I haven't made cold process yet, ive only made melt & pour so far. I know how to use the soap calc, i just didn't realise i'd need to if i have TheGecko's recipe in front of me, that's why i asked how much water.
I take it that you should put all recipes though the calculator?
How much water you would you would be determined by the size of your batch. You will note that I gave you the recipe in percentages as opposed to weights because I don't know how much soap you want to make. And you may want to go with a higher or lower Lye Concentration...33% is what I typically use, but I go up to 35% during the rainy season.
EVERY recipe should be put through a Soap Calculator...doesn't matter if it is given in percentages or weights because people aren't perfect...which is why, even though I can give you my recipe in my sleep, I have it saved as a text file so I can copy/paste it. If the recipe is in percentages, you want to make sure that the Total is 100. If I had mistyped Olive Oil at 30%, you would get a popup that says that the Total doesn't not equal 100%, to Adjust by 5%. Or maybe you typed it in as 30%; either way you know that there is something wrong.
If the recipe is in weight, what you a checking for is that the Water and Sodium Hydroxide weights are appropriate. Example...let's say I gave you my recipe in weight to make a 20oz batch of soap:
4.90 oz Olive Oil
2.80 oz Coconut Oil
2.80 oz Palm Oil
1.40 oz Cocoa Butter
1.40 oz Shea Butter
0.70 oz Castor Oil
3.93 oz Distilled Water
2.93 oz Sodium Hydroxide
3/4 tea Sodium Lactate
3/4 tea Kaolin Clay
Because I'm obviously an experienced soap maker held in gawd-like awe by my peers, you don't hesitate to print out my recipe and make your very first batch of Cold Process Soap and can't wait to wash your precious newborn baby in it.
Except.
You just made a very dangerous batch of soap.
Had you run the recipe through a Soap Calculator FIRST, you would have found that I had typed the wrong amount for Sodium Hydroxide...the correct amount should have been 1.93 oz and I told you 2.93 oz. That much Lye would have burned your baby's skin.
I would like to say that I am grossly exaggerating the danger of
not running recipes through a
soap calculator, but I'm not because it only takes one time. Regardless of whether you are using a 33% Lye Concentration or a 40% Lye Concentration or a 50% Lye Concentration...the amount of Sodium Hydroxide will ALWAYS remain the same; only the amount of water will change. Most of the time, recipes are fairly spot on...there might be a tenth or a hundredth off and I just go with what the Soap Calculator says.
If it is the oils/butters that are off...that is where experience comes in. And if you make any substitutions, always run the new recipe. And ALWAYS...when in doubt...do NOT use the recipe.
.