# SoapRecipe



## Guinevere (Feb 27, 2019)

hello crafters. I’ve become obsessed with trying to formulate the best recipe, via calculating fatty acid profiles and going over this oil and that. I’m driving myself crazy. Anyone else here get stuck like this?

Guinevere


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## midnightsoaper (Feb 27, 2019)

Sort of. I obsessively made recipe after recipe, but I didn't get stuck. I made them all  Definitely had some winners and losers. I have mostly been using a couple of my favorites, but still tweak or try new recipes.

I've found the numbers don't tell the whole story. You just have to start making and testing them out


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

@Guinevere 

THANK YOU!  I am currently in the same mode.  Analysis Paralysis! 

Then I throw up my hands and grab a book and make a random soap - because I figure it must be decent.

I hope this stage of my journey is short-lived.


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## Hawksquill (Feb 27, 2019)

I'm in the same place!  I used a very, very basic recipe for my first couple of batches, and am now looking to branch out.  I've reformulated the recipe I'm planning to try next for over a week and have revised it at least 5-6 times based on all my research.

Downside is that I have out of town guests this weekend, so I won't be able to soap until next weekend.  A whole entire week to keep tweaking my recipe!


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

to break my paralysis, i am going to make some of the soaps mentioned here 

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/sharing-nourishing-winter-soap-recipe.71590/

gotta start somewhere!!!!!


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## redhead1226 (Feb 27, 2019)

it is the only way to learn. But dont make online recipes. Learn the fatty acid profiles and make your own recipes to try. You will be able to understand better what each oil brings to the soap. It takes many years of formulating and testing to figure ou what works. After over a decade of soapmaking, I have 6 go to recipes after making 100's.  It took a long time to get there. So don't rush and enjoy the art.  You will soon know what works.


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

Thank you @redhead1226 

I am trying to absorb the fatty acid profiles and their implications in soap, and I am struggling with all the information!  

Hopefully breakthrough is coming soon!  Any tips on how to pack your brain with all this fabulous information??


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## Hawksquill (Feb 27, 2019)

@Clarice This is one of the best resources I've found so far.  I haven't internalized all of it yet, but just reading it over and taking notes/highlighting has helped me understand the underlying theory of how it all works  

https://classicbells.com/soap/soapCalcNumbers.html


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

Thank you @Hawksquill  - I LOVE that site!  @DeeAnna blows me away!
I think I need to print out the properties and make flash cards (kickin it old school!) to get my brain in gear!


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## Hawksquill (Feb 27, 2019)

@Clarice  Flash cards are a GREAT idea!  I might have to do that too 

@Clarice not sure if you've found this yet too, but I just dug around a bit on the Miller Soap site and found this fantastic chart.  This is definitely getting printed, laminated, and put with my soaping stuff!

http://www.millersoap.com/PDF/OilProperties.pdf


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

and I just found another thread here that I think will help me break my paralysis!!!!

YAY!!!!

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...s-in-cp-soap-what-works-vs-what-doesnt.53216/

Now I wish there was a "cheat sheet" for additives!


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## Hawksquill (Feb 27, 2019)

Funny you should mention additives! I recently added this to my rapidly-growing "Soaping Bibliography"

http://www.lovinsoap.com/soapmaking-additive-chart/


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## Clarice (Feb 27, 2019)

WOWOWOWOWOWO

Thank you @Hawksquill

woo hoo!

Errrr, but now my paralysis is back LOL!


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## redhead1226 (Feb 28, 2019)

Clarice said:


> Thank you @redhead1226
> 
> I am trying to absorb the fatty acid profiles and their implications in soap, and I am struggling with all the information!
> 
> Hopefully breakthrough is coming soon!  Any tips on how to pack your brain with all this fabulous information??



It comes with time. Many of us have years in this craft.  Your not going to learn all you need to know just from knowing the FA profiles. Making lots of soap and continuing to learn through others will eventually reap the rewards.  Im sure that anyone here will tell you we are always learning and improving. Frankly for me, if that stopped I would be bored.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 28, 2019)

Indeed - it's good to know what an oil will basically bring to the party, based on the fatty acids, but what that oil actually does for you can only be experienced. 

Tip - if you want to make lots of different batches, go small. 500g batches can easily be weighed out on a 1g scale. You also won't have lots of bars of a batch which you don't like laying around. Reduces costs which is also a huge bonus. 

Another tip - if you make a batch a week, make a very different type of recipe each week. That way after 4 weeks the first batch is cured and you can try it, make a variation on the recipe and then in 4 weeks see how it changed. With 4 or 5 different recipes on the go, you have a new soap to play with and a new soap to make each week!


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## KiwiMoose (Feb 28, 2019)

This is a pretty good article...
https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/the-most-popular-fatty-acid-profiles-in-soapmaking/


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## lsg (Feb 28, 2019)

After you have soaped for a couple of years, you will probably stick with one or two recipes that work well for you and your family,  That is what I have done, but occasionally branch out to try a new technique or new ingredients.


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## Susie (Feb 28, 2019)

I never hit the paralysis, but I did make batch after batch with only 5% oil changes.  LOTS of batches to get to something I liked.  I kept a plethora of notes on each batch and generally acted as scientific as possible.  I can absolutely tell you that I KNOW what a soap will feel like just by reading the recipe now.


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## IrishLass (Feb 28, 2019)

midnightsoaper said:


> Sort of. I obsessively made recipe after recipe, but I didn't get stuck. I made them all  Definitely had some winners and losers.



That sounds a lot like me when I first started out. I made them _all_ (and took meticulous notes)! I was quite the mad soap scientist, for sure. 

It took me a couple of years, but I finally narrowed things down to about....oh... about 8 different formulas or so that worked really well for us.  Of those, there are 5 that I make more often than the others (my shave soap, my facial soap, my salt bars, my tallow/lard formula, and my all-veggie formula with 50% OO). That's not including my liquid soap. I narrowed those down to 2 different formulas.

Repeat after me:

Experiment, take notes, tweak, repeat!  
Experiment, take notes, tweak, repeat! 
Experiment, take notes, tweak, repeat! 
Experiment, take notes, tweak, repeat! 
etc...
etc....
etc...


IrishLass


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## Amy78130 (Feb 28, 2019)

Just out of curiosity, what properties are you looking for in your perfect soap recipe? I’ve driven myself mad at times too. Especially trying to get a hard, super bubbly but also moisturizing/non drying bar! Maybe some of the awesome soap makers on here can help with suggestions!


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## Clarice (Feb 28, 2019)

My DREAM soap?

Creamy bubbly lather with little tiny silky bubbles (but a veritable **** load of them)
I have been going after this via the "creamy" number - perhaps this is a mistake? 
I am not sure if I am describing this right - I like little slippery bubbles and a creamy lather - does that make sense?  

Non-stripping / drying as I have dry skin
I have been going after this by limiting coconut, and targeting lowish cleansing number
I also try to maximize the conditioning number
I usually SF between 5 and 7%

I don't worry too much about the hardness and longevity numbers, as I am more focused on the feel of the soap in use
I like "slip" so i often add a bit of kaolin clay
I keep my lye concentration in the 30 - 32 range 
I am a bit of a soap addict - I have 10 - 12 bars in my shower at all times in little wire trays that stick to the tile with suction cups - so I have a lot in rotation lol!  

Here are two recipes I made today in small batches (about 8 oz) so I can start to get more disciplined - and I took good notes on trace, etc.  It chapps my impatient ADHD a$$ to have to wait four whole weeks.  But I am trying!  

I am zeroing in on limiting coconut to about 20%; incorporating castor at no more than 5%; I really like the feel of mango butter, so I am playing with that as well.

The journey continues!  SO much to learn!  SO much fun doing so - just PLEASE could somebody invent a time machine for soap aging????

Thanks for asking @Amy78130 !!!


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## Amy78130 (Feb 28, 2019)

OMG you sound just like me! I have ADD and sometimes start out making soap but then end up making lotion or shampoo bars or whatever other shiny recipe that catches my attention. I’ll look through my notes and see if I have any soap recipes you might like..


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## Clarice (Feb 28, 2019)

@Amy78130 

LOLOLOLOLOL

Let's sit down and have a very serious discussion......what were we talking about?  Was that a flying hot dog?  Where do you get your nails done?

LOLOLOL


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## Ladka (Feb 28, 2019)

Amy, your preferences are also mine so let's hope some experienced soapers on the forum help us both.


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## IrishLass (Feb 28, 2019)

Amy78130 said:


> Just out of curiosity, what properties are you looking for in your perfect soap recipe? I’ve driven myself mad at times too. Especially trying to get a hard, super bubbly but also moisturizing/non drying bar! Maybe some of the awesome soap makers on here can help with suggestions!



In terms of being non-drying, it will all come down to ones specific skin-type. In other words, what I consider to be a non-drying soap might be very drying to someone else. For example, my tallow/lard soap is good and hard and super bubbly due to it's butter content and a 30.5% combo of coconut oil and PKO, and it's also non-drying to myself and my family (I superfat it @ 8%), but I know if I were to give a bar of it to our forum member Susie, she would run screaming from the shower in search for the nearest lotion bottle post haste!. lol Her skin type can only tolerate so much of the cleansing/bubbly oils (I think she only uses something like 15% of them, total, if I remember right).

Anyway, there's just no other way around good old fashioned trial and error experimentation to find out what your skin likes.

And when it comes to bubbly lather, it would be remiss of me if I didn't let you know that there are other variables at play besides how much of the bubbly/cleansing oils you have in your formula...such as the quality of the water that's piped into your home, i.e., hard or soft. Hard water will cut down on your soap's lathering abilities. Ask me how I know! lol I've got very hard water in my house. In order to combat the lather killing effects of my water, I add a small % of a chelator to my soap formula.


IrishLass


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## Amy78130 (Feb 28, 2019)

Here’s a good one! I just need to get some peach kernel oil.


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## Amy78130 (Feb 28, 2019)

IrishLass said:


> In terms of being non-drying, it will all come down to ones specific skin-type. In other words, what I consider to be a non-drying soap might be very drying to someone else. For example, my tallow/lard soap is good and hard and super bubbly due to it's butter content and a 30.5% combo of coconut oil and PKO, and it's also non-drying to myself and my family (I superfat it @ 8%), but I know if I were to give a bar of it to our forum member Susie, she would run screaming from the shower in search for the nearest lotion bottle post haste!. lol Her skin type can only tolerate so much of the cleansing/bubbly oils (I think she only uses something like 15% of them, total, if I remember right).
> 
> Anyway, there's just no other way around good old fashioned trial and error experimentation to find out what your skin likes.
> 
> ...


Very true! I guess the quest is finding the perfect (on paper) recipe to start. Then figure out if it’s something our own skin can tolerate after testing a small batch. I’m sure we’ve all obsessed over the starting point of our soap making creative process. It is after all a learning process. I consider myself lucky to be in such good company here on this forum with all of you awesome soapmakers! Do you use EDTA to counter the hard water at your house?


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## Dean (Feb 28, 2019)

Clarice said:


> My DREAM soap?
> 
> Creamy bubbly lather with little tiny silky bubbles (but a veritable **** load of them)
> I have been going after this via the "creamy" number - perhaps this is a mistake?
> ...



I just dropped my cleansing number 7 due to dryness and am getting plenty of lather because I'm using almond oil as my HO.  I'm surprised how little CO is actually necessary for lather. 

I've decided to use a bar from new recipes for hand washing.  That way I get my use fix until they are cured long enough for the shower.


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## Guinevere (Feb 28, 2019)

I've found the numbers don't tell the whole story. You just have to start making and testing them out 

Your right!

what properties are you looking for in your perfect soap recipe?

Depends on the day,

Guinevere


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## Clarice (Feb 28, 2019)

I remember as a kid when we got a whole house water softener and I thought i died and went to heaven!  Maybe that is where my obsession with silky creamy suds started.  

I don't know how hard my water is here in GA but I know it is neither super hard nor particularly soft - so - I am gonna investigate a chelator!  

I LOVE THIS FORUM AND ALL YOU FABULOUSLY HELPFUL PEOPLE!!!!


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## Guinevere (Mar 1, 2019)

Amy78130 said:


> Just out of curiosity, what properties are you looking for in your perfect soap recipe? I’ve driven myself mad at times too. Especially trying to get a hard, super bubbly but also moisturizing/non drying bar! Maybe some of the awesome soap makers on here can help with suggestions!




Now that I think about it, it’s kind it two of this and one of the other. I guess that’s why it’s not only important to run it through a soap calculator but to always go ahead and make it. I was reading somewhere, sorry the place has escaped me now however our soap numbers can turn out differently depending on humidity as well as other factors. 

Guinevere


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## IrishLass (Mar 1, 2019)

Amy78130 said:


> Do you use EDTA to counter the hard water at your house?



Yes- I use .5% tetrasodium edta as per the total weight of my batch, additives included.


IrishLass


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## Susie (Mar 1, 2019)

IrishLass is correct, I can use no more than 15% CO or PKO.  Period.  My skin declared that that was a non-negotiable number.  To get more lather, I use sugar 14 g PPO, EDTA 0.5% (hard water down here), and lard, lots of lovely lard.  Or lard/tallow blend.  Whatever is available.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 2, 2019)

And as Susie is a complete bubble-lover, you can be sure that a healthy lather is very much possible without going higher on the bubbly oils. Where there is a will (for bubbles) there is a way.


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## Susie (Mar 2, 2019)

Yep, bubbles are also non-negotiable.  Oh, and I use 5% Castor Oil in every batch. I forgot that bit.

I tend to use lard/tallow blend in the summer, and straight lard in the winter.  Lard gives a rich, creamy lather, and tallow gives bigger bubbles, but less "creaminess".  Castor Oil supports the structure of the bubbles for lack of a better way of describing it.  It keeps your bubbles around longer, thereby creating the sensation of more lather.


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## Dean (Mar 2, 2019)

Dean said:


> I just dropped my cleansing number 7 due to dryness and am getting plenty of lather because I'm using almond oil as my HO.  I'm surprised how little CO is actually necessary for lather.
> 
> I've decided to use a bar from new recipes for hand washing.  That way I get my use fix until they are cured long enough for the shower.



Lather from my 10 CO aloe bar.  The bubbles get tinier and creamier the longer I wash.  Not bad for a 1 wk old bar.


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## Rune (Mar 21, 2019)

Try dual lye (95% Naoh and 5% Koh). You will get wonderful bubbly soap that bubbles straight away. Since it becomes so bubbly, you can also use those last slivers almost to the end, which is a bonus. Dual lye is wonderful! I tested it once out of curiosity, and finally got a soap that was like a dream. I made soap today, of course with a handful of mistakes as always, and of course using dual lye. That way I know I can get a soap that feels really nice regardless how much I mess it up along the way.

If you want to know my mistakes, today it was as follows:

Measured 4 grams of wax (stearic and palmitic mix) instead of 30. Grabbed my lye bottle, and it was empty! Just when I had everything ready. Luckily I found another bottle. I almost forgot my scent, but remembered it in time. I had set my stickblender beforehand at the minimum speed. When I grabbed it and used it, it was at max! I could not get it down, but I think I pressed the wrong button. My micas mixed in oil from the recipe went solid (I took oil from the recipe after I had melted the hard oils in, I should have taken it before melting). So I had to microwave them. Everything looked fine when I add the lye to the oils and stirred, even if I realized as soon as I dumped in the scent that it was strongly floral and expected a seize. As soon I came in there with my stickblender, it thickened like crazy. Even if I did hardly use it. My plan was to pulse 2-3 times at minimum speed, and not more. It became 3-4 times at maximum speed. I should not have used it at all. I had to hurry like crazy to divide it into the cups with color. The perfect Clyde slide I had in vision, well, it became blob-blob in the mold. If I had a hanger, I would have tried a hanger swirl (my soap was too thick, but not seized in any way). But had nothing and let it be like that. I was afraid to make another disaster. What I should have done, and it struck me after the soap was in the mold, so too late. I should have dumped everything back in the bowl, and then dumped the soap from the bowl into the mold from high height. That way it will be a clyde slide, even with a too thick soap. I have done that before, and it turned out just perfect. When cutting I was expecting a mistake but got a success. And that success should have been repeated. But well, too late. Blobs can be nice too, I hope. I did remember to line my mold ahead in time. Which can not be taken for granted around here.

The worst thing is the 26 grams of wax too little. I used -1 (yes, minus) in superfat, because I added 10 grams of citric acid, and didn't bother to do calculations. As soon I realized I had measured 26 grams less, I started to get really worried about lye-heavy soap. So I had to do more calculations to estimate if it was lye-heavy or not. And luckily it isn't, because my lye was not 100% pure (it had a big lump inside, so I guessed it to 92%. But I have no clue, really). I measured 5 grams more of one fat, just because the whole package was 5 grams over and I didn't bother to take it out. Luckily I had 26 grams too little wax, because my superfat was already at 10% (not accurate since I don't know my lye purity, but my lye is old). I wanted to try less superfat this time, so I hoped for around 5%. 

So yes, very clumsy as always. I have too little hands-on experience, that is the fault. I have gained lots of experience in working with soap thickening up on me, that's for sure. I think I can make it work if I next time don't use the stickblender, just stir, and choose a fragrance guaranteed not to accellerate (I have no idea if the fragrance made trouble today or not). I used Petra from Eroma, which I think is a perfume dupe. Too strong, even if I did not use all of those 25 grams (2,5%) I had measured out, I used maybe 20 grams. I will go down to 1,5% fragrance. It should be plenty. Scents from Eroma don't fade much, it seems. My old toilet-cube-smelling soap (horrible coconut flower) have only faded a tiny bit, and if I have tried to air it as much as possible. 

Well, back to dual lye. If you want to give it a try, you must find a calculator that does dual lye, or calculate the old fashioned way. 
Dee-Anna knows how to do it (it is not very difficult): https://classicbells.com/soap/dualLye.html


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## MadTeddyBear (Mar 22, 2019)

What worked for me is to pick one basic recipe as a starting point.  After 3-4 days try using a small piece to wash your hands or take a shower to see how you feel about it and keep the rest to try again after four weeks.  Testing immediately won't tell you exactly how the soap will be after it cures, but you can still do some comparison between batches to rapidly tweak the recipe.  

Once you've done your early test, see what you liked and didn't like and adjust the numbers accordingly, and keep doing that until you're mostly happy.  From there I tried substituting butters and soft oils, usually swapping out 10% of one ingredient at a time, to see how that would change the recipe while still being in the number range.

After you've settled on the oil/butter composition, start looking at additives to improve on anything you think is still not good enough.  For me this was not enough bubbles, so I started trying different additives and liquid substitutions until I landed on sodium citrate and 50% aloe vera juice.

Finally after they've had a chance to cure, test them again to see if the final results match the early tests  and keep changing if there are more things you want to change.

It's very slow going.  It took me a few months and 12-14 test batches before I felt like I was done and I'm just about to start with a second vegan recipe, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.


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## Susie (Mar 22, 2019)

@Rune-are you just telling us about your soaping experience, or asking for help?  Because I don't know whether to just commiserate or try to help you not soap like that.


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## Rune (Mar 22, 2019)

No, no, not asking for help, was just babling away. But I will ask for help very soon. Because I did cut my soap, and it is a disaster inside!  I took pictures, but my crappy camera did focus everywhere else than at the soap. I need to borrow a phone with a good camera. As soon as I have the pictures ready I will ask for help. But I think I have found out what is going on. I think it is partial gel with glycerin rivers. Not funny! My blobby soap looked beautiful inside! But of course the joy was soon to be destroyed :-(


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## Susie (Mar 22, 2019)

The reassuring thing is that we have all been where you all.  Every one of us.  You, too, will get past this.  I still have unexpected results from new FOs.  Sometimes I get soap on a stick.  You just have to have the all important "Plan B" in your pocket to get a usable soap from that.


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## shunt2011 (Mar 22, 2019)

^^^^ So much this.   Also, measuring accurately and focusing one what you are doing and knowing what you are working with before starting will make a big difference as well.    I'm one who never listens to those who say to make a small batch to test a new fragrance, sometimes I have to move really fast or go to plan B.   Fortunately, I've had more yay's than nays.


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## Rune (Mar 22, 2019)

Thank you all for great advice! 

I tested the soap now, and the lather was blue! I have used too much ultramarine (I can't remember if it is mica or regular pigment). Well, well, that is not the worst. The new thing I tested was to add vinegar, and it for sure did harden the soap! Normally I have to wait a few days to cut. Now I did cut the day after, and it was almost a little too late. I broke the wire. And had of course put the spares somewhere where I knew I could find it. Not very clever, because I had no clue where it was. Luckily I found it after many hours of searching all over. Normally I don't find what I put on those "smart" locations. Now my spare wires are securely taped on the underside of my cutter. Hopefully they will never escape again. 

When I now ran my actual soap thru the lye calculator, I have used as much as 36% water (as percentage of oils). 30% lye solution. That is way too much water. The 25 grams of vineagar extra and the fact that I used 26 grams less oils than in the original recipe, upped the water so much that I got glycerin rivers. I had planned to use more water than usual, to see if I could keep the soap more fluid to work with. But I did not plan to use almost "full water", since I know that can cause glycerin rivers.

Accurate measurements and to include every liquid in the total water amount, yes, now I have learned that the hard way.

The soap I made feels good and lathers well, and for once did not smell stronger than a car freshener. So I think it will be allright after the cure. 

Soon I will try the original recipe I made, meaning 3% of palmitic/stearic wax instead of the 3 grams I intended to measure (but it became 4 grams). Use water discount as I normally always do. Use less pigment/mica. And the most important, not use the stickblender, but stir with a spatula.

To find other people's trusted recipes and follow them, is quite impossible. Why? Because they always add a whole lot of stuff I can't find anywhere. Like rice bran oil, avocado oil, lard, tallow, mango butter and all sorts of butters and yes, I can't find anything here, so I have to make my own recipes and use what is available. That works really well as long as I can get something called Flott Matfett (plant based lard alternative made of shea, coconut and rapeseed). I can't always get that either, normally only at Christmas (it is used for deep frying cookies). But my grocery store now have it all year round after I asked them to order it for me. I can order online, but the prices are so high that it's not worth it. I can order from abroad, but shipping and customs and extra norwegian VAT, makes it too expensive. I do order stuff from abroad, but not butters and oils other than castor oil. Yes, such things as castor oil is unavailable here. I can go to the pharmacy and buy fluid laxative, which is castor oil, but the prices are thereafter. So to follow other people's recipes, that is really not an option at all. Norwegian recipes, yes, but I don't find many here. And those I do find are often not very impressive. This is not a soapmaking country, unfortunately. There are soapmakers here, but not in every street, like I imagine it is in America.

The Flott Matfett I use (it was 50% of my last soap), is quite fast moving. Other than that, it is a really good one that makes wonderful soaps in combination with coconut and olive. I do get my butters in the form of shea from that fat. I don't know how much shea it is, since the recipe is secret, but it is more shea than the other ingredients. When I have that, I don't feel I need anything I can't get at the grocery store, other than castor oil to boost bubbles and perhaps some wax to harden it a bit extra. 

I did order soaps from Turkey, from the lady who sold me the soap cutter. Her soaps were just amazing! My goal became to get as good soaps as the ones she made. I don't think about design or look or scent, but the soap in usage, lather etc. I am almost there. Dual lye was the one single factor that suddenly jumped my soap forward to the goal line. That in combination with a higher amount of the lard-alternative worked magic. She does not use dual lye, as I understand. I don't really know what she does other than using palm oil. She also use less castor than I do. But her soaps really bubbles with lots of creamy lather and feels like silk in the hand.


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## karon L adams (Mar 23, 2019)

Soap is like bread. you have a basic set of chemicals needed to create the base result. withon that set are all sorts of variables. 
Bread :Starch, leavening, water Soap: Oil, water, Lye.  After that, you can try different types of each element and a few things to add in as enhancements.

My base recipe was one I referred to as Dr Pepper Soap. Most folks this day wouldn't knwo what that means but in the early days, Dr Pepper was advertised with the 10, 2 and 4 logo. Touted as semi medicinal one, the advertisers said one should take a dose at 10 AM 2PM and 4 PM. for soap, it was my oil recipe. I started with 10 oz palm, 2 oz Olive oil and 4 oz coconut. to that was a cup of water and 2oz by weight of lye. this mixed up nicely in a 32 ounce plastic cup, which I why I called it the "Big Gulp" method of soapmaking. These were the instructions I gave in my basic soap making kits back in the day. I also called it a "One Pound" recipe because it used one pound of oils. and had a shorthand for my recipes that referenced the amount of oil, by weight,t he recipe used. a Dr Pepper Big Gulp batch finished out with around 26 oz by weight of finished soap.

To that base recipe, I could add color, and scent. in that recipe, i could replace the water with other liquids. Milk, juices and so on. and, of course, varying the kinds of oils used for different effects. changing the NaOh to KOH required a recalculation of the weights because the KOH had a different molecular weight. but the base recipe on a molecular level was the same.

Using this small, one pound, big gulp recipe made it excellent for experimenting, too. Knowing what the plain soap with no changes would produce meant that I could easily see the effect the experimental portion gave. that made it all a lot easier in the end.


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