So I am new to soap making, but im looking into doing a water discount for my soap recipe, I've watched multiple YouTube videos and understanding how to do it can be a bit complicated for me to understand, so for my soap recipe it consist of 5.13oz of lye and 11.47oz of water is it safe for me to do 5.13oz lye and 5.13oz of water, 1:1? or is that too low? and would accelerate very quickly? If anyone has any recommended water discounts for this recipe for a beginner it would be very appreciated. Thank you!
Water discount
- Thread starter Kiaadw
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What are you trying to achieve with your water discount? Quicker trace? Shorter cure (a fallacy BTW)? What has made you want to try it? Lye needs at least the same amount of weight in water to dissolve, so I wouldn't go any lower than 1:1.
I agree with KiwiMoose! I suggest if you are going to try it that you experiment with just an Ounce or two less than your recipe calls for. That can make a big difference in the feel and appearance of your finished soap. See how it goes.
Also in my experience with my own standard formula, I finally Figured out that I was seeing more ash formation in batches with water discounts, so I don’t bother anymore. This is formula/ingredient-specific so may not be an issue for you but just something to consider. Light ash on soap tops can be very pretty, but I find more than that annoying. Ash can be removed but it’s time consuming if there’s a lot of soap.
have fun, keep good notes!
Also in my experience with my own standard formula, I finally Figured out that I was seeing more ash formation in batches with water discounts, so I don’t bother anymore. This is formula/ingredient-specific so may not be an issue for you but just something to consider. Light ash on soap tops can be very pretty, but I find more than that annoying. Ash can be removed but it’s time consuming if there’s a lot of soap.
have fun, keep good notes!
Yes so im wanting to do a water discount for shorten up my cure time, but thank you so much for your advise!
Gotcha! Yeah im going to try with using one to two ounce less! I just always thought as beginner you have to use exactly what the recipe called for with water or it would be lye heavy. I really appreciate your advice, thank you!
When using a soap calculator, the lye amount is always based on the amount of oils. SO for example, if you have a kilo of oils and your lye is 140g (water 320g) then a 'water discount' simply means that the water amount will reduce - not that the lye amount will increase. If the lye amount stays the same there is no way that the soap can be lye heavy.
hello and welcome to this addiction. Just out of curiosity. What is the lye concentration now??
I master batch lye at 1:1 (water:lye). Then add (top off) with whatever kind of liquid, I am using to
complete the water portion of my recipe. Ex. water, milk, avj, coffee....... red bull
I use the "water:lye ratio". Because it is easier for my brain to use. Potato vs. Tomatoe. Good luck.
Post some pics. We like pics. Good, bad, ugly. It's all good.
I master batch lye at 1:1 (water:lye). Then add (top off) with whatever kind of liquid, I am using to
complete the water portion of my recipe. Ex. water, milk, avj, coffee....... red bull
I use the "water:lye ratio". Because it is easier for my brain to use. Potato vs. Tomatoe. Good luck.
Post some pics. We like pics. Good, bad, ugly. It's all good.
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Very interesting. I get much less ash with less water, so I regularly use a 40% lye concentration.
But what really eliminates ash for me is covering my newly-cut soaps for about a week before taking off the cover to let them cure.
