Need help with Water Discount

[sethkaylyn]

Maybe there is a thread someone can send me .... I would like to try a water discount but not sure how to adjust the numbers in the calculator.
TIA

 

[dibbles]

Just change the lye concentration to whatever you want and the calc will do the rest. 30-33% is a good place to start. You just can't have more than a 50% lye concentration.

 

[sethkaylyn]

Thanks Dibbles!

 

[psfred]

In soapcalc, change the way it calculates water from % of oil to lye concentration, it will be much easier to track your water discount. What that does is let you chose the concentration of the lye in the water rather than the amount of water vs oil. Much easier to keep it constant between recipes and it makes more sense to most people.

30 to 33% lye concentration works well for most people -- the default water as 38% of oil weight is around 28% lye concentration if I remember correctly.

 

[sethkaylyn]

Thanks psfred

 

[DeeAnna]

"...the default water as 38% of oil weight is around 28% lye concentration..."

Yes, that's true for a balanced blend of oils -- the trinity of 33% coconut, 33% lard, and 33% olive oil is an example that should give this kind of result.

If the recipe has an unusual blend of fats or is a single-oil soap (100% olive oil or 100% coconut oil or something like that), the lye concentration can range from about 25% to 31% even though you use a constant setting of "38% water as % of fats."

Stick with lye concentration or water:lye ratio for the most consistent results. I recommend people totally ignore the ideas of water discount and the "water as % of oils" settings. More: https://classicbells.com/soap/waterInSoap.html