A Little Resizing Soap Help Please

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TheGecko

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
3,924
Reaction score
7,769
Location
Oregon
Normally I pretty good at this as numbers are my jam, but it's been a really long week and I'm REALLY wanting to make this particular soap (along with some others).

The recipe is Lemon Bars by BrambleBerry. Total batch weight is 62 oz. She uses the BB 12-Bar Silicone Mold 13" x 9.75" x 1.25"; capacity is 58.8 oz. Cavities are 2.6" x 2.75" x 1.25" and hold 4.9 oz. Obviously there is waste; 62 - 58.8 = 3.2 oz not to mention that that woman couldn't scape out a bowl if her life depended on it.

The mold I want to use is the BB 9-Bar Birchwood Mold. I have two...one with the Silicone Liner and the other I will line with freezer paper. The mold is 11.2" x 2" x 3.4", capacity is 2-3 lbs. The cavities are 3" x 2" x 2" with no capacity listed. It would have been nice to have a little more detail on capacity with and without the inserts in the description, but I found some additional information under Q &A. It says 40 oz w/Liner and Inserts, 50 oz w/Liner and 60 oz w/Freezer Paper. This doesn't make sense if the capacity of the mold is 32 oz to 48 oz.

I suppose I could do what I usually do...weigh the mold, fill it with water and weigh again. Subtract the mold weight and then multiply times 93% (density of oil in comparison to water) and cross my fingers. If there is a more accurate way, I would love to learn it.

Thank you in advance.
 
numbers crows GIF by netflixlat
 
Normally I pretty good at this as numbers are my jam, but it's been a really long week and I'm REALLY wanting to make this particular soap (along with some others).

The recipe is Lemon Bars by BrambleBerry. Total batch weight is 62 oz. She uses the BB 12-Bar Silicone Mold 13" x 9.75" x 1.25"; capacity is 58.8 oz. Cavities are 2.6" x 2.75" x 1.25" and hold 4.9 oz. Obviously there is waste; 62 - 58.8 = 3.2 oz not to mention that that woman couldn't scape out a bowl if her life depended on it.

The mold I want to use is the BB 9-Bar Birchwood Mold. I have two...one with the Silicone Liner and the other I will line with freezer paper. The mold is 11.2" x 2" x 3.4", capacity is 2-3 lbs. The cavities are 3" x 2" x 2" with no capacity listed. It would have been nice to have a little more detail on capacity with and without the inserts in the description, but I found some additional information under Q &A. It says 40 oz w/Liner and Inserts, 50 oz w/Liner and 60 oz w/Freezer Paper. This doesn't make sense if the capacity of the mold is 32 oz to 48 oz.

I suppose I could do what I usually do...weigh the mold, fill it with water and weigh again. Subtract the mold weight and then multiply times 93% (density of oil in comparison to water) and cross my fingers. If there is a more accurate way, I would love to learn it.

Thank you in advance.
Sorry, i dont have an answer to your question. But i made these and am not thrilled, although the FO for that project is phenomenal smelling.

You might have better luck. Its not very bubbly, so you might want to add sugar and castor oil. I made it twice, and it accelerated both times ending up in the plop plop technique.

And the TD sprinkle on top is messy lol.
 
You might have better luck. Its not very bubbly, so you might want to add sugar and castor oil. I made it twice, and it accelerated both times ending up in the plop plop technique.

And the TD sprinkle on top is messy lol.

So maybe use my own recipe and fill my molds with water and go from there. I was going to mixed a little TD with some white sparkle mica.
 
These are my two tries. im sure you would do better with the pours. The more yellow one is following the recipe to a tee. Also, it was one of my earlier recipes, so keep that in mind. The second one, i did later on with a little more knowledge, less yellow mica, because i didnt like the yellow as it cured on the first one. Both still were hard to put in the cavity molds with a layer imo.

The soap feels nice. Its not bubbly at all.
 

Attachments

  • C36D6086-54DC-42CC-85CD-038C2303E522.jpeg
    C36D6086-54DC-42CC-85CD-038C2303E522.jpeg
    97.2 KB
  • 175BB468-8A60-466D-9A73-EAC6DB247A7A.jpeg
    175BB468-8A60-466D-9A73-EAC6DB247A7A.jpeg
    180.9 KB
  • 7D0DC2E8-BC76-4333-96A0-A35D87F280D8.jpeg
    7D0DC2E8-BC76-4333-96A0-A35D87F280D8.jpeg
    92 KB
Silicone Liner: Multiply the INTERNAL Width X Length X Height of ONE cavity with the silicone liner inserted, then multiply that number by the number of cavities. This will give you the volume in cubic inches with the silicone liner/divider inserted.

Freezer paper lined (I'm assuming you'll be using as a slab mold then): Multiply the INTERNAL Width X Length X Height. This will give you the volume in cubic inches of the mold "box".

Multiply each of these volumes in cubic inches by .5541 to give you the total volume in ounces.


Edited to add: Advertised soap mold capacities flabbergast me too, so I started making my own molds for just that reason! LOL
 
Last edited:
If there is a more accurate way, I would love to learn it.

Quick and dirty, 1 bar = 3x2x2 (assuming you want 2 inch thick bars).

3x2x2 = 12 cubic inches (ci)
Scale up to 9 bars 12 x 9 = 108 ci.

Using a 33% lye concentration, the oil weight to volume conversion factor is .399 or to simplify .4

So, .4 * 108 = 43.2 oz of oil

Brambleberry gives you the % of each item so,

Mango = 43.2 x .025 = 2.16 oz
Olive = 43.2 x .400 = 17.28 oz
Palm = 43.2 x .250 = 10.8 oz
Coconut = 43.2 x .250 = 10.8 oz
Jojoba = 43.2 x .025 = 2.16 oz

Just toss these numbers into Soapmakingfriend.com.

Here's a link to the recipe to get you started ===>brambleberry lemon 9 bar mold 3x2x2-in

If you want to reduce the bar thickness, reduce the recipe proportionally, recalculate and run the numbers through Soapmakingfriend again.
eg.
1 inch thick = oil weight * .5.
1.5 inch thick = oil weight * .75.
 
Silicone Liner: Multiply the INTERNAL Width X Length X Height of ONE cavity with the silicone liner inserted, then multiply that number by the number of cavities. This will give you the volume in cubic inches with the silicone liner/divider inserted.

Freezer paper lined (I'm assuming you'll be using as a slab mold then): Multiply the INTERNAL Width X Length X Height. This will give you the volume in cubic inches of the mold "box".

Multiply each of these volumes in cubic inches by .5541 to give you the total volume in ounces.


Edited to add: Advertised soap mold capacities flabbergast me too, so I started making my own molds for just that reason! LOL
I use this calculation for all of my molds and it always shocks me how accurately it fills my molds. I mean it’s math... so it shouldn’t amaze me so much as I pour my soap, but sadly IT DOES.
 
I think I wrote on the bottom of one mold how much oil it takes to fill the mold or at least I wrote some notes, but maybe not what you want to know, I always inserted the dividers when I used that mold after pouring my batter.
 
I'm not good at math so I just make it and keep extra molds on the side to fill if there is extra. However I do want to say I made this recipe and I really didn't like it. The lather and bubbles are non-existent. It's fine for your skin I guess but it just doesn't have soap appeal.
 
I think I wrote on the bottom of one mold how much oil it takes to fill the mold or at least I wrote some notes, but maybe not what you want to know, I always inserted the dividers when I used that mold after pouring my batter.

Didn't think to look. 52oz. Thank you.
 
However I do want to say I made this recipe and I really didn't like it. The lather and bubbles are non-existent. It's fine for your skin I guess but it just doesn't have soap appeal.

Well crap...what am I going to do with Mango Butter and Jojoba Oil now?
 
I used those mold when I was fairly new at soaping and not for long so I do not guarantee the amount is exact. Have some little overflow molds handy just in case. 🤪 🤪 🤪

I will. I didn't make any soap yesterday. We're moving the office and so I am working from home...sort of. I get to do payroll and it comes in from the clients here and there throughout the day. Normally not a problem...just check my email at least once an hour, but I had an uncooperative client. It would have been 100% her fault if her payroll hadn't go in on time, but she can be a 'karen' if you know what I mean. With the clock ticking down, I was finally forced to run...pissed me off. I let her know that I would not being it again...she needed to change her pay date or she needed to answer her darn emails and texts!

At least for next week, the clients are easier to deal with and I'll have plenty of time to play with my new molds.

ETA - The blocked word was dam with a 'n'...don't want anything to think it was worse. I have changed it to a verb for sock repair.
 
Last edited:
I will. I didn't make any soap yesterday. We're moving the office and so I am working from home...sort of. I get to do payroll and it comes in from the clients here and there throughout the day. Normally not a problem...just check my email at least once an hour, but I had an uncooperative client. It would have been 100% her fault if her payroll hadn't go in on time, but she can be a 'karen' if you know what I mean. With the clock ticking down, I was finally forced to run...pissed me off. I let her know that I would not being it again...she needed to change her pay date or she needed to answer her **** emails and texts!

At least for next week, the clients are easier to deal with and I'll have plenty of time to play with my new molds.
Yep, I know what you mean! We had one office gal that would at times make a mistake and try to blame it on the payroll service. They were kind enough to accommodate, but it would always be her fault. Our stupid partner used to think it was funny and comment it is only a payroll service.

I hope my numbers at least come close.
 
I'm not good at math so I just make it and keep extra molds on the side to fill if there is extra. However I do want to say I made this recipe and I really didn't like it. The lather and bubbles are non-existent. It's fine for your skin I guess but it just doesn't have soap appeal.
Thats interesting. @Catscankim said the same thing. On the calc it is a17 on the “bubble meter” lol. I wonder if jojoba oil causes that. I’ve never used it. Or that and a combination of relatively high OO?
 
Normally I pretty good at this as numbers are my jam, but it's been a really long week and I'm REALLY wanting to make this particular soap (along with some others).

The recipe is Lemon Bars by BrambleBerry. Total batch weight is 62 oz. She uses the BB 12-Bar Silicone Mold 13" x 9.75" x 1.25"; capacity is 58.8 oz. Cavities are 2.6" x 2.75" x 1.25" and hold 4.9 oz. Obviously there is waste; 62 - 58.8 = 3.2 oz not to mention that that woman couldn't scape out a bowl if her life depended on it.

The mold I want to use is the BB 9-Bar Birchwood Mold. I have two...one with the Silicone Liner and the other I will line with freezer paper. The mold is 11.2" x 2" x 3.4", capacity is 2-3 lbs. The cavities are 3" x 2" x 2" with no capacity listed. It would have been nice to have a little more detail on capacity with and without the inserts in the description, but I found some additional information under Q &A. It says 40 oz w/Liner and Inserts, 50 oz w/Liner and 60 oz w/Freezer Paper. This doesn't make sense if the capacity of the mold is 32 oz to 48 oz.

I suppose I could do what I usually do...weigh the mold, fill it with water and weigh again. Subtract the mold weight and then multiply times 93% (density of oil in comparison to water) and cross my fingers. If there is a more accurate way, I would love to learn it.

Thank you in advance.
I totally love what @Ishone did above - and IMO, I would definitely add sugar (powdered makes more bubbles I think) and maybe even a titch Castor Oil.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top