Lye calculation help needed.

[jcandleattic]

HAHAHA DeeAnna, I love John Stewart!

 

[bookreader451]

If you are really worried about microbes and fungi use tea tree oil and eucalyptus as scents they are natural antifungals. I make a foot butter with those EO just for that purpose. Tea tree can be drying so adding a little shea will help with that. It will net to zero.

 

[Susie]

There is a world of difference between a foot butter and soap. What is true for foot butter is NOT true for what exists in soap after exposure to lye. Good try, though.

 

[bookreader451]

There is a world of difference between a foot butter and soap. What is true for foot butter is NOT true for what exists in soap after exposure to lye. Good try, though.

I do HP and add EO after the cook........besides it was just a thought since the OP is creeped out by microbes

 

[Auxotroph]

Man, it saponifies fast with all that lye in it. Couple of zaps and it is done. Poured it about 20 minutes ago and it is nearly ready to unmold.

Cocos nucifera is the name of the coconut tree.

Sodium Olivate is saponified olive oil and Sodium Cocoate is saponified coconut oil. There hasn't been much research on ether but it seems like Sodium Cocoate still trumps olive oil as an antimicrobial agent.

 

[Steve85569]

Interesting thread.


I need to go get more pop corn...

 

[penelopejane]

I don't want to kill all the microbes in my world. I want to have an immune system that will live in harmony with the microbes but is strong enough to resist (not kill) those that aren't good for me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@DeeAnna Post #19 cracked me up. I can't stop laughing. Luv John Stewart!

I am open to suggestions if you know a better more cost effective recipe for sensitive skin soap.

Hi Matt, and Welcome to the group. Trust me, we're all here to help you. First things first. Here's a link to Soap Calc:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
Go there and play around with it for a bit. It's fairly self-explanatory if you read through all the drop down menus and hover your mouse over each item. Once you calculate the formula you want to use, it's easy to resize it. Just make sure to tick the % column and not the grams column. Then type in the size batch you want in #2 weight of oils

It is a long road to making the perfect soap.

It took me 12 years to develop what I consider as-close-to-perfect-as-it-gets. I have sensitive, mature skin and I love it! I've shared my recipe with the members of the group and invite you to give it a go and see what you think. I'd recommend a small 500 - 1000 gram batch to start with.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/

Good luck and HAPPY SOAPING!

 

[Nanette]

People here do funny things...One possibility for making a more antimicrobial bar would be to use silver sol instead of water...or as part water but I know that would be expensive.

 

[Relle]

I think I need popcorn .

 

[Lin19687]

I don't need Popcorn, this is the reason I stay out of the beginners section. But it seems they all want to post in this section.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Sodium Olivate is saponified olive oil and Sodium Cocoate is saponified coconut oil.

Do us a favor and tell us something we don't already know. This is basic stuff.

There hasn't been much research on ether but it seems like Sodium Cocoate still trumps olive oil as an antimicrobial agent.

Please allow me to speak plainly. You are obsessed with using coconut oil because of its antimicrobial properties. It's time to let go of that approach. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter... especially if you want to develop a soap for sensitive skin... olive oil trumps coconut oil in that category. The ideal is to combine the two into a formula that fits the objective... i.e., high olive with low coconut... there you have the best of both ingredients. Add a little castor oil for lather and you're good to go.

85% olive oil
10% coconut oil
5% castor oil

Maybe this will help... imagine a surgeon scrubbing up before the operation. Does he/she insist on coconut oil soap? Is this the standard in the operating room? No, it's not. Any soap can do the job. My advice is that you go back to the beginning and read this thread again to gain an understanding of what we are trying to tell you to help you obtain your objective.

 

[Lin19687]

Actually @Zany_in_CO surgeons use a special 'detergent' soap lol

The main thing here is the person is talking about OILS and not the end product from making soap.

 

[Dawni]

I have just come from the gripe thread and man.... I'm having fits of giggles over here after reading everything so far lol

Anyway, @Auxotroph, it's too bad you won't try the butters. They're lovely in soap, and makes your soap harder as well. The lye will kill off anything that's in there, plus you can get refined butters so there's very little foreign material in there, if any.

I also once thought that coconut oil soap would be the most cost effective soap to make, and while it is, it's not the best since it'll be the most soluble, and unless you've superfatted correctly, it'll be the most drying. So I came up with recipes that would last longer in the shower and would feel better on my skin. Sometimes I don't use coconut oil at all, most times it's between 10-16%.

As far as the antibacterial stuff is concerned..... Maybe you wanna look into syndets? It'll address the sensitive skin issue as well. Good luck though

 

[Auxotroph]

Man some people are negative in here.

If you are all such experts then tell me why lye calc makes such terrible soap?

It ruins the smell profile of scented soaps, it is hard to cut even if only cutting the next day. It makes terrible terrible soap.

Is the answer to my question less coconut oil and more soft oil?

I guess that is why my costumers think that all the other hand made soap is so harsh. They probably all use soap calc to calculate their lye.

Using half the lye that lye calculators tell me to use works fine and it makes the soap 100 times easier to work with.

 

[bookreader451]

I am pretty new at this but even I know that using half the lye is going to leave so much superfat you risk DOS, which would really be a microbe malady.

 

[Auxotroph]

I have never seen an orange spot on my soap and I have soap that is over 5 years old.

How do you cut it if you don't have time the next day?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Man some people are negative in here

I apologize. I meant only to inform. I had no idea that you found a better way to make soap. If only you had introduced yourself early on, as politely requested, and told us a little about your background and experience then we wouldn't be shooting in the dark.

Honestly, you're somethin' else, Matt! I've been soaping since 2004 and I've participated in a few online forums and yahoo groups where I've been able to help members grow in their new found hobby and never met any one like you. You're one of a kind. I wish you well.

Now I think I'll go eat popcorn with DeeAnna and watch the rest of the show.

 

[Dawni]

Man some people are negative in here.

If you are all such experts then tell me why lye calc makes such terrible soap?

It ruins the smell profile of scented soaps, it is hard to cut even if only cutting the next day. It makes terrible terrible soap.

Is the answer to my question less coconut oil and more soft oil?

I guess that is why my costumers think that all the other hand made soap is so harsh. They probably all use soap calc to calculate their lye.

Using half the lye that lye calculators tell me to use works fine and it makes the soap 100 times easier to work with.

Dude if your customers like what you've sold them maybe that's not the soap we're talking about here?

I happen to make nice soap, if I do say so myself and I use a lye calculator built by this forum and I personally think it's great. Would you wanna try it?

Some people who have replied here have been making and selling soap for decades.... I go no further when I need advice and they've given me awesome tips without fail each time. They also use the lye calcs..... Or maybe you wanna try manually calculating? I know some here do..

 

[Auxotroph]

I don't know why the calculators don't work for my soap. This has given me a massive headache for a long long time. All I want to do is resize my batch. This is what soap soapcalc gives me. Covered in soda ash, not gelled, probably lye heavy. Even the professionals here can't help me.

This is my recipe, no cracking, no soda ash, fully gelled.