Making Recipes

[FCDairyGoats]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum. Have had goats for about 10 years and have made GM soap before but just by following recipes...
What I am wanting to know is how do you go about making your own recipe? I remember when someone asked how many ounces of milk/water the mold I was using would hold, and they came up with the recipe. So I am trying to figure out how to do that but can't see to figure it out! LOL I hope someone is willing to help me? I have tried asking a couple people on my FB that make soap but they won't give me any information!

Thank You in advance!!

 

[WildcraftWorkshop]

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but here's a response based on my best guesses.

This link has great info on creating your own recipes:
http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showt ... ap-recipe!!

To figure out how much liquid a mold holds, I usually grab a measuring cup, fill it up and start pouring water into it, keeping track of the measurement. Then I use lye calcs to figure out my oils / lye / liquid amounts for my recipe.

HTH!

 

[Cally]

I've seen this post here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3461 that tells you. But personally numbers scare me so I'd likely do the measuring cup test myself, lol.

As for coming up with a recipe I like to use http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

I'm so new at soapmaking and so low on supplies that for right now my hobby is punching in various oils and seeing what turns up,

 

[Hazel]

@WildcraftWorkshop

Thanks for sharing the link on how to create a soap recipe. I think it's helpful plus I was very amused by her comment "some awfully strange recipes make fantastic bars of soap". It made me laugh.

@FCDairyGoats

You can also read David Fisher's Create a Basic Soap Recipe for more info to supplement what Bunny wrote.

You do want to have an idea of what each oil will contribute to the soap as Bunny mentioned. Here are a couple of links to sites which give info about soapmaking oil properties. Summer Bee Meadow's is more detailed.

Summer Bee Meadow's Properties of Soapmaking Oils
David Fisher's Qualities of Soapmaking Oils

I do the same as Cally - I fiddle with percentages of oils on SoapCalc until I get something that I think looks interesting and the values are in line with what I like in batches. However, just because it may look nice doesn't mean I'll like the soap once I've made it. I really agree with Bunny's statement about strange recipes making fantastic soap. Sometimes you have to be adventurous and try something a little different. Experimentation is part of the fun. However, make sure you save your notes on recipes. I tossed a recipe which I thought made a bad soap but 6 months later it had hardened enough to use and was a fantastic bar of soap. I'm still kicking myself for tossing the recipe. :cry:

You can also post here if you come up with a recipe which you're not sure about and ask for advice.

 

[FCDairyGoats]

Thank You for the replies! The first link will not open for me though. :?:

 

[FCDairyGoats]

I have another question; actually a couple. It's about the SoapCalc.net ect.

#2. Weight of oils, pounds, ounces, grams....ect. Which one do I select?

#3. Water: Which one do I select and what do I put in the box? Keep in mind, I've never used the soap calc. before.

Thank you in advance!!

 

[Hazel]

That's odd. The link was working the other day. You might want to give it a little time and try again.

Here's a link to how to use SoapCalc http://www.soapcalc.net/info/helptext.asp

You can use any of the weight selections. I normally use ounces because it's easier for me since I'm more used to dealing with ounces for soap. When you print the recipe, it will show all the weights listed in pounds, ounces and grams. I use the ounces to weigh oils and grams to weigh the lye.

I'd recommend you leave the "Water as % of Oils" at the default setting until you get more used to making soap. The extra water will give you a little more time to blend and add FOs and colorants. Once you learn how certain recipes and FOs behave, you can either lower the "Water as % of Oils" amount or switch to using "Lye Concentration" or "Water : Lye Ratio" option. I've never used the "Water : Lye Ratio" option so I can't give any advice on it. However, there are a few batches where I change the "Lye Concentration" to 33% so I'm using less water for a stronger lye concentration. I do this for batches with a high olive content. The stronger lye concentration means the batch will move a little faster so you don't want to use a FO which accelerates trace. This might result in your batch seizing. Using a stronger lye concentration also means there is less water in the soap which has to evaporate during curing. I don't think I've explained this very well so I recommend reading Discounted water cold process method for a better explanation.

 

[FCDairyGoats]

If there isn't a spot on the soap calc to put in how big/small the recipe amount is((How many oz the mold will hold), how can it figure the amount of oils needed for each recipe? I'm assuming the amount would be different if the recipe was a mold that held 40oz vs a mold that held alot more than that, right?

Thanks!

 

[Loolee]

You need to read here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3461

Then once you figure the volume for your mold, you can change the amount of your recipe. That is done in #2 in soap calc. If your mold holds 40 ounces, then you click on the button that says "Ounces" and then type in 40.

but if you are starting out, soapcalc prefills 1-4 with the industry standards and you probably don't want to change those until you get a few batches under your belt. If you leave it at 16 ounces, then that is a 1 pound batch of soap and will make you about 5 bars of soap. Just enough for you to see if you like it or not. For my first mold, I used the top of a plastic egg carton, lined with freezer paper. (you know the ones that have two lids? I think egglands best is one) It was just big enough to hold a 1 pound batch.

 

[FCDairyGoats]

Thank You! That makes sense.