Here's a very informative, oldie but goodie thread that goes into detail about why basing lye on the water amount is superior to basing it on the oil amount: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53642
IrishLass
IrishLass
why is my soap soft?
- Thread starter emi
- Start date
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The soap you made on March 18th is close to 4 weeks old now so I suggest trying it out at the sink for hand washing. Use it at least once a week, let it completely dry, then use it again. It's pretty fun to see and feel the difference of a soap at 3 weeks of age compared to 4, 5, 6, etc weeks old. This is a really good way to understand how cure affects the performance of the soap.
Here's a very informative, oldie but goodie thread that goes into detail about why basing lye on the water amount is superior to basing it on the oil amount: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53642
IrishLass
That was better worded
emi
Well-Known Member
Oh no! I wrote a really long response to everyone and I somehow don't see it here! Well I'm going to have to rewrite it. roblem:
Thank you so much to Efficacious Gentleman for helping me to understand this! I finally got it! I also read this pdf http://rivercitysoaps.com/dwcp/dwcp.pdf posted by Jbot from a thread IrishLass recommended which really filled in all the gaps. I was left with the question, why does it matter how much water is used other than cure time? But the pdf actually listed advantages as well as disadvantages. I never thought of soap shrinkage. But what I gained from it was having more control on your trace, just like you said. I am yet to do fancy advanced techniques like swirling, but when I have watched those videos I always think to myself, wow that required a really specific trace and requires it to stay at the trace for quite a while. I've seen processes that take so long, pouring little amounts of different colored soap to do those fancy designs. I was remembering how my first batch in particular got so thick so fast! Within seconds of blending it with my stick blender it became the consistency of room temperature custard. And just sitting there it thickened even more and by the time I was ready to "pour" into molds, it was as thick as cold custard. I had to scoop it out with my spatula and smooth the paste into my little molds. I have one of those 6x 100ml single bar silicone molds. I ended up with air bubbles trapped in there, especially at the corners, and since it was in those little bars it didn't have enough mass to burp up the bubbles by tapping or dropping the whole thing down on the counter a couple inches (like you do with cake batter). My 2nd batch was salt bars so those got thick really fast too. Had I diluted by lye solution, I would've been able to actually pour into molds instead of spreading it in. It seems that there are several things that can effect trace. Like temperature, type of fragrance/essential oil used, and amount and type of water substitutes used too I suppose, like I did with aloe and cucumber juice. Therefore since there's so many factors that we can't control or change anyway as long as we want to use those ingredients, we can control the water amount. I was so surprised to know that it only takes the same weight of water as the weight of lye to fully dissolve it. And just like Efficacious Gentleman suggested, and was written out on the pdf, the significance of working with lye concentration rather than water to oil was clearly illustrated by comparing 2 recipes that were both using the same water to oil percentages where one recipe was 100% olive and the other was 100% coconut. The resulting lye concentrations were drastically different. All 3 of the batches I've made all set up thick really quickly. I was never able to "pour" into molds. I just checked the lye concentration of those recipes and 2 were at 27% and and the other at 28%. They were all set at the water/oil default of 38%. Maybe next time I'll lower the lye concentration a bit so there will be more water so that I can actually pour into my molds to avoid those bubbles and get a nice smooth surface.
Anyway, this was all very enlightening and fascinating!
Thank you all for being so kind and generous with your time in sharing your wisdom with a newbie like me!! I wish I'd found soap making sooner. And to think all I was trying to do was save me some money! I've spent more on soap making supplies in the last month than I would in probably about a year of buying 5 dollar soap bars! Ha! But of course those supplies will keep the soap dishes of myself, my family, friends, co workers, and anyone who'll take it, full with all kinds of strange and interesting creations! And I get to give!
And btw... If any of you read that incredibly toxic and invasive thread by the guy asking to make 2 color soap quickly so he can make money? I just want to say I was simply amazed at everyone's kindness and composure despite his complete lack of respect for the people in this forum, their wisdom, experience, expertise, and most of all generosity. After reading so many of these amazing threads, that one just felt like a shriveled up piece of toxic blackened plastic, gouging its way through spreading its filth. It took everything in me not to just start yelling in capitals for him to GET THE $%^&* OUT OF HERE!!!
Thank you all again. :smile:
roblem:Thank you so much to Efficacious Gentleman for helping me to understand this! I finally got it! I also read this pdf http://rivercitysoaps.com/dwcp/dwcp.pdf posted by Jbot from a thread IrishLass recommended which really filled in all the gaps. I was left with the question, why does it matter how much water is used other than cure time? But the pdf actually listed advantages as well as disadvantages. I never thought of soap shrinkage. But what I gained from it was having more control on your trace, just like you said. I am yet to do fancy advanced techniques like swirling, but when I have watched those videos I always think to myself, wow that required a really specific trace and requires it to stay at the trace for quite a while. I've seen processes that take so long, pouring little amounts of different colored soap to do those fancy designs. I was remembering how my first batch in particular got so thick so fast! Within seconds of blending it with my stick blender it became the consistency of room temperature custard. And just sitting there it thickened even more and by the time I was ready to "pour" into molds, it was as thick as cold custard. I had to scoop it out with my spatula and smooth the paste into my little molds. I have one of those 6x 100ml single bar silicone molds. I ended up with air bubbles trapped in there, especially at the corners, and since it was in those little bars it didn't have enough mass to burp up the bubbles by tapping or dropping the whole thing down on the counter a couple inches (like you do with cake batter). My 2nd batch was salt bars so those got thick really fast too. Had I diluted by lye solution, I would've been able to actually pour into molds instead of spreading it in. It seems that there are several things that can effect trace. Like temperature, type of fragrance/essential oil used, and amount and type of water substitutes used too I suppose, like I did with aloe and cucumber juice. Therefore since there's so many factors that we can't control or change anyway as long as we want to use those ingredients, we can control the water amount. I was so surprised to know that it only takes the same weight of water as the weight of lye to fully dissolve it. And just like Efficacious Gentleman suggested, and was written out on the pdf, the significance of working with lye concentration rather than water to oil was clearly illustrated by comparing 2 recipes that were both using the same water to oil percentages where one recipe was 100% olive and the other was 100% coconut. The resulting lye concentrations were drastically different. All 3 of the batches I've made all set up thick really quickly. I was never able to "pour" into molds. I just checked the lye concentration of those recipes and 2 were at 27% and and the other at 28%. They were all set at the water/oil default of 38%. Maybe next time I'll lower the lye concentration a bit so there will be more water so that I can actually pour into my molds to avoid those bubbles and get a nice smooth surface.
Anyway, this was all very enlightening and fascinating!
Thank you all for being so kind and generous with your time in sharing your wisdom with a newbie like me!! I wish I'd found soap making sooner. And to think all I was trying to do was save me some money! I've spent more on soap making supplies in the last month than I would in probably about a year of buying 5 dollar soap bars! Ha! But of course those supplies will keep the soap dishes of myself, my family, friends, co workers, and anyone who'll take it, full with all kinds of strange and interesting creations! And I get to give!
And btw... If any of you read that incredibly toxic and invasive thread by the guy asking to make 2 color soap quickly so he can make money? I just want to say I was simply amazed at everyone's kindness and composure despite his complete lack of respect for the people in this forum, their wisdom, experience, expertise, and most of all generosity. After reading so many of these amazing threads, that one just felt like a shriveled up piece of toxic blackened plastic, gouging its way through spreading its filth. It took everything in me not to just start yelling in capitals for him to GET THE $%^&* OUT OF HERE!!!
Thank you all again. :smile:
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