Science-y soap making

[Blufuz]

Hello!
I’m an American in Switzerland, doing my PhD in neuroscience on sleep, and was in desperate need of a hobby!

I have been learning cold-process soap making for about 6 months now, and after my batches have all cured, I can safely say this hobby is here to stay.

Last year, I focused on trying a ton of online recipes to get a feel for soap making. This year, I want to try experimenting more systematically; taking a recipe and making multiple batches changing just one thing, and so on. I really want to learn what does and doesn’t matter for making good soap! I have already relied a lot on posts in this forum, and so wanted to properly join the community

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Welcome to the forum. Soap making is an excellent way to overcome writer’s block or simply avoid writing altogether. I’ve also learned that soap making experiments can lead to sleep deprivation due to all the planning involved as I’m trying to fall asleep, late night observations of soap in the mold, soap cutting in the early morning before work, etc. I look forward to your reports on your soapy experiments!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

This year, I want to try experimenting more systematically; taking a recipe and making multiple batches changing just one thing, and so on. I really want to learn what does and doesn’t matter for making good soap!

A good starter formula is the Basic Trinity of Oils. Once you have an understanding of what each leg of the trinity brings to the whole, you can tweak to your heart's delight, one test oil at a time.
HTH (Hope This Helps) and HAVE FUN!

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi and welcome

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! This is a good article about what the numbers in the soap calculator really mean, based on the fatty acid profiles of the oils you use. If you haven't done so already, learning that information will help you design your own recipes based on the factors that are important to you (or to the many family and friends upon whom you will forcing to whom you will be generously gifting your abundance of soaps!

 

[cmzaha]

Welcome

 

[Zany_in_CO]

This is a good article about what the numbers in the soap calculator really mean,

Here's a link to SoapCalc.net shown in that article. It's the one I use because it's more universally recognized. Either calc works well but the one AliOop linked is more advanced. SMF members helped develop it.

 

[Blufuz]

View attachment 70727


A good starter formula is the Basic Trinity of Oils. Once you have an understanding of what each leg of the trinity brings to the whole, you can tweak to your heart's delight, one test oil at a time.
HTH (Hope This Helps) and HAVE FUN!

Thank you!

Here's a link to SoapCalc.net shown in that article. It's the one I use because it's more universally recognized. Either calc works well but the one AliOop linked is more advanced. SMF members helped develop it.

do all calculators work the same? My experience so far has just been with Bramble Berry’s, and the Sage ones, and the difference seems to be the selection of oils and how many things you can change and how detailed the output, but I assume the calculations were all the same.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum. I like Soapmaking Friend and SoapCalc.

 

[BWt]

Hello!
I’m an American in Switzerland, doing my PhD in neuroscience on sleep, and was in desperate need of a hobby!

I have been learning cold-process soap making for about 6 months now, and after my batches have all cured, I can safely say this hobby is here to stay.

Last year, I focused on trying a ton of online recipes to get a feel for soap making. This year, I want to try experimenting more systematically; taking a recipe and making multiple batches changing just one thing, and so on. I really want to learn what does and doesn’t matter for making good soap! I have already relied a lot on posts in this forum, and so wanted to properly join the community

Among many excellent resources on this forum is @DeeAnna See her links here. Soapy Stuff

 

[Zany_in_CO]

do all calculators work the same?

Yes, but only as far as calculating lye needed.. But BB's & MMS's are basically for beginners. SoapCalc is more advanced and easy to manipulate for designing recipes. I spent many hours over many nights, "playing" with various combos to learn how to increase lather or conditioning or hardness or whatever and subbing less expensive FAs (Fatty Acids) for more expensive ones.

One time when I ran out of Shea Butter while weighing it, I used SoapCalc to compare Shea Butter with other options, side by side, one at a time. Lard was the best match. 100% Shea Butter in the right column; lard in the left.

Even if you choose to use Soapmakers Friend, it's good to become familiar with SoapCalc because it's widely used by soapmakers to share recipes on forums and YouTube.