# Glycerin percentage in Soap Calc



## RDak (Mar 7, 2016)

I cannot remember or find the percentage we use when replacing the water percentage in soap calc when using glycerin.

Is it 25 percent?

Also I have some powdered SL.........can I just put a couple of tablespoons into the water when diluting and boiling to dissolve the glycerin soap?

Thanks for any answers.


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## topofmurrayhill (Mar 7, 2016)

Change the setting from "water as % of oils" to "lye concentration" and enter 25%. That is close to the maximum concentration if you are using only glycerin and no water. It's 3 parts glycerin and you need at least 2.5 parts glycerin to fully dissolve the KOH.

I would think something like 2 teaspoons per lb of soap paste would be good for SL, but IL can remind you of how much she uses if you want to do exactly the same thing, or you can find it in the tutorial thread.

The issue is that most people use a 60% sodium lactate solution. You could estimate the weight of SL powder that would be equivalent to a teaspoon of the liquid, but it might be a better idea to make your own 60% solution (by weight)  with distilled water. Otherwise your "dry" SL is going to pick up water until you have no idea of its purity.


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## RDak (Mar 7, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> Change the setting from "water as % of oils" to "lye concentration" and enter 25%. That is close to the maximum concentration if you are using only glycerin and no water. It's 3 parts glycerin and you need at least 2.5 parts glycerin to fully dissolve the KOH.
> 
> I would think something like 2 teaspoons per lb of soap paste would be good for SL, but IL can remind you of how much she uses if you want to do exactly the same thing, or you can find it in the tutorial thread.
> 
> The issue is that most people use a 60% sodium lactate solution. You could estimate the weight of SL powder that would be equivalent to a teaspoon of the liquid, but it might be a better idea to make your own 60% solution (by weight) with distilled water. Otherwise your "dry" SL is going to pick up water until you have no idea of its purity.


Thank you!!

Maybe I'll just leave out the SL.

Also, I seem to remember using water at 100% weight of the gelled soap.....IL uses 75%........hmmm...................


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## kchaystack (Mar 7, 2016)

RDak said:


> Thank you!!
> 
> Maybe I'll just leave out the SL.
> 
> Also, I seem to remember using water at 100% weight of the gelled soap.....IL uses 75%........hmmm...................



If you are talking about diluting the soap paste, the suggestion is to start at 50% of the paste weight in water and slowly increasing from there until you are happy with the consistency.  So you might have preferred a 1:1 ratio.  It is all up to personal choice


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## RDak (Mar 7, 2016)

kchaystack said:


> If you are talking about diluting the soap paste, the suggestion is to start at 50% of the paste weight in water and slowly increasing from there until you are happy with the consistency. So you might have preferred a 1:1 ratio. It is all up to personal choice


Ah......gotcha.........thank you!!


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## topofmurrayhill (Mar 7, 2016)

RDak said:


> Thank you!!
> 
> Maybe I'll just leave out the SL.
> 
> Also, I seem to remember using water at 100% weight of the gelled soap.....IL uses 75%........hmmm...................



It's an optional ingredient, but there's no harm in dissolving and using it.

The water amount is very dependent on your recipe and even variations in the oils. Coconut oil soap takes much less water to dissolve than olive oil soap, or specifically oleic acid soap. If your oil contains a lot of oleic acid you'll need significantly more water. If you get to 75% and the soap won't all dissolve given some time, you just have to keep going.

When you get close, adding a little borax dissolves the rest of the soap and produces an exceptionally thick liquid. Kind of like SL but more powerful. Also optional.


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## RDak (Mar 8, 2016)

^^^^Thank you!!


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## RDak (Mar 17, 2016)

Update: Finished the third batch yesterday........total of the three batches is about 9 gallons of LS.

Everything all of you said worked perfectly...............THANK YOU!!

First two batches were:

10% Castor
22% Coconut
68% Olive Oil

Third batch was:

10% Castor
22% Coconut
23% Olive Oil
45% Safflower HO

I did just as advised...........started out with 50% water to dilute and added until it looked like it was enough to dissolve the rest..........great advice from the instructional posts on that one!!

Got enough to last for a few more years - LOL.

ETA: Oh, I did use a bit of borax to help dilution and thickening. Not much, 3 tablespoons total for the 9 gallons. VERY GOOD advice on that one.

Thanks again everyone, I appreciate it.


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