I have been used to MMS for many years. I'd like to try soapee. Their water is not water to lye but lye as % of oils. I thought I read on here something about that but can't seem to find it now. Anyone know a link? Or can just tell me what to do about it? I use 34.5% as to water, not oils.
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dixiedragon
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You can do it both ways. In box 3 you can choose how you calculator your water.
Thanks dixiedragon. I saw box 3. I guess because life has dealt a few blows and my math skills are already challenged, I was hoping someone might figure this out for me to make sure I'm correct.
I guess I am not following your 34.5% as to water. But I have been known to be wrong
The Sage may be basing their water requirements on Lye Concentration which would be approx 26-34.5% lye concentration. which I am thinking is your 34.5%, assuming you are using the highest water amount MMS gives you. This is acutally the Lye Concentration which is choice #2 in box 3 in Soapee. If I am wrong here anyone is welcome to correct me...
Many of us find a 33% "Lye Concentration" to be the sweet spotI was not going by MMS for lye solution. I was going by some recommendations here on the forum for reducing ash. So yes I was using a 34.5% lye concentration. Didn't word it right. Not that they recommended exactly 34.5 but that's where I ended up using the table at https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/lye-solution-in-soapmaking/ and it worked. Perhaps I'll try 33% if that's a sweet spot. That's a bit less water to evaporate.
Most soap recipe calculators, including Soapcalc and Soapee, give you several options for calculating the water amount. The default choice is usually to calculate "water as % of oils." This setting calculates the total water-based liquid as a percentage of the total fat (oil) weight.
The other two options -- lye concentration and water:lye ratio -- both calculate the total water-based liquid as a percentage of the alkali (lye) weight. I recommend calculating based on the alkali weight.
I wrote an article that explains the differences between these choices: https://classicbells.com/soap/waterInSoap.html
"...Perhaps I'll try 33% if that's a sweet spot. That's a bit less water to evaporate...."
If you're using the lye concentration setting, then smaller numbers mean more water. A 33% lye concentration is more water in your recipe, compared with 34.5% lye concentration.
The other two options -- lye concentration and water:lye ratio -- both calculate the total water-based liquid as a percentage of the alkali (lye) weight. I recommend calculating based on the alkali weight.
I wrote an article that explains the differences between these choices: https://classicbells.com/soap/waterInSoap.html
"...Perhaps I'll try 33% if that's a sweet spot. That's a bit less water to evaporate...."
If you're using the lye concentration setting, then smaller numbers mean more water. A 33% lye concentration is more water in your recipe, compared with 34.5% lye concentration.
Thanks DeeAnna.
Where did the water-as-percentage-of-oils come from? Was it from an older soap book ? Branson? Cavitch? I’ve always thought it was an odd way to determine water.
I think it's tradition more than anything, but I'd guess the tradition is not all that old -- several decades maybe? Sometime between my grandmother's days of soap making using the recipe off the lye container and the time when Soapcalc was first being developed. In any case, long enough for people to think "it's always been that way."
I came to soap making from a chemistry background, so I've always soaped using NaOH concentration. It took me a good long while to figure out why other soapers had these weird problems when they did use "water as % of oils".
It seems like many ingredients used in modern-day hand-crafted soap making are based on the weight of oils, so why not do the same with the water? Basing water on the weight of oils is a method that works fine ... until it doesn't. The problems caused by using "water as % of oils" can easily be blamed on other much more obvious causes -- beginner's bad luck, soaping too hot, not gelling, etc.
I came to soap making from a chemistry background, so I've always soaped using NaOH concentration. It took me a good long while to figure out why other soapers had these weird problems when they did use "water as % of oils".
It seems like many ingredients used in modern-day hand-crafted soap making are based on the weight of oils, so why not do the same with the water? Basing water on the weight of oils is a method that works fine ... until it doesn't. The problems caused by using "water as % of oils" can easily be blamed on other much more obvious causes -- beginner's bad luck, soaping too hot, not gelling, etc.
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