Additives

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Sep 25, 2024
Messages
15
Reaction score
8
Location
raleigh
I have been using soap Calc but have never used additives . I see that people are saying put additives in your calculations however I only see the additives at the bottom as a note basically. So if you are using the additives as a percent of oils and putting it in the lye water what other calculations are needed. Things can be confusing one says this and one says that. I am a new soapy. Thanks guys !
 
I use soapmaking friend and it has a place to include additives from a list (as well as custom additives you create). You can click the dropdown to decide whether to include it as a percent of oils, percent of water, or percent of batch weight. You can select master-batched lye or dual lye. There is even a box to check that will calculate the extra lye or the liquid discount, as applicable for things like citric acid, vinegar, water replacements, etc.

All that to say, I find it worth the annual subscription fee, because I use a lot of those features. I don't use their inventory/batch feature, although I should. Maybe someday. :)
 
Another SMF user here. Last when I used the free version it let you save 2 recipes, earlier it was only 1. The yearly sub was a gift from a friend - and it was with a sweet discount ‐ so to me, it was worth it
 
It was 5, then they whittled it down to one free one and now it's bumped up to 2.

As a hobby soaper, I don't use enough features to warrant the cost. I print my recipes and keep notes on them. If I want to experiment, I edit an existing recipe and print it out. That way, I don't lose the original recipe while experimenting. As you go along, you'll learn wether you need the other features.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20241002-062508.png
    Screenshot_20241002-062508.png
    255.6 KB
Was it very different back then? Or did it have more or less the same features it has now?
They have added a lot of features over time. For instance, I asked them to add the ability to select "percent of water" for the additive section, and they did. That helps for things like soleseif bars, or making Zany's No-Slime Castile (so you don't have to make a separate batch of the faux sea water).

The mods are fairly responsive over there if you post something on their forum, which is separate from this one.
 
They have added a lot of features over time. For instance, I asked them to add the ability to select "percent of water" for the additive section, and they did. That helps for things like soleseif bars, or making Zany's No-Slime Castile (so you don't have to make a separate batch of the faux sea water).

The mods are fairly responsive over there if you post something on their forum, which is separate from this one.
Another application for the '% of liquid' feature would be when you're using milk powder and you want to mimic the content of fresh milk more closely without extra math, so it's actually fairly useful. Thanks for that!

I wish I had your luck when getting in touch with those guys 😅
 
Another application for the '% of liquid' feature would be when you're using milk powder and you want to mimic the content of fresh milk more closely without extra math, so it's actually fairly useful. Thanks for that!

I wish I had your luck when getting in touch with those guys 😅
Truth be told, it was more the result of nagging than luck, IYKWIM. ;)
 
I see that people are saying put additives in your calculations however I only see the additives at the bottom as a note basically.
Hi @GIGITOM!
I also use soapmaking friend, It's very use friendly in my opinion.
The reason why it's nice to take notes and use additives as % of oil it's too replicate a recipe. And make diferent size batches.

In the beginning we are just to excited making soap. And whatever comes out it's awesome.

As you get more experience and you make a nice bar and you wish to replicate it. You will feel really bad if you didn't take any notes.

Things can be confusing
Yes! Soapmaking friend let's you see what most additives are used for
And usage recommended rates.
Like this:
Screenshot_20241002_171428_Soap Friend.jpg


You can also use that list to Google them like this: Oatmeal in soapmaking . You can learn a lot this way 😉
 
Back
Top