Can I get thoughts on my first soap making attempt?

[Saltynuts]

I used pure canola oil as just a cheap first attempt. I used the calculator here:

Lye Calculator and Fragrance Calculator
Which for 16 ounces canola oil gave me 2.07 oz lye and 4.63 ounces of distilled water.
I translated those to ml, which were 473 ml of canola oil, 61 ml lye and 137 ml distilled water.
I made the lye water in a beaker separately, no issue at all, got warm of course, let it cool.
I put the oil in a beaker and put it in a pot on the stove with water and boiled water on lowish heat.
Below is a pic right after I poured the lye water in.
Heat got above 200F, but I turned heat down to try and keep it a bit below 200F.
I kept blending it using a stick blender. Over and over and over.
I was probably in the heat 30 to 45 min.
Then I poured it in a McDonald's plastic soft drink cup.
Pictures below.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I am all ears!!! Some questions on my end:
1. The lye was a solid - like little pebbles. I always thought scales could measure grams, milligrams, etc. of solids, but no liters, millileaters, etc? But my scale had setting for ml. So I used said 61ml. Any issue here?
2. I think I should have covered it to prevent water evaporation. Sound right? What does too little or too much water do to the soap?
3. When should I take it out of the McDonald's plastic cup and cut it? And it should cure for at least 2 weeks before using, no?
It sure smells nice, even though I did not add any smells to it!
Thanks for any help!!!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I would personally switch to grams for all weights and no ml. Your concerns about the lye are spot on - you are pouring a solid which wil have gaps between the lumps, but the scale thinks it is a liquid with no gaps! Now, does that mean that your lye amount in this case is so far out that it will be a problem? Not necessarily. But it could have been, which is why I suggest sticking to one unit for everything. The good lye calculators will show you a recipe in grams, even for the water and liquid oils, so there is no conversion needed

Evaporation is actually something that you want to happen (just don't try to force it too much!) so don't cover the mould.

As for cutting it, cut it when it is firm enough to handle but still not totally hard. And when to use it.......? Are you looking for "safe to use" or "ready to use"? It'll be safe at 2 weeks (assuming the recipe is good and you made it correctly) but it will be much better if you leave it longer. How it performs at 2 weeks is a bit of a bad example of how it could end up being, especially as you're new to soaping

 

[Catscankim]

one gram = one ml = one cc. Although I have never seen a scale measure one ml or cc because I think that is volume vs weight, but a ml will alway weigh the same as a gram... And if you are metrically challenged as I am, and have a calculator on your watch just for conversions, stick to one measurement for your soaping. I prefer grams (as metrically challenged as I am) and I think that many soapers here go even further to fractions of grams. But I just do all my measurements in grams so everything is the same.

Except my fragrance cause I get lazy with that. I buy 4oz bottles of fo and most are safe at 6%, which for 1000g oils, that equals 60 grams of fo, or roughly around 2 ounces of oil, so I round it out so I get two batches out of one bottle of fragrance.

Hopefully someone else jumps in on the McDees cups because I wonder about the wax in the cups affecting your soap, although your batter looks lovely.

Welcome to soaping!!

 

[earlene]

one gram = one ml = one cc. Although I have never seen a scale measure one ml or cc because I think that is volume vs weight, but a ml will alway weigh the same as a gram... And if you are metrically challenged as I am, and have a calculator on your watch just for conversions, stick to one measurement for your soaping. I prefer grams (as metrically challenged as I am) and I think that many soapers here go even further to fractions of grams. But I just do all my measurements in grams so everything is the same.

No, one gram does NOT always equal one milliliter. Not even for water, except when certain criteria are met. Fresh water (not salt water), at 4° Celsius, has a density of 0.9998395 grams/ml. So, one must keep in mind that density changes with temperature. But also the density can vary between substances. Not all liquids have the same density as water at the same temperature.

A ml measures the space that a liquid substance takes up (volume). A gram measures the weight of a substance, which incidentally may not even be a liquid, but a solid substance (such as dry sodium hydroxide).

Weigh a gram of feathers: Put it into a volume measuring cup and it takes up a whole lot more space than a milliliter measure.

But just to name a few liquids that I have personally dealt with in my lifetime, here are some examples of when one ml is NOT equal to a gram:

One mL of iodine weight 4.927 grams.

One mL of acetone (nail polish remover, anyone?) weighs 0.7846 of a gram.

One mL of mercury (remember those mercury thermometers?) weights 13.59 grams.

Check out this conversion tool: Formaldehyde Mass Volume Converter -- EndMemo


And NaOH is a completely different story when it comes to converying grams to ML, particularly because the result can be devastating due to the inaccuracy of assuming your equation's method!

16 ounces canola oil gave me 2.07 oz lye and 4.63 ounces of distilled water.
I translated those to ml, which were 473 ml of canola oil, 61 ml lye and 137 ml distilled water.

Since you have a scale that can weigh in mass, and you used a calculator that gives weights, you should stick to weights, NOT volume measurements. ML measures volume, not weight and for soapmaking, you should be using weight. Even if your scale has volume as an option, it is not going to give you reliable results for soap.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I am all ears!!! Some questions on my end:
1. The lye was a solid - like little pebbles. I always thought scales could measure grams, milligrams, etc. of solids, but no liters, millileaters, etc? But my scale had setting for ml. So I used said 61ml. Any issue here?

Yes there is an issue! How did you arrive at 61 ml for 2.07 ounces of lye? It should be 27.55 mL, if you are weighing NaOH (sodium hydroxide, aka caustic soda). The weight in grams should be 58.7 grams of NaOH.


See this conversion tool: Weight to Volume conversions for select substances and materials

As mentioned above by @The Efficacious Gentleman, switching to grams rather than ounces, will give you more accuracy when calculating your soap formula. And stick to weight in grams for all ingredients in your soap. Everything, including fragrances (NOT ml), oils, (not volume), lye (solids should not ever be measured by volume when making soap).


ETA:

Regarding when to remove from the plastic cup to cut, wait a couple of days or more, until it is firm like cheddar cheese consistency. It may be difficult to remove; if so, just cut into the plastic cup and peel it off. Then let the soap rest on a soap safe surface (a plastic cutting board or even a piece of cardboard) for several hours or a couple of more days to let the air & time facilitate the soap getting a bit firmer before cutting.

 

[TheGecko]

ALWAYS use weight NOT volume…grams or ounces; many soap makers use grams (I’m old so I use ounces). And so long as your are making small batches, it is acceptable to use teaspoons and tablespoons for colorants and dry additives since it can be difficult to weight such small amounts without an additional scale.

Lye is naturally solid…flakes or pearls. You really don’t need to cover it if you are going to use it within a few hours, if not you should once it cools down. You do want to make sure that it is fully dissolved.

You don’t need to heat your soft oils so long as they are at room temperature (assuming you are making cold process soap). A good soaping temp for a new soaper is around 100F - 110F. Let your Lye Solution cool to around 120F and add to your room temp oils and you’ll be fine.

Soap can typically be removed anywhere between 18 and 48 hours depending on recipe and room temp. Give it 24 hours and then press the top of the soap…does it feel firm like a medium cheddar cheese? If so, remove and cut into portions. If not, give it another day. One cut, your soap should cure for a bare minimum of four weeks, six is better.

 

[Saltynuts]

Thanks everyone! I think from what everyone has said is that I measured the oil on VOLUME, not weight. So here is the exact calculator I used:

https://www.brambleberry.com/calculator?calcType=lye
This was me going by ounces, plugging in 2% superfat, and using 16 oz of oil. It spit out 2.07 ounces of lye and 4.63 ounces of water. Using google I converted those ounces to:

473 ml of oil (volume)

59 grams of lye (weight) (not sure why I listed 61 in my OP, or if I got it wrong originally)

137 ml of water (volume)


SO, what I have learned (I think) is that soap calculations always go by weight, not volume.

For the water, is it safe to assume that 137 ml of water is 137 grams of water? I use distilled water after all.

For the lye, I think the 59 grams is correct (although earlene you listed a very slightly different number, maybe slightly different assumptions?) - it is weight the way it should be.

The big screw-up was the oil. Using 473 ml of oil was NOT correct. 1 ml of canola oil weights .92 grams apparently. The 473 should have been grams, so I divide that by .92 and I get 514 grams. So I should have used 514 ml, not 473.

Does that all sound right now?

By the way, does anyone have a particular soap calculator they like? Not sure if the one I used above is a good one.

Thanks!!!

 

[TheGecko]

There is nothing wrong with the BB calculator, it's simply a matter of person preference and then sticking with it as they all have some kind of variable to them. I use SoapCalc.net myself, mainly because that is the one I started with. Like any calculator, it has it's Pros and Cons. Perhaps the biggest one is in saving recipes. You are limited to 12 which can be a problem if you have multiple recipes. It stores them as 'cookies' on your device or computer so no sharing across devices and no cleaning out your cookies or you lose them. And it only saves the base recipe...nothing else. A lot of folks use SMF Calculator because of those Cons. With SMF Calculator you create an account so you can log in across devices and have access. You can easily 'search' for Oils, Fats and Water. You can add in your Additives, put in the name of your Fragrance, includes Notes and an Image and it's saved.

Again, lots of different Calculators to choose from...play around, find the one that works FOR you.

Most important is using weight, not volume when it comes to your ingredients (some small exceptions). As you found out, the physical amount of oils differs between volume and weight. Water is the only thing that I have found in which the weight and the volume are the same.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Ive grown to love Soapmaking calculator its the only one I use' @ first it seamed hard to understand but the more familiar I become w/ soaping the calc become easier to understand. I think its much more accurate w/ lots of add-on ingredient choices then the few other ones Ive tried.