A big blunder:

[Savage Daughter]

Isn't it funny, how differently we can approach the same topic? I'd say that calculating by hand is a lot more advanced than what I do! I've read about the hand-calculation method, but haven't sat down to calculate a recipe by hand yet. The calculators are just too easy!

I have been thinking about this over the past month & calculating by hand is something I feel I should learn. I'm happy to hear someone else is actually doing this.

The internet goes down, power outages happen, computers get viruses, modems & routers flake, all sorts of things occur which can prevent people from using online lye calculators.

Being able to calculate my own lye / water ratios is a skill that, I feel, is important to have. Even though babies lives aren't at risk

That girlfriend sounds interesting LOL

 

[Savage Daughter]

I exactly don't remember where I read . I read in some article yesterday. I will search and send it......

Yes, I also ran across this information on a suppliers website - can't remember which, sorry - saying that adding more than the recommended percentage of rosemary extract AND / OR vitmin E can cause oils to go rancid much faster.

Which is why, although I now have rosemary extract & T-50 vitamin E, I am preferring to add a small sprig of rosemary itself to bottles of oils & shaking them now & then. It won't be overkill, no matter what.

 

[gurmeet]

I don't know exactly which approach is correct since I am a new soap maker. I am getting my results using hand calculations . I found Kevin's approach of calculating lye was different others.

 

[AliOop]

Per @DeeAnna’s Soapy Stuff page on ROE, it does indeed cause rancidity if you use too much.

The amount used is so tiny (.05% of total oil weight) that it should not color your oils. Take careful note of that decimal point; that’s only half a gram per 1000 grams of oil.

@gurmeet that is impressive that you do all those calculations by hand. I am too prone to math mistakes, so calculators are the safe way for me to go. I do have books that can remind me how to do the math in case the Internet goes down when I want to make soap. But usually that means the electricity is also out, and I need that for stickblending, so it's probably never going to happen for me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

From DeeAnna’s Soapy Stuff article on ROE

Thank you! Good to know! I bookmarked it. DeeAnna’s Soapy Stuff article on ROE

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I have been thinking about this over the past month & calculating by hand is something I feel I should learn.

There's not much to learn. You just need to know the % of each FA in the batch and have a hard copy of the SAP values of each oil. As I advised @gurmeet, you may want to have a go at it while calculators are up and running so you can validate your result with what the calc says it should be. You can anticipate some discrepancy due to SAP values vary from one calc to another based on the product they used. I hope that makes sense?

ETA: Ancient History - It's been years ago, but if I remember correctly, I learned to calculate lye by hand from a book on soapmaking by "Dr. Bob" McDaniel that I borrowed from the library:

Essentially Soap by Robert S., Dr. McDaniel (Paperback)
The soapmaker who introduced INS values for making “perfect” soap.

I am preferring to add a small sprig of rosemary itself to bottles of oils & shaking them now & then. It won't be overkill, no matter what.

Haha. Brilliant! Leave it to you to find a DIY for ROE! When you have nothing better to do, you might be interested in this article I found in my files:

SLIPPERY ELM TO PREVENT OIL RANCIDITY

I still have the research I did 20 years ago but I never followed through with trying it. If interested, I can post it in a new thread after I check the links to see if they're still valid.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

The amount used is so tiny (.05% of total oil weight) that it should not color your oils. Take careful note of that decimal point; that’s only half a gram per 1000 grams of oil.

TIP: ROE is highly viscuos. For ease of use, without having to do the calculation, I found this tip online many, many moons ago. I keep the 4 oz amber brown bottle in my soaping box ready to use as needed. I buy 7% ROE from Lotion Crafter.

1 oz. ROE (warmed in a hot water bath to get it moving)
2 oz. Jojoba Oil (long shelf life)
Use 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon PPO (Per Pound Oils)

 

[gurmeet]

Yes, calculators are quite handy but I think I am still making very simple blends since I am at the starting stage of learning . But I wanted to understand the basics first before jumping on to it. What you said above is absolutely the crux of the learning. So I think within my next lot I will definitely be shifting over using scientific soap calcs.

Thanks @AliOop for the DeeAnna's article above.

 

[gurmeet]

Learning about Slippery Elm to prevent rancidity was an eye opener. Will definitely read about it @Zany.
Thanks

 

[gurmeet]

Just an update . The soap had lost its orange colour from outside on the first day itself as you can see in first and third pic . I sliced it through the centre and found it to be still colored from inside as shown in the second pic.
Had I unmolded my soap 2 days later would that have helped ?

 

[Jorah]

I hope not! I accidentally put 3x as much as I should have in a batch yesterday!

Here is the triple-dosage ROE soap... Doesn't look too bad...

 

[gurmeet]

Your soaps look pretty Jorah. Your soap doesn't seem like having any spec of orange line or streak even you specified ROE was 3 times. Can we conclude the colours of your soap are quite dense so we cannot observe? I think with higher content of ROE , soaps are much denser in colour because of intermixing of colours I saw that in a video .

The soap on the right appeals with lavender . Which colors have u added in it since I can see some grains that makes it more eye catchy.

 

[Jorah]

Your soaps look pretty Jorah. Your soap doesn't seem like having any spec of orange line or streak even you specified ROE was 3 times. Can we conclude the colours of your soap are quite dense so we cannot observe? I think with higher content of ROE , soaps are much denser in colour because of intermixing of colours I saw that in a video .

The soap on the right appeals with lavender . Which colors have u added in it since I can see some grains that makes it more eye catchy.

The oval soap is a white base, the only colorant is the ROE. The rectangle soap you can see on the other side is supposed to be blue, it has indigo colorant in it. I wrote more about that in the thread called "What soapy thing have you done today?"

 

[gurmeet]

Strange green: unexpected.
Will go through thread

 

[Savage Daughter]

There's not much to learn. You just need to know the % of each FA in the batch and have a hard copy of the SAP values of each oil. As I advised @gurmeet, you may want to have a go at it while calculators are up and running so you can validate your result with what the calc says it should be. You can anticipate some discrepancy due to SAP values vary from one calc to another based on the product they used. I hope that makes sense?

Yep, makes total sense I just have never gotten around to do this, just like you & slippery elm

ETA: Ancient History - It's been years ago, but if I remember correctly, I learned to calculate lye by hand from a book on soapmaking by "Dr. Bob" McDaniel that I borrowed from the library:

Essentially Soap by Robert S., Dr. McDaniel (Paperback)
The soapmaker who introduced INS values for making “perfect” soap.

I'll look into that. Hopefully it's still in print. I tend to not like a lot of the soap making books in recent years, so the older the books, the more I gravitate towards them as they usually have more practical information.

Haha. Brilliant! Leave it to you to find a DIY for ROE!

It does make sense....a slow, steady, gentle release of the natural components of rosemary leaching out into base oils over time....whole-plant anti-rancidity properties. Whole-plant anything is ALWAYS better as what you are getting in terms of the plant's actives is complete & synergistic That's why willow bark is far more effective & far safer than taking aspirin, for example, unless someone has a raging allergy to it. And in that case, they shouldn't be taking aspirin either.

When you have nothing better to do, you might be interested in this article I found in my files:

SLIPPERY ELM TO PREVENT OIL RANCIDITY

I still have the research I did 20 years ago but I never followed through with trying it. If interested, I can post it in a new thread after I check the links to see if they're still valid.

That sounds very cool....it's after 2AM & I am off to follow the link LOL Thank you I need some good reading after sweating like a farm animal all afternoon, whacking through wild brush & brambles with a machete, hand saw & clippers...the fun never ends up here

 

[Savage Daughter]

OMG I just read that and YES! I am going to be testing this even in my homemade ghee!

The possibilities for this are endless, with food, oils, animal fats, any types of fats at all!

Off to do some more research!