone else's recipe to make sure it's safe or (gasp!) if you want to create your own someday.

If you have troubles, give a shout in this thread and I or someone else will help you with any tough bits.

 

[Babyshoes]

I'm pretty new myself and know what you mean about it being intimidating. Just have a play with it, pop your recipe in as detailed above, then once you're happy with your recipe, (you can save and/or print them out) maybe look at different oils and fats to see how the values change when you swap in different oils, especially if you've ever looked at the cheaper ones in the supermarket and wondered if they'd make decent soap...

I still don't think I quite understand all the different values in the soap calculators, but I get the important ones, and I'm still learning so I'll get there.

I've used it to develop a recipe I think will be nice to use based on how my skin reacts to other recipes I've made, and that traces slowly so I can do fun swirls, using oils and fats that I either had available or are cheap and easy to get in the supermarket. I made my first batch with it today and it stayed liquid for as long as I needed it to. Once it cures I'll be able to see if it's nice to use, and tweak it from there if it needs it.

Elly's everyday soap making on you tube has a good video on measuring moulds and sizing a recipe to fit, but as I recall you do need it in percentages to start with.

I personally like to have a recipe that makes a bit extra, and pop that into single moulds for testing and home use, so don't get too hung up on having it exact.