Soap chart

[wbocrafter]

The soap maker that taught me how to make soap said that she has a chart for every batch of soap she has made that includes what day it was, the temperature outside, the weather, the ingredients & other items. My question is do other soapers do the same thing? If you do, do you have a chart that you would be willing to share? I would also be interested in the items you track. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

 

[Bamagirl]

I don't have a chart per se, but I print out the recipe from soapcalc and then write it all down on the recipe. I don't go so far as to write down the temp and weather, but I could see where it might help me understand how that affects soaping. I usually jot down the date it was made, process, what mold I used and when I cut. I also have a folder for all recipes ect... and in it I printed out monthly calendars and write down when I made what soap so it is easy to find out when each soap is ready and if a certain soap gets better or much much better with age. It helps me (especially since I am new to this and need to keep up with such things lol).

 

[dixiedragon]

I do what Bama does. I make notes on additives, etc. If I'm trying something special I make a file in my computer and type up notes, just so I won't lose it. For example, I made a batch of soap and divided it into 3 logs. The first log I did not gel, the 2nd log I gelled and the 3rd log I tried the "twice baked" method with it. I meant to follow up with observations after week 1, week 2, etc but I forgot. I'll probably try that experiment again.

 

[shunt2011]

^^^
Ditto what the others said. I print of each recipe when I'm going to make it and then make all my notes on it. I'm not quite as detailed a some though.

 

[Kamahido]

I also print a page for each batch I make through soapmaker 3. Just make sure to have a cloud backup if your records are very important to you.

 

[earlene]

The soaping instructor who taught the Soapmaking Bookcamp I attended (2 full days) passed out a few blank sheets for record keeping for each batch. It included space for batch number, soap name, the recipe, additives (amounts and their source), temperatures (both soaping temps and weather conditions) as well as methods used (CP, types of pours, etc.) plus a curing log, and impressions or a place for notes. It was a very simple one-page sheet and I don't actually find one quite as simple when I do a Google search, although I only looked briefly.

Before I attended the class, I learned keeping detailed notes was pretty important, but I had not thought or read about some of the things she included in her batch record sheet. I had not thought of the effect of weather or temperatures on soaping, but I had only been soaping for 6 months at that point. I did not know about weighing soap each week to see if it had stopped losing water yet, so the curing log was a pretty cool deal in my opinion.

Maybe if I still lived in California, where the climate was so temperate, weather wouldn't matter so much. But living where it is very hot & humid in the summer and very cold in the winter, I can see how it might effect the soapmaking process. I just had not thought of that as something to record. I still have not incorporated that into my soapmaking notes, however. Maybe it would help if I did, but I do keep the date of each soap made, so theoretically I could figure out what the weather conditions were for any given soap batch if I felt it was important enough to know.

But the most important part of the record keeping that I have found for me is to include the actual recipe in detail, including all steps taken and even in what order. Because when I want to reproduce a soap, or even if I want to make some improvement, if I don't have that basic information to start with, I have no idea how to proceed.

I keep a notebook with detailed information, but I also keep a copy of each recipe with notes in my computer. Most of my recipes are saved as a SoapCalc 'view/print recipe' jpg file. I do that after putting in the notes, then using my Snipping Tool, save it as an image. I don't like printing out tons of pages of stuff. I prefer using my computer for files such as these. I don't mind hand writing notes in a notebook (like the composition books we used for college), but I don't like filling 3-ring binders full of pages. We each probably have our own methods and likes vs. dislikes for record keeping.

 

[snappyllama]

I keep everything in Evernote. Each batch has its own note. I like that I can set reminders for cure times and attach photos. I'm a visual person so seeing the photo makes it easy to go back to the right batch note. I try to remember to put in every color I use. My label info and comments goes on there too. It's all searchable so I can quickly search across all my batches.

When I'm remaking a recipe, I just copy my old note. If it's a new recipe, I can webclip from Soap-Calc directly into Evernote. Easy-Peasy.

Here's a snap of what my Tried Soaps notebook looks like. I also have notebooks for references, B&B, bucket lists, etc.

 

[Arimara]

I probably should have a chart but I don't. I just print my stuff out and write when I made a certain recipe. Because it's summer time, I may not make any soap save for laundry. It gets crazy humid over here and I'd rather use this time to observe the soaps I plan to make my personal mainstays.

 

[Jsoaps21]

I was just thinking today that I need to tart taking more detailed notes. I've made too many batches at this point to rely on just my formula and memory, and I've only made about 25 or 30 batches. So in 6 months I wont be able to rely on my memory after (hopefully) more batches. And forget it in a year.

 

[Misschief]

I've had Evernote for a long time but, tbh, have rarely used it. After seeing what you've done with it, I may need to start using it again. Thank you for the inspiration, Snappy! :idea:

 

[Dr.J]

When I first started a wrote a spreadsheet to do the calcs. Living in the country with limited internet access, I didn't want to be a slave to soapcalc.net.

In the spreadsheet I also log actual ingredient amounts that made it into my batch. I save each batch as a new tab. My spreadsheet has every batch I ever made!

Screen shot attached. Entry fields in yellow highlights, outputs in green highlights.

It also estimates my cost per batch and per bar, which is can be interesting info.

 

[penelopejane]

I print out the recipe and scribble detailed notes on it as I make the soap.
When my mold is in the oven I fill in my soap diary which is an excel sheet with the soap batch number, recipe ingredients (all colours and exact amounts) and the method, the mold, how it was mixed and treated and what mistakes I made.

I also take a photo of each of my soaps.

This way I can replicate the soap if I want to.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I have a huge sturdy soaping book, with all my notes, all my personal recipes, all the info on everything and anything that happened to my soaps, fragrances, essential oils etc - from I started & up to now.

But I didn`t include the temperature outside, in any of my notes. I don`t find it relevant for me personally, as I have soaped in every kind of temperature, every kind moisturelevel and seasons, and nothing has ever made my soap any different.

In my book I have recipes in small, medium and larger sizes of my trusted recipes I repeatedly make, because I have come to the point of having made so much soap now, and have had so many batches that I have comfortably settled with a bunch that is my HG recipes that has my stamp on it.

I can just go into the book, pick the name of the batch, the size I want to make, and go from there. I wanted to have all in one place and not being dependant of a PC or phone app.

Yes, it is a big book, but I am a hands on kinda girl, I LOVE to ruffle through pages and see the drawings I made, the stickers and decorations. I wanted a scrapbook kind of feel of it as I really like that this huge book of mine is something that is going to follow me for the rest of my life. I have as a precaution (if the house should burn down or something) taken a picture of each page I have in the book, and stored it in my memorycard on my phone. Duplicates are on my computer and on a memory stick and in a cloud. But after having made many of them so many times now, I have many of them in my head and can scribble the oil% and the regular additives down if all else fails.

I also keep my personal fragrance and essential oilblends there, along with my recipes for lipbalms, rubs, bath fizzies etc. etc.

I really like the nostalgic feeling of having something that my family and friends can read too, if they want to. And they have. It is all like a Greek language to them, but because of the scrapbook feeling it is giving them an insight of what I do, what I love about it, and they appreciate the soaps more it seems, because they can see for themselves that I REALLY want to know what I am doing, and making sure the quality is safe and up to par.

But I also understand the love for handy apps that keeps track of everything for you! I just prefer the ol`fashion way.

Lastly, it is sort of a testament to all my hard work, all that testing, all those batches, combinations, favourites etc. When I die my family can go through it and go; --I miss her soaps. But at least we have her recipes.

And who knows... perhaps someone one day will make soaps base on my recipes, passing on the legacy...

 

[wbocrafter]

Forum Supporter
Is there any way you could attach the full screen of what info you record? I really like your style. I am an Excel user & this would be great for Excel.

I really appreciate everyone's input. It has been very helpful. I haven't been keeping a chart as she recommended but I think I will start. Sounds like a good idea. I think someone else notated this but you could also record if the soap is a flop and possibly see what you did wrong. Thanks again.

 

[penelopejane]

Forum Supporter
Is there any way you could attach the full screen of what info you record? I really like your style. I am an Excel user & this would be great for Excel.

I really appreciate everyone's input. It has been very helpful. I haven't been keeping a chart as she recommended but I think I will start. Sounds like a good idea. I think someone else notated this but you could also record if the soap is a flop and possibly see what you did wrong. Thanks again.

There are lots of forum supporters. A persons name is above that.

 

[wbocrafter]

Forum Supporter

How do I find out who the form supporter is so I can ask them my question?

 

[earlene]

How do I find out who the form supporter is so I can ask them my question?

Scroll up to the post of the person who said whatever it was you wanted to ask more information about. Look above the words 'Forum Supporter' and then above the words 'Supporting Member'. Right above that is that person's user name.

You can also use the 'quote' function to reply to them and they will see your question and probably get a notification that they were quoted, making it a bit more likely they may look.