Advice Re: Soap recipe

[Lucinda]

Hello!
Wondering if an experienced soap maker could enlighten me with regard to a new recipe I found online and want to make tomorrow...
When I run it through Soapcalc, the lye amounts are about the same, but the water is 6oz more on Soapcalc, and the FO is 1oz less than the recipe. Should I follow the recipe or Soapcalc?
Here's the recipe:

Coconut oil 20oz
Olive oil 20oz (usually use virgin, but going to try pomace for the first time)
Rice bran oil 5oz
Avocado oil 5oz
Castor oil 4oz
Shea Butter 5oz
Almond oil 5oz
Milk 9oz
Water 9.5oz (soap calc says 24.32 oz)
Lye 9oz (soap calc says 9.5oz)
Oatmeal 4 Tbsp
Honey 4 Tbsp
FO 3oz (soap calc says 2oz)
So...there's almost 6oz difference in the liquid amount...
Don't want a failed batch! Is there a simple explanation? Does the honey count toward the liquid? So little time...so much to learn!
Thanks in advance!

 

[steffamarie]

The reason for less lye is because they have a slightly higher superfat. It’s up to you which SF you prefer. The reason for the big water difference is probably that they’re using a different lye concentration. 33% is fairly standard. I don’t have access to a calc right now to bang out specifics but I hope that helps [emoji4]

FO recommendation should always be taken from the manufacturer. They’ll give you a percentage that says what is skin safe. SoapCalc only gives a generic recommendation. 5% of your oil weight is a typical FO amount as long as the manufacturer says that it’s safe at that level.

Hope that all makes sense - I’ve just woken up lol

ETA: that seems like a lot of honey. That’s liable to heat up your soap and cause some major issues. Normally I think people stick with 1tsp ppo or so...I’ve only used it once at that rate and had good results.

 

[shunt2011]

Hello!
Wondering if an experienced soap maker could enlighten me with regard to a new recipe I found online and want to make tomorrow...
When I run it through Soapcalc, the lye amounts are about the same, but the water is 6oz more on Soapcalc, and the FO is 1oz less than the recipe. Should I follow the recipe or Soapcalc?
Here's the recipe:

Coconut oil 20oz
Olive oil 20oz (usually use virgin, but going to try pomace for the first time)
Rice bran oil 5oz
Avocado oil 5oz
Castor oil 4oz
Shea Butter 5oz
Almond oil 5oz
Milk 9oz
Water 9.5oz (soap calc says 24.32 oz)
Lye 9oz (soap calc says 9.5oz)
Oatmeal 4 Tbsp
Honey 4 Tbsp
FO 3oz (soap calc says 2oz)
So...there's almost 6oz difference in the liquid amount...
Don't want a failed batch! Is there a simple explanation? Does the honey count toward the liquid? So little time...so much to learn!
Thanks in advance!

First off, that's a really big batch of soap as a beginner. I recommend not making more than a pound or two at a time. That way if it goes wrong or you don't like it you're not out such a large amount of ingredients or money.

Second, I would drop the Coconut to 20-25%, you have over 30%, Also using any oil at less than 10% I don't think is worth it, but you certainly can.

The lye and water are correct with a 33% Lye concentration. Which should work well with your recipe being mostly liquid oils.
Fragrance - I use 1 oz ppo (6% ish). I don't purchase any fragrance that has a lower usage than 5%. With the size of your recipe depending on the FO and it's usage rate I would use 4 oz.

This is the perfect example of why not to copy a recipe found out on the internet. Good for you for checking here first.

 

[DeeAnna]

Shari (shunt) and Steff are batting 1000.

Check your FO and make sure you know the recommended percentage for skin safety. If it's over 6%, I'd follow Shari's advice of scenting at 6%. If the recommended % is under 6%, don't go over that limit.

Your proposed recipe has a whopping 7 fats in it. Wowser! Sounds like the recipe maker is in love with the idea of using a lot of different fats. Maybe that person believes the properties of the fats also carry over into the soap, and that's really not correct.

Go ahead and make the recipe if you have the ingredients -- see what you think about it and save a bar to compare to your later batches, say in a year or so. Understand, however, that you can make stellar soap with only 2 to 4 fats. I think a lot of us enjoy making "everything and the kitchen sink" recipes when we're new soap makers, but many of us adopt the "more complicated isn't necessarily better" philosophy as we get more experience.

 

[lsg]

SoapCalc recommends more liquid than some other lye calculators. It has an automatic 5% superfat and 38% water as oils preset. I suggest using the preset when first starting out. I always follow the lye calculator. I use SoapCalc or Soapmaker 3 to calculate my recipes. You don't need a lot of expensive butters and oils in a soap recipe as soap is a wash off product, anyway. A good start is to make soap with oils available at the supermarket. Olive, Castor, Crisco with palm and coconut is a good start. As suggested, make small, one-pound batches to start. That way if the batch does not turn out as you wish, you haven't a lot of money invested. Perfect a small, basic recipe before investing a lot of money in essential oils, fragrance oils, colorants and additives. I know what a temptation it is to buy those exotic or expensive oils and butters, because I did it when starting out. But take it from the voice of experience, it is much better to practice and perfect a soap that you like by using a lye calculator. Good luck with your soaping adventures.

 

[Lucinda]

Thanks so much to everyone who replied! It took me awhile to find my post....I didn't get a notification that anyone had even responded! Guess I need to take the time to figure out how to navigate this forum.
I'd rather make tried and true simple recipes made with vegetable fats, and I do have one that I use quite often...maybe I'll just add some oatmeal and honey to that one, or else try a half-batch of this one.
I appreciate all of your answers above, and will go back and re-read.
Thanks again!