Question about oil quantity

[raypjuarez]

So we are beginners to Cold Process. We come from making melt and pour. We are currently using 42 oz rectangular silicone molds. I can’t for the life of me find a place that will guide me on the percentages needed for oils, lye, etc. We have the oils and lye, but can’t find anywhere that will guide us on how to measure the ingredients. Any resources?

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and welcome. I’m not quite understanding what you are asking. If you have a recipe, you need to run it through a soap calculator for how ever many ounces of soap you want to make. I highly recommend always measuring in grams for the most accurate results.

 

[earlene]

What you want to know is 'How much will my mold hold?' Is that correct? Or is it to figure out how many grams of oils to use in your formula in order to have the correct total batch weight to fill your mold?

Here are some links to figuring that out:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/mold-size.27751/
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/calculate-amount-of-soap-for-mold-517198
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-figure-how-much-oil-for-mold.2909/

 

[violets2217]

how many grams of oils to use in your formula

That calculation has never worked for me. I am always about 7 to 10 ounces over the total volume of my mold. Is it just to make sure I have plenty is case of spillage or I'm not a good scraper? lol... I always figure out the total volume of my mold then just edit my oil weight in the calculator until I'm very close to my total volume.

 

[KimW]

That calculation has never worked for me.

I've found the "multiply by .4" rule for figuring the amount of oils works best if the water:lye ratio is close to 2:1. Otherwise, as you've noticed, I either get too much or too little soap. So, unless my batch is using a 2:1 water:lye ratio - which is rarely - I use my own spreadsheet to figure out the oil amount, and then plug that into the soap calc. Using the soap calc still makes me feel like I'm cheating somehow, but I still love that thing...LOL