[HELP] Soap making machine

[shakree28]

Hello there! I'm here to ask for help on my final year project.
My group decided to make a soap making machine.
Currently we are planning to do scented yogurt bar soap.
The scent is probably gonna be lavender.
We are definitely new to this soap making process.
We planned to choose the hot process method to do the soap as we need to use some heating process in our project.
Currently we found a recipe from our seniors :

Coconut Oil 1 kg
Palm Oil 2 kg
Lavender 0.55 kg
Sodium Hydroxide 0.45 kg
Yogurt 1 kg

I doubt this recipe is correct. So i'm desperately need your help to me on this recipe formulation. I will post the machines video n pictures if i successfully complete the project. Cheers! :razz:

PS; I need a simple recipe with minimum ingredient. As i need to minimize the usage of ingredient tank for the machine

 

[lsg]

25% coconut
25% palm
50% olive

Run this recipe through a lye calculator such as SoapCalc and plug in the amount of oils you want to use along with the percentages next to each oil choice and click calculate and then the print button. It will list how much lye and liquid to use on the printout.

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp

The rule for using essential oils is about .5oz to 1oz per pound of oils.

 

[shakree28]

25% coconut
25% palm
50% olive

Run this recipe through a lye calculator such as SoapCalc and plug in the amount of oils you want to use along with the percentages next to each oil choice and click calculate and then the print button. It will list how much lye and liquid to use on the printout.

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp

The rule for using essential oils is about .5oz to 1oz per pound of oils.

thanks lsg!
now thats convenient
a question, if i mix the NaOH with the water to make lye solution and store it for some times.. is it going to defect the mixture?
I'm planning to premix the lye solution.. then only when i want to start make the soap i will use it.. is it possible?

 

[lsg]

It is possible to premix your lye solution, just make sure to label it so no one can mistake it and get hurt. If I made a premixed solution, I would probably lock it up, but then I am very careful when it comes to lye.

 

[shakree28]

It is possible to premix your lye solution, just make sure to label it so no one can mistake it and get hurt. If I made a premixed solution, I would probably lock it up, but then I am very careful when it comes to lye.

thank u for the fast respond

I will come here and ask again! Thank you so much :clap:

 

[Robert]

a question, if i mix the NaOH with the water to make lye solution and store it for some times.. is it going to defect the mixture?
I'm planning to premix the lye solution.. then only when i want to start make the soap i will use it.. is it possible?

Not a problem, labs do it all the time, and people even ship standard NaOH solution. Use HDPE with a good cap seal. People also use glass, but it attacks glass--not enough to affect the contents, but enough to "freeze" the joint if the stopper's also glass, making it hard to reopen. By premaking the solution, you'll know its temperature at the time of use, no need to cool it.

 

[shakree28]

Not a problem, labs do it all the time, and people even ship standard NaOH solution. Use HDPE with a good cap seal. People also use glass, but it attacks glass--not enough to affect the contents, but enough to "freeze" the joint if the stopper's also glass, making it hard to reopen. By premaking the solution, you'll know its temperature at the time of use, no need to cool it.

hey thanks for the heads up!
I've made the soap yesterday. Today the soap is still soft-semi-solid (i dont know how to describe it.lol). Is this normal? how long does it takes for the soap to be hardened?
Thanks!

 

[sistrum]

If your soap did not gel it can take awhile to harden. It will also depend on how much water you used. Give it a bit more time.

 

[Robert]

hey thanks for the heads up!
I've made the soap yesterday. Today the soap is still soft-semi-solid (i dont know how to describe it.lol). Is this normal? how long does it takes for the soap to be hardened?
Thanks!

Depends on the size of the cakes. Could be fairly hard in as little as a day with your recipe.

 

[shakree28]

25% coconut
25% palm
50% olive

Run this recipe through a lye calculator such as SoapCalc and plug in the amount of oils you want to use along with the percentages next to each oil choice and click calculate and then the print button. It will list how much lye and liquid to use on the printout.

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp

The rule for using essential oils is about .5oz to 1oz per pound of oils.

by following this recipe, with 1.5kg of those oils, the soap is still not hardened after 1week++. Why is this? TQ.

 

[Stakie]

Did it take shape of the mold you were using? Or is it just soft?

 

[shakree28]

Did it take shape of the mold you were using? Or is it just soft?

yes it is. its soft but quite dry. just like mashed potato...

 

[Stakie]

So it didn't take shape of the mold than? Sorry, hard to understand.

If it's starting to look like mashed potatos maybe it's ricing at a very slow rate?

If it did set in the mold I wold take it out and let it cure some more. It's really a craft of patience.

 

[sistrum]

It sounds like something went wrong. This soap should be plenty hard by now. If you want could you post exactly what you did and include how much water you used and what your superfat was? Maybe we can figure out where it went wrong.

 

[shakree28]

It sounds like something went wrong. This soap should be plenty hard by now. If you want could you post exactly what you did and include how much water you used and what your superfat was? Maybe we can figure out where it went wrong.

Hey there sistrum, sorry for late reply. I was so busy managing my final year project. so for the recipe i followed Isg's suffers recipe. I used the soap calculator function. Is it because of the mold? Maybe i should put the soap out of the mold and let it dry thoroughly?