Figuring out Recipe amounts

[Chappyk]

Hello, I am new and hate math. I am trying to figure out a basic soap recipe for a 5 LB mold using only Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, and Palm Oils. I will be using activated charcoal for a colorant and Anise Oil for an EO. What perplexes me is how to figure out the percentages on a lye calculator. For instance the one on http://naturalsoapboutique.com/soapcalculator/ asks you to enter in the amount of OZs you will be using. Well how do you already know the amount of anything you will be using if you do not know how much of what goes into a recipe? Im sorry if it is supposed to be easy...just new to this.

 

[Obsidian]

Try http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp you can put in your percentages and then how much total oil you want to use and it will give you the amounts of each oil in ounces and grams.
Takes a bit to learn it at first but it really is simple once you figure it out. Its also the most commonly used calc by members on here.

 

[Lion Of Judah]

hi chappyK :
is this your own personal recipe you are creating? or is this a recipe that already exist/someone else recipe? if its your own then to a degree only you know what you want in your soap per-centage wise. it helps as well as to know what characteristics each and every oil brings to your soap. understanding that frees you up to make your own type soap. just manipulating those three oils can give you two to three different types of soap maybe more .
1. what are you looking for in your bar of soap...
2. how much conditioning
3.how much bubbly
4.how much creaminess

here is a link that will help you to understand what i mean about characteristics:
http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/

if its a plain case of math then its somewhat simple but it will still come down to what you want for your soap. soapcalc.net is a good calculator to learn and use , it give you an idea of the characteristics you getting without mixing anything until you are ready.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I'm with Obsi on this one. Another good thing about SoapCalc is that you can put in % and it gives you the weight, or you put in the weights (from a set recipe, for example) and it gives you the % so you can then change the batch size. Takes all the stress out of it.

 

[Susie]

I hated SoapCalc to begin with. I tried every other lye calculator before finally forcing myself to sit down and learn it. It took me about 5 whole minutes to get the hang of it.

If you will click the "view or print recipe" button on the bottom after you put your oils in, you will see below the water, lye, oils, and fragrance lines a line that says "Soap weight before CP cure or HP cook" that will tell you exactly how much you are going to get.

But to tell you the truth, I would start with a 2 lb batch of soap before making anything on the order of 5 lb. You have a big learning curve ahead of you, and that is a big waste of oils to make 5 lbs at once. Not to mention grating for rebatching is an easier job when it is 2 lb than 5 lb.

 

[Chappyk]

I hated SoapCalc to begin with. I tried every other lye calculator before finally forcing myself to sit down and learn it. It took me about 5 whole minutes to get the hang of it.

If you will click the "view or print recipe" button on the bottom after you put your oils in, you will see below the water, lye, oils, and fragrance lines a line that says "Soap weight before CP cure or HP cook" that will tell you exactly how much you are going to get.

But to tell you the truth, I would start with a 2 lb batch of soap before making anything on the order of 5 lb. You have a big learning curve ahead of you, and that is a big waste of oils to make 5 lbs at once. Not to mention grating for rebatching is an easier job when it is 2 lb than 5 lb.

Thank you guys. I will probably start with a 2 lb recipe. I was able to borrow one that has these amounts.....10% Castor Oil, 60% Olive Oil, and 30% Coconut Oil. Do I just plug those percentages into a lye calculator to get the amount of lye and the amount of each oil in oz? Or am I still missing something?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

You're spot on - in SoapCalc, you put in the total amount of oils (in this case, 2lb) and the % of each oil and hit calculate - it will let you know the full details.

Spiffing!

 

[Seawolfe]

Thank you guys. I will probably start with a 2 lb recipe. I was able to borrow one that has these amounts.....10% Castor Oil, 60% Olive Oil, and 30% Coconut Oil. Do I just plug those percentages into a lye calculator to get the amount of lye and the amount of each oil in oz? Or am I still missing something?

Yes, you just plug those percentages in, make sure your other numbers are right (for a 2 lb batch the oil weight should be around 60-66% of a 2 lb batch so just keep changing the weight of the total oils until the final calculation on the next page for the total soap weight is around 2 lbs - I think I use 24-25 Oz total oils for a 2 lb batch).

I would recommend bringing the castor oil down closer to 5% - from what Ive read, more of it makes a sticky bar. And 5% makes it nice and bubbly. Some people don't like more than 20% coconut oil, but I quite like it up to 30% as long as the superfat gets bumped to 8-10%. My go-to bastile recipe at the moment is 70% OO, 25% Coconut and 5% castor oil at 8% superfat, but you might like it a bit different.

 

[Susie]

I am with the lower the castor oil to 5% vote. Also, how do you feel about lard? Lard makes a lovely soap when combined with CO and OO.