Recipe suggestions for a Beer Soap using my Amber Ale Homebrew

[kunalv]

This one lets you enter the blend of oils you want at the beginning

I was trying the Bramble Berry calculator.

So I have entered three EOs in the calculator provided by you in these proportions :-
Eucalyptus : 20%
Rosemary : 50%
Spearmint/Peppermint : 30% (I'll pick one of the two I promise. Just can't decide now )

The calculator has basically thrown all proportions in 'Green' which means I'm good to go at concentrations of 1-5% for all three. I feel like I'll go with 1.6grams of Eucalyptus, 4 grams of Rosemary & 2.4 grams of Mint. Please correct me if I am going wrong here.

Also what is the deal with Limonene? All three EOs contain Limonene. Do I have to use anti-oxidants as advised by this calculator?

check that any given recipe you find online, in a book, etc is actually safe to use, because many aren't

Not safe in what way?

 

[Tara_H]

Not safe in what way?

They may not have the correct calculations for the amount of lye required with the particular amounts/combinations of oils. If it's too little the soap will be soft, greasy, etc. and if it's too much it could at worst cause chemical burns. Not something to be taken lightly, so doing this calculation for yourself (using the appropriate calculator) is an important first skill.

 

[kunalv]

They may not have the correct calculations for the amount of lye required with the particular amounts/combinations of oils. If it's too little the soap will be soft, greasy, etc. and if it's too much it could at worst cause chemical burns. Not something to be taken lightly, so doing this calculation for yourself (using the appropriate calculator) is an important first skill.

I have opted for 33% lye concentration with 3% EO concentration. You think this is in the safe range? I am not sure about the proportions of the three EOs though. Looks like I'll proper wing it this time and pray for a good result.

 

[Tara_H]

I have opted for 33% lye concentration with 3% EO concentration. You think this is in the safe range? I am not sure about the proportions of the three EOs though. Looks like I'll proper wing it this time and pray for a good result.

It's not about the concentration of the lye, specifically. I think you were using SoapCalc in one of your earlier posts? The important thing is to accurately enter the exact oils that you are going to be using (don't make substitutions without changing it in the calculator) and use the amount of lye that the calculator tells you. In case you haven't come across this before, each oil has a 'saponification value' which tells you how much lye it needs to make it into soap. It's a good idea to read up on that a little bit more if you're unfamiliar with this concept - again this is a very fundamental skill in soap making so it's important to get it right before you try to do anything more adventurous.

 

[kunalv]

It's not about the concentration of the lye, specifically. I think you were using SoapCalc in one of your earlier posts? The important thing is to accurately enter the exact oils that you are going to be using (don't make substitutions without changing it in the calculator) and use the amount of lye that the calculator tells you. In case you haven't come across this before, each oil has a 'saponification value' which tells you how much lye it needs to make it into soap. It's a good idea to read up on that a little bit more if you're unfamiliar with this concept - again this is a very fundamental skill in soap making so it's important to get it right before you try to do anything more adventurous.

Thanks. Yes I was using SoapCalc. I did read a bit on the saponification values. But I will do some more digging and verify whether the recipe i've made will actually end up making soap.

 

[earlene]

Not safe in what way?

They may not have the correct calculations for the amount of lye required with the particular amounts/combinations of oils. If it's too little the soap will be soft, greasy, etc. and if it's too much it could at worst cause chemical burns. Not something to be taken lightly, so doing this calculation for yourself (using the appropriate calculator) is an important first skill.

Transcription and/or typographical errors can and do happen, where the person entering the data into a blogpost or a forum or a youtube video or even a book, resulting in an inaccurate soap recipe being published. I've done it myself. Pretty much anyone here who has followed the forum, watched soaping videos, checked books out of the library (or bought them), read a blogpost, etc. has seen at least one such error and most often more than one. As Tara said, the worst case scenario is a lye-heavy soap, that someone makes then uses on bare skin without realizing.

So learning to use a lye calculator and learning to do a safe and proper zap test (click this link to learn how) is really important for a new soapmaker.