Too much lye?

[user 22966]

Here is my recipe that I have been using (cold process) but the soap feels harsh, meaning it dries out the skin quick
Am I using to much lye?
Thank You!
20oz coconut oil 1.25lb

20oz olive oil 1.25lb

18oz goat's milk 1.25lb

9 oz lye

13oz lard

 

[lsg]

Before making soap, always run a new recipe through a lye calculator. According to SoapCalc, (without taking the fat in the goat's milk into account), with a superfat of 5%, the amount of lye used should be 7.8 oz. You can try rebatching with the addition of 7 oz of lard and 2 oz of olive oil.

 

[psfred]

Yup, probably zaps too. I get 7.2 oz of lye for a 5% superfat using Soapcalc. I forgot to correct for the fat in the goat milk.

Did you run that recipe through a lye calculator, or did you get it from someone? That much lye will indeed make a very harsh soap, although it will mellow in six months or so as the lye becomes sodium carbonate as the soap absorbs CO2 from the air. It's always gonna be "grandma's lye soap" though, quite harsh and drying due to excessive carbonate.

Nearly 40% Coconut oil won't help, either, many people find that quite drying.

Use one of the soapmaking calculators online to get a proper lye amount (I got 7.2 for a 5% superfat, you need to decide on the superfat, too) and try again. Never trust a recipe, always check them with a lye calculator, it's far too easy to make a typographical error (9 instead of 7, say, for the lye weight) and you NEED to check to make sure the numbers are all correct.

I would re-batch that soap with additional oil if it's fresh, otherwise it will make good laundry soap. Not ever going to be nice for skin, I don't think.

 

[earlene]

Here is my recipe that I have been using (cold process) but the soap feels harsh, meaning it dries out the skin quick
Am I using to much lye?
Thank You!
20oz coconut oil 1.25lb

20oz olive oil 1.25lb

18oz goat's milk 1.25lb

9 oz lye

13oz lard

First, where did you get this recipe? Second, did you use a lye calculator? Did you factor in the saponfication value of goat milk? (reference here about saponification value for goat milk.) Did you do a zap test? If so, what was your result? I would expect this soap to zap because my calculations using a lye calculator and Dr. Dunn's findings shows this would be lye heavy.

Using Dr. Dunn's lower figure of 4% of lye is consumed by goat milk (he said 4-6%), and using a lye calculator, it looks to me like you ended up with lye heavy soap.

Yes, that's a - 6 % SF, meaning, it is lye heavy. (I am taking into account the extra fat in the GM.) My calcuations might be slightly off, but I think they are either correct, or at least I hope very close.

You should always use a lye calculator, such as soapee or soapcalc before you use any soap recipe, whether you found it in a book, online, or design it yourself.

Also at 38% CO, I would expect a harsh soap, even if it wasn't lye heavy and even with sufficient cure. That's really high in the 'cleansing' (meaning it strips the skin's natural oils). Some people's skin can handle a high CO soap, but usually they use a higher SF (not a negative SF) to offset the harshness of saponified CO.

Looking back at your introductory post, I see that was the same recipe you posted over a year ago. Is this the same soap you made last year? Have you made it more than once? How long have you been using this recipe and this soap? Just curious about the history of your use and making of this recipe.

 

[user 22966]

It is an old recipe from ages ago from a friend. And yes that is the same recipe I have been using .I did not do saponification but will somehow I will figure out how to do it and in addition I have no idea what zap test is but will also figure out as well.
I am learning that it is not as easy as just cutting down on the amount of lye that I use!

 

[user 22966]

Before making soap, always run a new recipe through a lye calculator. According to SoapCalc, (without taking the fat in the goat's milk into account), with a superfat of 5%, the amount of lye used should be 7.8 oz. You can try rebatching with the addition of 7 oz of lard and 2 oz of olive oil.

Thank You
That was most helpful
May I ask what calculator you used?
Thank You!

 

[user 22966]

Before making soap, always run a new recipe through a lye calculator. According to SoapCalc, (without taking the fat in the goat's milk into account), with a superfat of 5%, the amount of lye used should be 7.8 oz. You can try rebatching with the addition of 7 oz of lard and 2 oz of olive oil.

ok thank you I found SoapCalc
http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

 

[DeeAnna]

Another soap calculator that is accurate and easy to use is http://soapee.com

How to do a zap test: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-properly-safely-conduct-the-zap-tongue-test.63199/

 

[user 22966]

I did the zap test from Dr Kevin Dunn and I DID NOT get the zap-it was actually soapy! However I do agree that the amount of lye I am using is to high and as noted by psfred in this thread I will lower it to 7.5oz
Here is the new and hopefully improved recipe
20oz coconut oil 1.25
20oz olive oil 1.25
18oz goat's milk 1.13
7.5 oz lye
13oz lard
Drizzle the lye mixture into the oils

 

[shunt2011]

Another recommendation, measure in grams. Much more accurate for both oils, lye and water.

 

[Primrose]

Just tacking onto this thread ... I'm really interested. This is the first time I've seen anyone on this forum mention accounting for the fat in goat milk ... Curious as to whether everyone here does. Seems many on fb do not. I do not for mine but usually drop the sf of the recipe to 2 or 3%

 

[psfred]

Milk can contain up to about 12% fat by weight, so if you know the fat content it's worth calculating the weight in grams and adding that to your oils in the lye calculator using dairy fat as the oil type.

Not all milks are that high, and if you are getting farm milk you may have to guess, but there is fat in there. Lowering the SF to 2% should work just fine as well, worst case you will get more SF than you intended while still having safe soap.

 

[earlene]

Just tacking onto this thread ... I'm really interested. This is the first time I've seen anyone on this forum mention accounting for the fat in goat milk ... Curious as to whether everyone here does. Seems many on fb do not. I do not for mine but usually drop the sf of the recipe to 2 or 3%

Primrose, I don't calculate for GM because in reading Dr. Dunn's results, in which he reports "(GM) consumes 4% to 6% of the lye in a typical soap" and "If you use goat’s milk instead of water, you don’t need to dis-count your lye further." Which to me means my low SF that I normally use (2-3%) is not changed that much considering that I don't actually replace all my water with GM because I use masterbatched lye.

 

[shunt2011]

I don’t calculate for the fat in milk either. But I SF relatively low when using milks.