# Ratio of caustic soda to ingredients?



## Jas (Feb 6, 2017)

I am going to try making soap containing rice milk, rice bran oil and caustic soda...sodium hydroxide. I wish to know a basic recipe using only these three ingredients and ratio of caustic soda to other ingredients.


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## KristaY (Feb 6, 2017)

Jas said:


> I am going to try making soap containing rice milk, rice bran oil and caustic soda...sodium hydroxide. I wish to know a basic recipe using only these three ingredients and ratio of caustic soda to other ingredients.



Hello and welcome to the forum!

Have you looked at any online soap calculators? I highly recommend doing that. It will give you the specific sap values for the rice milk (hopefully) and the rice bran oil (definitely). From there it will calculate the sodium hydroxide you need to make those ingredients into soap. Here are a couple to look at:

http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
http://soapee.com/calculator
https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx


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## CaraBou (Feb 6, 2017)

Jas, that won't make a very nice soap.  The only oil you listed is rice bran, which means you'd have a single oil soap.  Single oil soaps generally aren't balanced with the various fatty acids that combine to give a nice feel, lather or shelf life.  Do you have access to any other oils, like coconut oil, palm oil, lard or tallow?

If you wish to proceed with just the rice bran oil, do use a calculator to figure out how much NaOH you need, like KristaY advised.

You can use the rice milk as a water substitute, but that isn't an oil so won't help balance the recipe.


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## Jas (Feb 7, 2017)

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I suffer from extreme allergies and can only tolerate rice. I have tried the most basic and harmless soaps and they all affect me. So I'm clutching at straws atm


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 7, 2017)

Is that internally AND topically? Also bear in mind that a soap made from an oil can be very different than the oil itself, so check with your specialist before making anything, at the very least make sure that they know and can monitor things


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## CaraBou (Feb 7, 2017)

^^That is good advice. 

Jas, I'm not trying to get personal, but can you give us an idea of the allergies you have?  Many of us have skin allergies & sensitivities, and we can help you work around them.  In fact that is why many of us make our own soap.  So please tell us what you can about yourself and we will help you get the nicest soap for your personal use. There are lots of oils that will work in soap, so it's possible there are others that will work for you.

It is good to know that RBO and other rice products works for you.  You can use a high amount of RBO if you need to, but I'd advise small batches (less than 1000 g) so you can use it fairly quickly.  In high quantities, RBO is prone to going rancid in soap, so you don't want to wait too long to use your soap. You can also add an antioxidant like ROE (rosemary oil extract) to prolong shelf life of the oil itself, or add something like EDTA to the soap batter to protect the finished bars. 

A couple other things to know, although these might not be your main concern:  A pure RBO soap might  not lather very well.  It might have a relatively thin, smooth lather without big bubbles.  The bar may may get a bit slimy when it's wet. It could also be a bit drying since it is not well balanced with other oils.  These things may be acceptable to you given your allergies, but it's possible we can help you achieve more if you provide us with additional information on your specific needs.


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## earlene (Feb 7, 2017)

Rice bran as a single oil soap will be a take a little longer to set up in the mold if made with the default amount of liquid in your lye calculator.  So I suggest you set the lye concentration to maybe 33% for your first batch. If this is your first soap, 33% lye concentration seems like a safe place to start.  I'd probably do 40%, but not when I was new.  

You can use the rice milk instead of water when you make the lye solution.  Just remember to ALWAYS add the caustic soda (Sodium Hydroxide Lye) to your liquid.  NEVER add liquid to lye.  Add it slowly and stir until completely dissolved.  It will heat up.  Remember to wear goggles and don't breath in the fumes while stirring, in other words, don't lean over the container.  You want to do this in a well-ventilated area.  Sorry if you already know this.  If you haven't read all the safety precautions on working with lye and soapmaking, please make sure that you do before making the soap.  If you have, great!

I suggest using Soapee.com or SoapCalc as your lye calculator.  Both are fairly easy to use.  

Here is a link to a single oil soap experiment done with a few different oils. The one for Rice Bran Oil soap is at the end of the page.  It got good reviews in terms of lather and hardness.  Here is another link to another such experiment, and the rice bran oil soap is toward the top of the page.  I don't think it's a long lasting bar, but that is not an issue for you from what I can see.  It's more about something your skin can tolerate.

I empathize with your sensitivities and allergies.  I once knew a woman diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria.  I cannot even fathom what that is like to live with on a daily basis.  So give the rice bran soap a try and I do sincerely hope it helps.

Although you will need to be sure to give a good 6 to 8 week cure before you test it out.


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## Catastrophe (Feb 7, 2017)

earlene said:


> I once knew a woman diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria.  I cannot even fathom what that is like to live with on a daily basis.



Funny you mentioned this, one of the FB soap groups is in a bruhaha about someone's customer wanting a soap without water (which I think the customer mistakenly copied that from an ingredient list), but it's funny how many people don't know it is, in fact, possible to be allergic to water.

There was a period of time when I and my docs thought I suffered from aquagenic urticaria.  Thankfully, my issue turned out to be aquagenic pruritus.  One of the deciding factors in which it was was the fact that mine affects mostly my feet and legs, rarely my palms and scalp.

There was a story in the news a year or so ago about a girl with aquagenic urticaria.  (Sorry, it's rare anyone ever knows it even exists.)  They also thought I was allergic to chlorine or another chemical in water.

Interestingly enough, I have leather for skin, and can use soap head to toe with no problems.  My neighbor tells me using soap for her is an instant urinary tract infection.


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