How To Use Soap Calc Tutorial

[skayc1]

I was intimidated by this lye calculator, until I watch a video someone made explaining that, in adding oils in percentages, I was checking to see the quality of the bars. someone told me this calculator does not take in consideration that olive oil makes a hard bar of soap, is this true? Also how impotant is it to keep the iodine within the range?

 

[not_ally]

Skayc, take soapcalc with a big pinch of salt. It is invaluable for calculating lye, and water percentages if you are math challenged like me. And maybe good when you are just really starting out, just to get a sense of what does what. But after that it is really better to use your own knowledge/research/experience/observation of what the different oils/fatty acids do, and what *you* want in the soap. IMO, anyway. Eg, no one would ever make a salt bar if they looked at the soapcalc nos.

 

[JayDSoaper]

I've only made 4 batches of soap so far and was able to use the SoapCalc.net website. It's a great tool and the overview you gave was great. But I have one question for the more experienced soapers. What is the best way to determine the amount of oils you need to generate the right amount of soap to fit the molds you are using. I have found it difficult at times to resize some of the recipes I've used. Is it really just a matter of knowing the total volume of the mold and working through the weight of each of the ingredients? Any short cut tips? Thanks.

 

[Arimara]

I've only made 4 batches of soap so far and was able to use the SoapCalc.net website. It's a great tool and the overview you gave was great. But I have one question for the more experienced soapers. What is the best way to determine the amount of oils you need to generate the right amount of soap to fit the molds you are using. I have found it difficult at times to resize some of the recipes I've used. Is it really just a matter of knowing the total volume of the mold and working through the weight of each of the ingredients? Any short cut tips? Thanks.

I think using the search tool would prove more useful. someone very recently posted a thread about the same thing you're asking about.

Edit: look here

 

[jod58]

Good question?

 

[DeeAnna]

What question are you asking about, Jod58? There are a lot of questions asked here, so context is important.

If it's the question about the amount of oils to fill a mold, click the link that Arimara kindly provided. If you have further questions about that topic, ask them in that thread or start a new thread. You'll get better answers.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

What is the best way to determine the amount of oils you need to generate the right amount of soap to fit the molds you are using.

TIP: Weight of Oils/Fat X 1.37 = Weight of Soap

So my standard recipe uses 60 oz oils:
60 oz X 1.37 = 82 oz soap (rounded)

Working backward, I have a mold that holds 40 oz soap:
40 oz / 1.37 = 29 oz. oils/fats

There are variables that come into play, of course, but this gives you a base line to work with. With experience, you'll learn exactly how much oils/fats to use to fill any given mold with soap.

HTH :bunny:
​

 

[Quri]

awesome info, thanks!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

awesome info, thanks!

Hiya Quri, and Welcome!

TIP: When responding to a post in a thread like this, it's best to click "Quote" in the lower right corner of the post you are responding to and then write your comment below that. I'm not sure whether you are thanking me (in which case I gave you a "like") -- or to the thread in general (in which case the OP -- Original Poster) might give you a like.

HTH :bunny:
​

 

[Mae01]

I had to learn the formulas to figure it out for myself. Soap calc started giving me an error message when trying to get to the lye and water amounts. Disappointing because I always loved that site.

 

[DianaMoon]

Is there a soap calculator that allows you to factor in both KOH and NaOH? Soap Calc allows you to do 90% KOH but what if you want to do 60/40? (Yes, I'm thinking of trying a shaving soap...this is becoming addictive.)

 

[artemis]

I think soapee does?

 

[earlene]

Is there a soap calculator that allows you to factor in both KOH and NaOH? Soap Calc allows you to do 90% KOH but what if you want to do 60/40? (Yes, I'm thinking of trying a shaving soap...this is becoming addictive.)

Yes, I use soapee: http://soapee.com/calculator for dual lye soap recipes.

 

[DianaMoon]

Yes, I use soapee: http://soapee.com/calculator for dual lye soap recipes.

Many thanks.

 

[justrambling]

Thank you so much for this post! I was so confused about how to use the calculator. LOL! Your explanation really helped me go step by step and figure it out. Now I can figure out how to change some oils etc, in recipes.

 

[Cherrydene soapy]

I have found this thread so informative thank you everyone for you input

When working out my amount of oils for my mould I used this calculation :
Internal measurements of mould
W x H x L = in square x 0.4 = amount of oz needed
Example:
Mould size: W 2.75 in x H 3 in x L 10.25 in = 84.56 in square
84.56 x 0.4 = 33.82 oz
You could round it up to 34 oz
I hope this helps

 

[Zany_in_CO]

When working out my amount of oils for my mould I used this calculation

Or... you can use this link... it does the calculation for you:
http://summerbeemeadow.com/sites/all/sbm_calc_input/calc_input_page_1.1.html

See your calculated recipe with correct alkali amount and minimum water needed. Then use our Recipe Resizer to fit your mold, rectangular or round.

 

[LaToya]

Alright I am so confused at this moment... (maybe it is just a moment) but I need help. Am I overlooking on the SoapCalc where you include your additives or is there no place for them? I noticed on Soapmakingfriend.com its clear where to put EVERYTHING. Which Calc do you all use the most?

 

[Meena]

I use soapcalc, but there isn't a place for additives. I saw that they added all that to soapmakingfriend yesterday, and was a little confused about why, but I haven't spent a lot of time looking at 'friend' yet. I think it's not really necessary for the calculators to include additives.

If your additives are liquid, like using aloe vera liquid or gel, people use that in place of all or part of the water, but the total amount of "water" (whether water, milk, aloe, etc) stays the same.

The powder/herb additives don't make any difference to the lye & water amounts, nor to the properties of the oils, and that's the focus of the calculators. If you use clays, most people mix them with a little water because they will absorb some of the recipe's water otherwise.

Do you have any specific additives you are thinking about?

 

[atiz]

Alright I am so confused at this moment... (maybe it is just a moment) but I need help. Am I overlooking on the SoapCalc where you include your additives or is there no place for them? I noticed on Soapmakingfriend.com its clear where to put EVERYTHING. Which Calc do you all use the most?

After you hit View/print Recipe on soapcalc, there is a column where you can enter additives; these will show up when you print out (or save) your recipe. (They won’t affect the calculation; if your additive makes a difference in the oil/lye amount, you have to do the math by hand.)