Soap Calc Practice

[MrsZ]

I've been reading up like crazy and practicing with soap calc. I came up with a recipe that I would like to try at some point.

Could someone please take a look and tell me what they see in it? Anything that would need changed, or anything super likely to go wrong? Thank you so much!

Also, I would rather make a 16 oz batch. How do I resize the batch while still keeping the same percentages?

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance.

 

[dibbles]

On the first page of Soap Calc in the second section, "Weight of Oils", select 'ounces'. The default is 16 oz. If you have a different amount of total oil weight entered, just change it to 16 oz. Hit the 'calculate recipe' button at the bottom of the page and it should recalculate everything for you.


I don't know what you are trying to achieve with your recipe. I also don't know your soap making experience, but I think you are fairly new to CP soap? So I am going to offer my advice with that assumption. I'm sorry if I have it wrong.

I would leave the beeswax out for now, lower the castor, coconut and cocoa butter and up the lard. Something like:
coconut 25%, lard 35-40%, cocoa butter 10%, castor 5%, sweet almond 20-25% (or use olive oil for part of the almond).

I like bubbles, and coconut at 25% doesn't dry my skin, but a lot of people have problems with coconut oil at that amount. Try it at 30% if you want - it's your soap and you need to find out what you like. I like cocoa butter and find I can notice a difference at even 5% vs. none at all. 5% castor is pretty standard.

 

[MrsZ]

On the first page of Soap Calc in the second section, "Weight of Oils", select 'ounces'. The default is 16 oz. If you have a different amount of total oil weight entered, just change it to 16 oz. Hit the 'calculate recipe' button at the bottom of the page and it should recalculate everything for you.
View attachment 56862

I don't know what you are trying to achieve with your recipe. I also don't know your soap making experience, but I think you are fairly new to CP soap? So I am going to offer my advice with that assumption. I'm sorry if I have it wrong.

I would leave the beeswax out for now, lower the castor, coconut and cocoa butter and up the lard. Something like:
coconut 25%, lard 35-40%, cocoa butter 10%, castor 5%, sweet almond 20-25% (or use olive oil for part of the almond).

I like bubbles, and coconut at 25% doesn't dry my skin, but a lot of people have problems with coconut oil at that amount. Try it at 30% if you want - it's your soap and you need to find out what you like. I like cocoa butter and find I can notice a difference at even 5% vs. none at all. 5% castor is pretty standard.

Thank you. Yes, I'm very new to cp soap. I have very dry skin and can't use many soaps as they are too drying. Do you think that 25% would still be a good starting point. Thank you for looking at my recipe and your input.

 

[dibbles]

If you know you have very dry skin, lower the CO to 15-20%. Add the difference to the lard, or some to the lard and some to the almond/olive oil. Lard makes wonderful soap - you can easily use 50% in a recipe. It is easy to work with as it is nice and slow to trace.

 

[TheGecko]

You don't need to use beeswax and if you have very dry skin, you're not going to like the amount of Coconut Oil you are using.

I made the following changes to your recipe if you like:

20% Coconut Oil
20% Cocoa Butter
35% Lard
5% Castor Oil
20% Sw Almond Oil

I lowered your SuperFat to 5% and made your Lye Concentration a solid 35%

You are welcomed to use (and abuse) my recipe:

35% Olive Oil
20% Palm Oil
20% Coconut Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil

1 tea PPO Sodium Lactate
1 tea PPO Kaolin Clay

5% SuperFat
33% Lye Concentration

 

[MrsZ]

You don't need to use beeswax and if you have very dry skin, you're not going to like the amount of Coconut Oil you are using.

I made the following changes to your recipe if you like:

20% Coconut Oil
20% Cocoa Butter
35% Lard
5% Castor Oil
20% Sw Almond Oil

I lowered your SuperFat to 5% and made your Lye Concentration a solid 35%

You are welcomed to use (and abuse) my recipe:

35% Olive Oil
20% Palm Oil
20% Coconut Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
10% Shea Butter
5% Castor Oil

1 tea PPO Sodium Lactate
1 tea PPO Kaolin Clay

5% SuperFat
33% Lye Concentration

Thanks! What does the Kaolin clay do?

 

[dibbles]

I didn't notice the SF - agree with @TheGecko's advice to lower it to 5%. I don't know if I'd try a 35% lye concentration right out of the gate though. If you are using a FO or EO that might accelerate, that could compound the issue.

Kaolin adds slip to the soap and is a very nice additive to use. If you have only made a couple of batches of soap, you might be best off just slowing down and finding a basic recipe you can build on. It's fun to try all.the.things but best to get confident with the basics before starting to add in too many variables. At least, that is my view.

 

[MrsZ]

I didn't notice the SF - agree with @TheGecko's advice to lower it to 5%. I don't know if I'd try a 35% lye concentration right out of the gate though. If you are using a FO or EO that might accelerate, that could compound the issue.

Kaolin adds slip to the soap and is a very nice additive to use. If you have only made a couple of batches of soap, you might be best off just slowing down and finding a basic recipe you can build on. It's fun to try all.the.things but best to get confident with the basics before starting to add in too many variables. At least, that is my view.

I think I will find something simple next and work with it a few times. Why only 5% superfat though? Just to make sure I understand. The recipes in my beginner book that I've done so far are 15%.

 

[dibbles]

I think I will find something simple next and work with it a few times. Why only 5% superfat though? Just to make sure I understand. The recipes in my beginner book that I've done so far are 15%.

Less unsaponified oils = lower chance of rancidity (DOS aka dreaded orange spots).

 

[AliOop]

I think I will find something simple next and work with it a few times. Why only 5% superfat though? Just to make sure I understand. The recipes in my beginner book that I've done so far are 15%.

A certain group of soapers believes that high superfat means the soap will be less drying. While that may be true, it also means that:

1. The soap is more likely to become rancid, and sooner (dibbles mentioned that, above)
2. You will have more soap scum on your sink, shower, etc.
3. You may clog up your plumbing with the unsaponified oils
4. Your soaps won't lather as well.

I really like the recipes that Dibbles and Gecko shared with you. They are simple, will not trace too fast, and will make a non-drying soap with nice bubbles. I do agree with Dibbles that you might be better off not using any additives at first, and keeping the lye concentration between 30-33%.

So rather than trying something from a book, just plug in those percentages of those oils into the Soap Calc. With your batch weight set to 16 oz, the calc will automatically tell you how many ounces of each oil to use. Does that help?

 

[MrsZ]

Less unsaponified oils = lower chance of rancidity (DOS aka dreaded orange spots).

Having no rancidity sounds like a good thing.

There is a group of soapers who believe that high superfat means the soap will be less drying. While that may be true, it also means that:

1. The soap is more likely to become rancid, and sooner (dibbles mentioned that, above)
2. You will have more soap scum on your sink, shower, etc.
3. You may clog up your plumbing with the unsaponified oils
4. Your soaps won't lather as well.

I really like the recipes that Dibbles and Gecko shared with you. They are simple, will not trace too fast, and will make a non-drying soap with nice bubbles. I do agree with Dibbles that you might be better off not using any additives at first, and keeping the lye concentration between 30-33%.

So rather than trying something from a book, just plug in those percentages of those oils into the Soap Calc. If you have your batch weight set to 16 oz, then it will automatically tell you how many ounces of each oil to use. Does that help?

That makes perfect sense, thank you.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

How do I resize the batch while still keeping the same percentages?

Once you enter the oz. wt. of each oil, and calculated for a batch of 33 ounces, go back to the first page and choose the "%" button. Then enter 16 oz where it says "Weight of Oils". Then hit "Calculate" to resize the batch.

I would use the Default settings for Water 38% (esp. for HP where you lose water during the cook), SF 5% and Fragrance 0.5 oz to begin with. You can play around with those values once you know how they might be adjusted to improve your formula. I still use them when trying something new.

15% SF - As mentioned earlier, NOT recommended. 5% is a good. Currently, I'm using 0% SF in all my hard bars because I want to completely saponify all the oils in the batch to whatever degree is possible. Just a personal choice.

You can then do any number of things.
I agree with dropping the "beeswax".
5% castor oil is typical. The more you use the more likely the bar may be sticky.
You can enter the %'s from dibbles' post and @The Gecko's 2 recommendations to see which one you like best.
Or you can try the Basic Trinity of Oils Starter's Formula and grow from there.

Take note of the values given for Soap Bar Quality to compare to other recipes.

 

[MrsZ]

Once you enter the oz. wt. of each oil, and calculated for a batch of 33 ounces, go back to the first page and choose the "%" button. Then enter 16 oz where it says "Weight of Oils". Then hit "Calculate" to resize the batch.
View attachment 57050
I would use the Default settings for Water 38% (esp. for HP where you lose water during the cook), SF 5% and Fragrance 0.5 oz to begin with. You can play around with those values once you know how they might be adjusted to improve your formula. I still use them when trying something new.

15% SF - As mentioned earlier, NOT recommended. 5% is a good. Currently, I'm using 0% SF in all my hard bars because I want to completely saponify all the oils in the batch to whatever degree is possible. Just a personal choice.

You can then do any number of things.
I agree with dropping the "beeswax".
5% castor oil is typical. The more you use the more likely the bar may be sticky.
You can enter the %'s from dibbles' post and @The Gecko's 2 recommendations to see which one you like best.
Or you can try the Basic Trinity of Oils Starter's Formula and grow from there.

Take note of the values given for Soap Bar Quality to compare to other recipes.
View attachment 57056

Since I posted this, I've taken everyone's advice and switched to 16oz batches with 5% superfat. I've made 2 batches with Dibble's percentages, using a 35% lye concentration. They are looking great so far. I can't wait to test them when it's time.

Today I made a batch from a post I found on here from Primrose, a basic bar with 50% lard.

I've been running things through soapcalc everyday to get a feel for it, and researching fatty acids and what they do. It is a really nice tool.