Hi, I've made two lots of milk Bastille soaps and they are just gorgeous, moisturising and creamy. My only complaint is that they go mushy and disintegrate quickly. Now I realise it is a soft oils soap so the bar would be softer but I soaped at full water count. I've not reduced my water allowance as of yet but I've done a lot of reading on it. I've never tried any other Bastille soap to go off but I'm wondering if they would last longer if I did a steep water discount. I'm thinking 1:1.1 lye to water. Does that sound right? My recipe is milk, olive oil and coconut oil and they cured for 6 wks. Also how do I put that in soap calc, can I reduce the water amount after myself at 38% or should I change it in calc to 1.1:1 water to lye ratio, or some other way. I'm a little confused how to put it in. I'm confident enough to water discount I just need help please, my soap will have no colour or fragrance to worry about. Thanks.
Correct water percentage for Bastille soap
- Thread starter toyah999
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Yes- I would reduce your water amount. Using a full-water amount with a Bastile is just too much, if you ask me.
A ratio of 1 part lye to 1.1 parts water is pretty much a 46% lye solution, so what I would do when you type your recipe in SoapCalc is to click on the Lye Concentration box (instead of clicking on the 'Water as % of Oils' box), and type 46 in the box. Then just fill in the rest of your recipe as normal. When you click on Calculate and then View/Print recipe, it will give you the proper water and lye amounts for a 46% lye solution (i.e. 1:1.1).
IrishLass
A ratio of 1 part lye to 1.1 parts water is pretty much a 46% lye solution, so what I would do when you type your recipe in SoapCalc is to click on the Lye Concentration box (instead of clicking on the 'Water as % of Oils' box), and type 46 in the box. Then just fill in the rest of your recipe as normal. When you click on Calculate and then View/Print recipe, it will give you the proper water and lye amounts for a 46% lye solution (i.e. 1:1.1).
IrishLass
You're welcome! Hope it comes out great! Whenever I make soaps with anywhere from 70% to 100% olive oil, I like to much less water than I do for other soaps. They come out so much better that way.
IrishLass
IrishLass
El_Granado_Loco
Well-Known Member
That and maybe let them cure a little longer too. As long as they keep losing weight, they aren't totally dry yet. I use 60% olive oil and a 1:2 NaOH to water solution in my soaps and have found I have to wait 4 months :shock: in order for them to have a satisfactory longevity. I use very little hard oils though.
Good point! If 100% OO bars need 6 months, 80% OO bars might well benefit from more than 6 weeks.
You also need to make sure the bars can dry thoroughly between uses.
I agree with a reasonably long cure ... and I definitely agree with Obsidian about letting the soap dry well between uses. It's important for any lye soap to dry out, but that goes double for an olive oil soap.
