# Determining TFM is handmade soaps



## Lankan (Jul 20, 2018)

Hi, First thing got me into soap making was, me failing to answer the meaning of the abbreviation "TFM" at a school quiz competition. After nearly 15 years I accidentally came across the meaning and got hooked up to soap making. So far I've made two batches of soap, one batch of hard bar soap and the other one was liquid soap. Part of the world where I live, it is very difficult to find supplies, especially KOH and essential oils. Little by little I've accumulated tools,chemicals and oils to do a decent job. So my progress is slower than many of you. 

So Getting back to the topic, having made some soaps, I got back to thinking what would be the TFM values of the soaps that I've made, more specifically the TFM value of the bar soap. I found a very complicated approach detailed in Quora, which a layman soap-maker like me would not be able to do. 

So, I would appreciate if you can advise on any easier ways to calculate the TFM% (Total Fatty Material) of the soaps. Are there any calculators which can give out the TFM value based on the recipe.?


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## earlene (Jul 20, 2018)

Here is a TFM calculator:  https://www.easycalculation.com/chemistry/tfm-calculator.php

Here is another site where you can choose a calculator for handmade soap or one for industrially manufactured soap:  http://www.soapworld.biz/soapcalc.html

If you choose the Industrial Calculator, it does give the TFM for whatever formula you plug into the calculator, but the measurements are in kilograms, as a opposed to what we normally use (grams rather than kg for handmade soaps).  I tried it with pure olive oil soap (using 1 kg of oil) at 40% lye concentration and the result was 71.38%. 

Here is a previous thread at SMF on TFM: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/tfm-of-soap.58475/


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