Hi from UK

[SavonP]

Hi, I’ve started my interest in soapmaking back in 2014. I bought books, read, watched YouTube videos but didn’t go any further than that. I’m now finally ready to to make soap. I’ll make my first batch next weekend.
I will admit that I’m very tempted by all the fun looking soaps with different oils. But I’ve decided to start my first batch with the Trinity oils basic recipe on here. I will swap out COand use Babassu because my skin doesn’t react well to CO. I will use lard and OO.

i managed to find 2 1lb silicone bread loaves on Amazon. I’ll just use one for the recipe. How much oil should I base my calculation on for a 1lb loaf?
Thanks for your help and look forward to sharing this new hobby here.

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! What a great idea to start small and with basic recipes. The other stuff looks fun, but it can actually be pretty stressful till you get the basics down. And the basics are fun in and of themselves!

I typically work in grams, so I hope that's not too confusing. One pound is approximately 453 grams total. If you are using a 33% lye concentration, you would start with 310g of oil to have a total batch weight of 452g. You could also start with 300g of oils to give yourself a little more wiggle room due to discrepancies between weight and volume.

The way I figured this out was to put 300g of oil as my batch size in the soap calculator.

Then select 33% lye concentration (or 2:1 water:lye ratio, which is the same thing). The SMF calculator defaults to this, but SoapCalc and some others will default to 38% water-as-percent-of-oils. That isn't typically recommended for CP soap, so be sure to change it if you are using one of those calculators that defaults to that setting.

I left the superfat at 5%, which is fine for beginners. Now, select each of your oils, and put in the percentage for each.

Once that is done, you can see your total recipe weight.

I hope that helps, and enjoy your first soapmaking session!

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum. You can type your recipe into SoapCalc and choose 16 oz for the oil total.

 

[SavonP]

Welcome! What a great idea to start small and with basic recipes. The other stuff looks fun, but it can actually be pretty stressful till you get the basics down. And the basics are fun in and of themselves!

I typically work in grams, so I hope that's not too confusing. One pound is approximately 453 grams total. If you are using a 33% lye concentration, you would start with 310g of oil to have a total batch weight of 452g. You could also start with 300g of oils to give yourself a little more wiggle room due to discrepancies between weight and volume.

The way I figured this out was to put 300g of oil as my batch size in the soap calculator.

Then select 33% lye concentration (or 2:1 water:lye ratio, which is the same thing). The SMF calculator defaults to this, but SoapCalc and some others will default to 38% water-as-percent-of-oils. That isn't typically recommended for CP soap, so be sure to change it if you are using one of those calculators that defaults to that setting.

I left the superfat at 5%, which is fine for beginners. Now, select each of your oils, and put in the percentage for each.

Once that is done, you can see your total recipe weight.

I hope that helps, and enjoy your first soapmaking session!

Thanks AliOop for such a comprehensive reply. I also only use grams but the Amazon product description for the silicones leaves said 1 lb. I never use imperial. I’m in the UL and it’s metric here.

Welcome to the forum. You can type your recipe into SoapCalc and choose 16 oz for the oil total.

Thanks. Will let you know how things go next week.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Hi from a fellow Brit (albeit an expat)

 

[Babyshoes]

Hi and welcome, another UK member here.
Sounds like you're being very sensible for the first batch. I know i was very excited about all the colours and fragrances at first, but I find that often enough these days, I'm using an unfragranced soap in the shower - my skin just really appreciates it.

Once you've formulated your recipe in a soap calculator, post it in a new thread in the beginner section asking for feedback before you go ahead and make it.

Oh and don't forget to come back and show us photos of your first batch, those are always exciting!

In terms of moulds once you're ready to get more of them, I've had some success on soap destash groups on Facebook, and also just on Facebook marketplace in my area. They are also an affordable thing to ask for, when someone wants to buy you a present.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also ask someone who is handy with a saw to make some for you

 

[Cat&Oak]

Welcome Savon!

 

[SavonP]

Hi and welcome, another UK member here.
Sounds like you're being very sensible for the first batch. I know i was very excited about all the colours and fragrances at first, but I find that often enough these days, I'm using an unfragranced soap in the shower - my skin just really appreciates it.

Once you've formulated your recipe in a soap calculator, post it in a new thread in the beginner section asking for feedback before you go ahead and make it.

Oh and don't forget to come back and show us photos of your first batch, those are always exciting!

In terms of moulds once you're ready to get more of them, I've had some success on soap destash groups on Facebook, and also just on Facebook marketplace in my area. They are also an affordable thing to ask for, when someone wants to buy you a present.

Hi ! While browsing the forum, I saw you username a few times and something just told me you were British or maybe an Anglophile. Thanks for the warm welcome.
Yes, I was very tempted by all the different recipes on YouTube, but experience from other things have taught me I’m just better off staring slow, getting to know my ingredients and process better is the way to go.
Thanks for the tip for moulds. Will post how I get on.

 

[SavonP]

Hi ! While browsing the forum, I saw you username a few times and something just told me you were British or maybe an Anglophile. Thanks for the warm welcome.
Yes, I was very tempted by all the different recipes on YouTube, but experience from other things have taught me I’m just better off staring slow, getting to know my ingredients and process better is the way to go.
Thanks for the tip for moulds. Will post how I get on.

Just realised I posted to wrong perdon

 

[SavonP]

Sorry Babyshoes, my reply was meant for efficacious gentleman! Thanks for your welcome.

 

[SavonP]

Hi from a fellow Brit (albeit an expat)

Figured you were a Brit!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Hello & Welcome SavonP

 

[DMack]

Hello from another fellow Brit! Nice to see you. I’m quite new, just one year in, and it’s so much fun, you’ll have a blast. Try the soapery for your oils and butters, reasonable prices, free delivery if use Amazon and I can only say good things about them. I get loads from there. Happy soaping

 

[SavonP]

Hello from another fellow Brit! Nice to see you. I’m quite new, just one year in, and it’s so much fun, you’ll have a blast. Try the soapery for your oils and butters, reasonable prices, free delivery if use Amazon and I can only say good things about them. I get loads from there. Happy soaping

Thanks so much. Will definitely look into the Soapery. I didn’t know about them.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, SavonP!


IrishLass

 

[SavonP]

Thank you. Just that that looong thread on deodorant. Great info!