Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 I just went ahead and bought SoapMaker, since I'm apparently in this for the long haul. Gotta learn sometime, right? Does anyone have any tips on using this program that maybe aren't so apparent from the beginning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna4909 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Hmm... anything specific you're needing?Add your packaging to the "additives" section, and under the measurment, mark it as "item". And when you add it to a recipe make sure you change the drop down menu to item.You can even use this to figure the cost of your candles. *lol* Just add your wax as a "base oil". You can also resize recipes very easily, just click resize, and type how many ounces you want total. It will even adjust your packaging when you do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 The more I play around with it the better I like it. I'm not sure what questions I'll have about it, but you can bet as soon as I get a chance to really look at it and play around with it, I'll have plenty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Okay, here's one.I put the exact same recipe into the online soapcalc and into soapmaker but I get two entirely different lye and water amounts. How do I fix that and know it is correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellkast Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 OOOOOOHHHH!!! What is soapmaker!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna4909 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 I put the exact same recipe into the online soapcalc and into soapmaker but I get two entirely different lye and water amounts. How do I fix that and know it is correct?Did you make sure the percentages for superfatting & water discounting were the same?SoapMaker is: http://www.soapmaker.ca/SMhome.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 I got the lye discount set at 6%, which makes the lye amount now correct, but the water on soapmaker is lower than soapcalc with no discount taken in the program that I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimmi Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Okay, here's one.I put the exact same recipe into the online soapcalc and into soapmaker but I get two entirely different lye and water amounts. How do I fix that and know it is correct?how much of a difference is it?calculators can vary from site to site. i bought woodis soap maker about 2 years ago. the only changes i make in the water and lye dept is a manual entry in the discount box, per recipe.if you want to change the internal water / lye %s, to what you have been using, contact woodi for instructions.i love the program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 The lye is right on, but the water is always lacking about 1.18 oz. I can't figure out where to change the lye solution %, which is what is making my water amount off... anybody know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna4909 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 I find that soap calc is generally on the heavy side for water. I always end up setting their calc to a 28% water discount.As mimmi said, calculators can and do vary. I think the average calculator is set at 4 ounces of water per pound of oil, however SoapMaker is based on a 29% lye solution. This thread might help: http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1978If you're worried about it, you could always do the math in your head for the water part. General standards are 1 lb oil recipe = 4-6 ounces of water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Girl Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Thanks guys. I found that if I did a -8.5 water discount, I could bring my lye solution to 27.3%, the same as the online calc I have been using, so I entered the negative discount as my starting recipe amount for any new recipe to get the same lye solution % as soapcalc. Weird, but yeah, you're right about the heavy water online compared to the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 just found this thread doing a search...Thanks GG:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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