Well I haven't made it yet, but I was just going to get the one from the store, and that is an awesome question....I guess we will see....the whole trial and error thing. I did read that the wh/water mix will turn yellow when the lye is added. I am just trying to find something that will help calm down hidradenitis suppurativa, which is a non-contagious, recurrent disease affecting areas of the body where there is skin to skin contact such as the armpits, groin and where apocrine glands and hair follicles are found. There is no known cure for this. Recommendation is antibacterial soap, antibiotics, surgery. But if you can get control of them they rarely grow into debilitating lesions. Some people can get them as large as baseballs.