"...Where did you learn about how the fatty acids contribute..."
I'm sure there are good written resources that cover this topic well, but I mostly figured it out on my own by deconstructing the Soapcalc "numbers", picking up tidbits here and there from other soap makers, reading scholarly books and research articles about the properties of soap, and putting it all together.
I wrote an article about the Soapcalc numbers -- Soapy Stuff: Soapy Stuff. I talk in that article about how I use the fatty acid profile (either the FA percentages directly or indirectly by using the Soapcalc numbers) to design recipes.
I think you can probably find other online articles by soap makers that give similar information, but I have yet to find any written soap making book that covers this information. Most of them are still stuck on the idea that the fats we use to make soap are really the most important thing, when it's really the fatty acids in those fats that have the most effect on how a particular soap performs. That's a pretty common trend with many soap makers, so I can see why the books written by soap makers also have this bias.
I'm sure there are good written resources that cover this topic well, but I mostly figured it out on my own by deconstructing the Soapcalc "numbers", picking up tidbits here and there from other soap makers, reading scholarly books and research articles about the properties of soap, and putting it all together.
I wrote an article about the Soapcalc numbers -- Soapy Stuff: Soapy Stuff. I talk in that article about how I use the fatty acid profile (either the FA percentages directly or indirectly by using the Soapcalc numbers) to design recipes.
I think you can probably find other online articles by soap makers that give similar information, but I have yet to find any written soap making book that covers this information. Most of them are still stuck on the idea that the fats we use to make soap are really the most important thing, when it's really the fatty acids in those fats that have the most effect on how a particular soap performs. That's a pretty common trend with many soap makers, so I can see why the books written by soap makers also have this bias.
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