Help with soap calculator
- Thread starter cisanch
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Rsapienza35
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- Joined
- Nov 4, 2019
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Castile soap is 100 % olive oil.
What exactly is your question?
I need help on how to use the soap calculator to make this recipe? I new on making soap and have no idea on how to use the soap calculator. This a batch I made and didn`t come out right but can still use it.
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Take your ingredients and enter them one by one. As far as setting up the recipe, choose the size batch you want and I’d start with a superfat percentage of 5. Once you enter the ingredients, the calculator will help you calculate the amount of lye and water you need to use.
I will say that cinnamon burns skin, and once it’s cured a soap with cinnamon may be scratchy - so I wouldn’t add that at one of my first batches.
I don’t know if there is a “best” essential oil for soaps- it’s what you like. Some people use fragrance oils specifically for soap so it’s skin-safe, but I do use essential oils for fragrance. With cold process soaping, much of the aroma of the essential oil is lost so you will usually get a more subtle fragrance.
As far as using the calculator, the best way to do it is step-by-step, filling in the boxes as you go. Your batch size, for example, is done by measuring your molds. If you’re following a recipe from someone else, you can type in the recipe for practice and see how it works. We don’t yet have a tutorial, but it works the same way as the other soap calculators in that you put your numbers in the boxes, and it calculates the amount of water, lye, oils, etc you need.
For example, I tend to do small-ish batches, and I measure my ingredients in ounces. So I set it building it by percentages, and ounces as my measurement. To begin, you can select the default settings for superfat, lye concentration, etc. So this is how the start of a recipe looks:
If you want to play with this, pick a recipe from the database and then enter those numbers yourself so you can see how it works for you. When I first started making soap, I chose recipes from a source or two that were trustworthy, and ran them through a soap calculator for practice as well as to ensure the recipe was not lye heavy.
It does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you do it once or twice, it becomes super easy.
As far as using the calculator, the best way to do it is step-by-step, filling in the boxes as you go. Your batch size, for example, is done by measuring your molds. If you’re following a recipe from someone else, you can type in the recipe for practice and see how it works. We don’t yet have a tutorial, but it works the same way as the other soap calculators in that you put your numbers in the boxes, and it calculates the amount of water, lye, oils, etc you need.
For example, I tend to do small-ish batches, and I measure my ingredients in ounces. So I set it building it by percentages, and ounces as my measurement. To begin, you can select the default settings for superfat, lye concentration, etc. So this is how the start of a recipe looks:
If you want to play with this, pick a recipe from the database and then enter those numbers yourself so you can see how it works for you. When I first started making soap, I chose recipes from a source or two that were trustworthy, and ran them through a soap calculator for practice as well as to ensure the recipe was not lye heavy.
It does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you do it once or twice, it becomes super easy.
Yooper I am having a very difficult to comprehend this calculator. I am a visual learner going to have to find someone locally to help me with this calculator to be able to comprehend it. I would love if their was a video on using this type of calculator to be able to figure it out. I apologize if I am asking for help. I am new in learning how to make soaps and trying to figure it out with the chemistry that I don`t know. Thank you for your assistance.
I understand. I think that making a tutorial is a great idea- and I hope we can add one soon.
We love to help, and I wish I could explain it better. Filling in the blanks really does do the trick, and it is step by step- but for someone brand new to calculators I can see that it is not that easy.
We love to help, and I wish I could explain it better. Filling in the blanks really does do the trick, and it is step by step- but for someone brand new to calculators I can see that it is not that easy.
