My First Lavender Cold Process Soap Batch! (cut pics added)
- Thread starter bridgetmoon
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bridgetmoon
Active Member
lol, do you think if i used to much caustic soda? I ain't too good with percents i put for lye about 250 Grams, and water about the same i think. Oils of at least 150 Grams in total. mmm lavender laundry soap, how do i make that lol?
houseofwool
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Did you put the recipe through a lye calculator? You want the amount of lye to be less than the amount of oil and you want more water than lye.
bridgetmoon
Active Member
No, i don't know how to calculate the percentages, i have tried using the calculators but i can't work how much i need of one As said this is my first batch, normally i work with melt n pour. Oh trust me, it's already in the bin, when washing the tub it was in i got a burn or 2, nothing major but way to much caustic soda. Does anyone know if mixing the manually might effect it, i thought i'd give it ago instead of buying a whisk but now i'm thinking i should of brought one.
bridgetmoon
Active Member
look mate, you don't have to be so rude about it......
lizflowers42
Well-Known Member
I don't think they meant to come off as rude. Lye can be extremely dangerous and you were lucky to not have gotten critical burns!
I had trouble understanding lye calculators as well. There are lots of youtube videos that were very helpful to me in understanding them. Best wishes on your next batch-you will be a CP convert in no time!
I had trouble understanding lye calculators as well. There are lots of youtube videos that were very helpful to me in understanding them. Best wishes on your next batch-you will be a CP convert in no time!
Ruthie
Well-Known Member
brigetmoon, no one is trying to be rude. They are trying to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. I'm not that good at math, so I use one of the online programs like soapcalc. It does the figuring for me. So if you want to learn to make cold process soap, do the reading and learning before you try the next batch. It is worth the effort!
Cherry Bomb
Well-Known Member
Ok First things first: you will get this!!! It is confusing but we are all here to help you my friend! Lye is serious. I actually did not know that I had some on my long sleeve shirt when I was soaping and I used my arm to wipe my bangs out of my eyes and now I have a lovely chemical burn in the middle of my forehead. It's been there a week. Lye can do damage fast!
Now: I like to use soapcalc so I will walk you through how this puppy works! I will use my first recipe because it was great for a beginner. I used Anne Marie's Lots of Lather located here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...cess-soap/my-favorite-cold-process-recipes-2/
She used:
Coconut Oil 16 ounces
Palm Oil 16 ounces
Olive Oil 16 ounces
Castor Oil 2 ounces
You may be thinking: how do ppl get percentages? Well I am about to explain that to you. Here is the link to Soap Calc: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
I will explain starting with number 1 written in blue on this page.
1.) Choose NaOH for Sodium Hydroxide
2.) This is where you decided how large of a batch you want to make. I usually do mine in pounds but let's do this recipe in ounces. So select ounces and in the white box type in 50 because that is the total we get when we add our recipe up. This soap will roughly be 3 pounds. This is a lot for a beginner. Usually 1 pound (16 oz) is a great place to start.
3.) This this number alone until you get more batches under your belt
4.) For now leave superfat at 5%. You can up this percentage as you become more comfortable with CP. In the fragrance area add how much FO or EO you are using per pound. I use Brambleberry's fragrance calc and decided from there. The link to their calc is: http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator-Results.aspx. EO's are usually .5 ounces per pound. A good quality FO and EO supplier will have information/usage rates/reviews under their FO/EO names. Let's say we are using Lavender Bulgarian EO. Go to Brambleberry's fragrance calc, choose CP, Plug in 50 ounces and select your EO. A new page will come up and it's states that for a medium scent we need 2.25 ounces total. Divide that by three (3 pounds) and we get .75 ounces per pound. Plug .75 in your ounces per pound.
5.) Here is where you choose your oils from a drop down box. Let's select our first oil as an example. Find Coconut Oil, 76 deg and select it.
6.) Choose the + sign to add it to your soap recipe. Add all of the rest of your oils from your recipe in this manner. Beside the oil you add you will see % and lb. We don't know our %'s but we do know our lbs! So select the bubble under pounds. Area should now be highlighted green. We know that 1 pound is 16 ounces. So next to Coconut Oil, 76 deg type 1. Next to Palm Oil type 1 pound. Next to Olive Oil type 1. Castor oil is 2 ounces. I use google converter and type "2 ounces is how many pounds?" I get this answer in return: .125 pounds. So next to castor oil type .125.
7.) you will now calculate your recipe. This makes sure that all of your oils add up to 100%. All you need to do it hit calculate. If you're not at 100% then look over your recipe and see what you need to add to make 100%. If you are at 100% select view or print recipe! Are you ready? Let's do this!!!!
Your recipe will look like the page I attached. The first set of light blue blocks will tell you about your ratios/totals/fragrance oil weight...etc. the next set of purple blocks will tell you how much water you need and how much lye you need. Make sure you are using distilled water and make sure you ALWAYS weigh in grams. Also if you need to round up remember this: round up with water and round down with lye!
The next set of green blocks will tell you about your oils and finally you now have some %'s that you can type into soap calc the next time you use this recap again basically with %'s you just want to make sure they total 100. This will tell you how much oil to add and use the grams section for accuracy!
Finally the last area will tell you about your soaps properties. I hope this helps. I know it's long but maybe you can figure it out and find it useful! Happy soaping!!!!
Now: I like to use soapcalc so I will walk you through how this puppy works! I will use my first recipe because it was great for a beginner. I used Anne Marie's Lots of Lather located here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...cess-soap/my-favorite-cold-process-recipes-2/
She used:
Coconut Oil 16 ounces
Palm Oil 16 ounces
Olive Oil 16 ounces
Castor Oil 2 ounces
You may be thinking: how do ppl get percentages? Well I am about to explain that to you. Here is the link to Soap Calc: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
I will explain starting with number 1 written in blue on this page.
1.) Choose NaOH for Sodium Hydroxide
2.) This is where you decided how large of a batch you want to make. I usually do mine in pounds but let's do this recipe in ounces. So select ounces and in the white box type in 50 because that is the total we get when we add our recipe up. This soap will roughly be 3 pounds. This is a lot for a beginner. Usually 1 pound (16 oz) is a great place to start.
3.) This this number alone until you get more batches under your belt
4.) For now leave superfat at 5%. You can up this percentage as you become more comfortable with CP. In the fragrance area add how much FO or EO you are using per pound. I use Brambleberry's fragrance calc and decided from there. The link to their calc is: http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator-Results.aspx. EO's are usually .5 ounces per pound. A good quality FO and EO supplier will have information/usage rates/reviews under their FO/EO names. Let's say we are using Lavender Bulgarian EO. Go to Brambleberry's fragrance calc, choose CP, Plug in 50 ounces and select your EO. A new page will come up and it's states that for a medium scent we need 2.25 ounces total. Divide that by three (3 pounds) and we get .75 ounces per pound. Plug .75 in your ounces per pound.
5.) Here is where you choose your oils from a drop down box. Let's select our first oil as an example. Find Coconut Oil, 76 deg and select it.
6.) Choose the + sign to add it to your soap recipe. Add all of the rest of your oils from your recipe in this manner. Beside the oil you add you will see % and lb. We don't know our %'s but we do know our lbs! So select the bubble under pounds. Area should now be highlighted green. We know that 1 pound is 16 ounces. So next to Coconut Oil, 76 deg type 1. Next to Palm Oil type 1 pound. Next to Olive Oil type 1. Castor oil is 2 ounces. I use google converter and type "2 ounces is how many pounds?" I get this answer in return: .125 pounds. So next to castor oil type .125.
7.) you will now calculate your recipe. This makes sure that all of your oils add up to 100%. All you need to do it hit calculate. If you're not at 100% then look over your recipe and see what you need to add to make 100%. If you are at 100% select view or print recipe! Are you ready? Let's do this!!!!
Your recipe will look like the page I attached. The first set of light blue blocks will tell you about your ratios/totals/fragrance oil weight...etc. the next set of purple blocks will tell you how much water you need and how much lye you need. Make sure you are using distilled water and make sure you ALWAYS weigh in grams. Also if you need to round up remember this: round up with water and round down with lye!
The next set of green blocks will tell you about your oils and finally you now have some %'s that you can type into soap calc the next time you use this recap again
basically with %'s you just want to make sure they total 100. This will tell you how much oil to add and use the grams section for accuracy! Finally the last area will tell you about your soaps properties. I hope this helps. I know it's long but maybe you can figure it out and find it useful! Happy soaping!!!!
WallFlower
Well-Known Member
Very nice! Love the lavender on top!
Very pretty...
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