My first soap recipe - need advice

[TrishNZ]

Hi
A brand new soapie here!
I have been given this recipe and when I run it through the soap calculator there is some difference in the water and lye and frag oil. (those figures in brackets.
My question is which do I follow or is it not a great difference in the two figures?

450g olive oil
250g coconut oil
250g water (266g)
90g lye (101g)
20mil frag. oil (14g)

Another question - grams are much more accurate than ounces...why are most recipes in ounces? Is it just because most are American recipes?

 

[debratant]

What calculator are you using? I ran it thru soap calc and got the below.
The numbers in parenthesis you have are correct. I also use 1oz of FO per pound, but that is me.

But, that recipe is very cleansing....I would lower the amount of coconut oil
and up the olive, or lower the coconut and add another oil if you don't want to raise the olive.

 

[TrishNZ]

Thanks it was soap calc and its for showering so cleansing is good, I would assume?

 

[CTAnton]

Welcome Trish!
You say you ran it through a soap calculator. Great first step.
The differences in the amount of lye is about the super fat of your recipe...how much of the fats and oils will remain without being converted by the lye. Thats your % SF on your calculator. I venture to say 5% is the standard for beginners...you're simply insuring the soap won't have an excess of lye.
There is also a default setting on most, if not all soap calculators for the water amount...38%. That's a lot of water to have evaporate out of your soap. So as time goes by, you will get more comfortable adjusting your recipe whether varying the super fat or the amount of water. For your first batch, I'd suggest play it safe and use the default settings on the calculator.There WILL be other batches of soap, trust me!
And of course you're right, grams are more precise when measuring. I think as you get sucked into this hobby you'll come to realize it's more about the percentages of any given ingredient in a soap. So much easier for people to advise you without having to figure out percentages of a soaps ingredients when only a weight is given. Soap batches can vary in their weight, the percentages are what it's all about. IMHO.
Make your first batch. IT WILL BE SOAP. But do some additional reading about super fat and lye concentrations . You'll be glad you did.
Happy Soaping

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Another question - grams are much more accurate than ounces...why are most recipes in ounces? Is it just because most are American recipes?

Yes. Plus the fact that the inventor of soap calc is American and before soap calc it was know as SOOZ. At that time, around the turn of the century, there were not many soapmaking forums and very few soapers from other countries.

Also, you good people across the pound had an excellent forum based in AU called "Soap Naturally" that hosted members from various parts of the globe in addition to AU and NZ

To me, it is somewhat embarrassing that we're the only country in the civilized world that has not converted to the metric system. I remember when Jack Kennedy became president. One of his goals was that we would convert to metric in 10 years. Didn't happen. He also said we would go to the moon in that same amount of time. Happened. LOL

Your recipe looks okay as is. Try it. Make a small batch. See if you like it. If it dries out your skin, then at least you'll know the amount of coconut oil is the culprit and you can tweak from there.

 

[TrishNZ]

Thanks for the info and also the tip for the Aussie forum! I am a sourdough baker and used to working in grams, even american bakers work in grams and percentages so there are parallels to soapmaking.

 

[Kamahido]

Thanks it was soap calc and its for showering so cleansing is good, I would assume?

When you see "cleansing" in soapcalc instead thing "drying" or "stripping".

 

[lenarenee]

My impression of the recipes in ounces is that they are older recipes; from the days before everyone had at least one computer in the house and lye calculators became the norm. Also finding an affordable scale that could accurately measure grams was not common in the 80s and 90s (if I remember correctly).

 

[TrishNZ]

When you see "cleansing" in soapcalc instead thing "drying" or "stripping".

Thanks - big difference between drying/stripping and cleansing!

 

[debratant]

Yes, I apologize! Too high in Cleansing to me means drying!

 

[TrishNZ]

Yes, I apologize! Too high in Cleansing to me means drying!

Does this look better?
I reduced the coconut oil to 22%

 

[BattleGnome]

22% is good.

Many people swear by using no more than 20% coconut and others insist on 30%. Of course there are exceptions like salt bars with 100% coconut and a 20% super fat. You will find your personal range with practice as well as changing up ingredients.

You seem set for your first soap. Go make it so you can post pictures!

 

[Seawolfe]

I made soaps like that when I started and all I had was OO and coconut. I liked it better when I bumped the superfat up to 6 or 7% with 30% coconut. But it will be a nice first soap regardless Make very sure that your fragrance is made for soap, if not then go without rather than risk it would be my vote.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It will need a longer cure than might be desired in a first soap - you'll be wanting to use it as soon as possible and soaps high in olive oil are rarely nice to use without a couple of months curing.

If you're not vegetarian or have other reasons not to eat pork, I would put 50% of that recipe to lard, 22% coconut and the rest to olive.

Will give you a lovely bar which will be ready much sooner than just olive and coconut

 

[TrishNZ]

It will need a longer cure than might be desired in a first soap - you'll be wanting to use it as soon as possible and soaps high in olive oil are rarely nice to use without a couple of months curing.

If you're not vegetarian or have other reasons not to eat pork, I would put 50% of that recipe to lard, 22% coconut and the rest to olive.

Will give you a lovely bar which will be ready much sooner than just olive and coconut

Thank you for your comments, but I am a vegetarian so maybe not lard . Not that it would really concern me, its just the idea of fat in soap. Need to get my head around it. Wanting the easiest one to start before venturing into this wonderful world of soaps.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

It will need a longer cure than might be desired in a first soap

^^^^^ Ditto. I actually like your first recipe better. The SAT/UNSAT balance was better and INS value 160 = 4-week cure.

For this recipe I'd recommend 0% SF (superfat/NaOH discount) and 2:1 ratio, water:lye (look for a water ratio button below where the 38% water is. Click that and type in 2:1.) This will help speed up trace and cure time. Olive oil is high in unsaponifiables so you still may get slime/mucus that castile soaps are known for. Some people love it. Some, not so much. It's not a bad thing. It's actually quite conditioning and no need to worry about stripping or drying.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Less water does not reduce olive oil soap cure by all that much. If that were so, I can't see why there is such a massive difference between 3, 6, and 12 month Castile when they stop losing moisture well before that stage.

 

[TrishNZ]

AHHH! Now more confused...1st recipe or 2nd?
I don't want too many complications for my first batch as...in superfat etc.
I just want a soap to shower with (in a few weeks). I have olive pomace oil and coconut oil on order.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Could you find palm oil or vegetable shortening for cooking? That could also help in place of lard

 

[TrishNZ]

Could you find palm oil or vegetable shortening for cooking? That could also help in place of lard

I try to avoid using palm oil (you know the reasons) I could find vege shortening but at present I cant drive so have only olive and coconut oil to play with. (Its the only ones I ordered to be delivered and don't want to make another order until it is viable, cost wise)