Here I go again with soap calc problems....

[Michi]

:undecided :undecided :undecided

Am I ever EVER going to understand this gosh darn thing??

Since my last problems trying to figure out the soap friggin' calc, I've just been using a recipe that Purple Lilac gave me, and she gave me the amount of lye and water I should use, etc. so I didn't have to try and figure anything out, just mix it up and pour it and let it cure.

Now..... I want to make Darwin's basic soap recipe, got everything out and ready to go, but when I put everything into the soap calc. I just sit ther and stare at it, get overwhelmed and can't figure out how much of anything I'm supposed to use.

At this point I don't even care about the lather, hardness etc. I just wanna know how much of each ingredient I'm supposed to use-geesh!!

This is why I do NOT enjoy CP soap, I feel like a complete idiot.

It must be all the numbers-I have a complex about numbers-they scare me, hence the reason I can't the business part of business going-I only like the arsty/creative part of it, not the numbers game part.

[Michi]

Ok, DUHHH found the ingredient amounts-what an idiot I am. :rolleyes2

And this soap calc. automatically computes a 5% water discount right? (whatever that means??)

Can I use FD&C colorants in CP soap?

If so, do I mix it into one of the oils (since it's powder) before putting into the bowl with the other ingredients?

Oh, and are palm kernel oil FLAKES the same as palm kernel oil??

[eugenia]

And this soap calc. automatically computes a 5% water discount right? (whatever that means??) No That is 5% superfat.

Can I use FD&C colorants in CP soap? Not sure, I think so.

If so, do I mix it into one of the oils (since it's powder) before putting into the bowl with the other ingredients? You can, or reserve a bit of oil to mix with the colorant if you don't want to color the whole batch.

Oh, and are palm kernel oil FLAKES the same as palm kernel oil?? Yes.

[Crafty1_AJ]

The 5% default setting is for discounting your LYE by 5%. That means that you'll have some free fats that didn't get saponified (turned into soap). Makes a milder bar and helps give you a little wiggle room to ensure you don't have lye-heavy soap since the SAP values of fats vary from batch to batch. Hard to be exact on how much lye you need to saponify EVERY last bit of the fats.

Yes, you can use FD&C colorants in CP. Be aware that they sometimes fade, however, and they sometimes morph into different colors in the highly alkaline environment of cold process soap batter.

To incorporate powders into your soap, you can try one of three things. Mix with a bit of water (if they are water soluble) before adding. Mix with a bit of oils (if they are oil soluble) before adding. Or, if you aren't sure how they will best dissolve, and don't want to mess around with reserving water or oils from your batch, just do what I do. I mix the powders into a tiny dab of glycerin and smoosh the powder in with a rubber spatula before adding. Works like a charm.

Happy soaping!

[Lorrie]

All I can say is... You aren't alone. I too have problems with it. I usually use the calculator and the sage but when I screwed up a batch of soap I tried to use the soap calc. to figure out the qualities. I came here and asked about the numbers. So don't feel bad

[OutlandishLady]

Hey AJ I couldn't find "smoosh" in the CP lexicon, can you provide a graphic depiction?

[Crafty1_AJ]

Pfffffffffffffffttttttttt!!!!

[Scented]

Hey AJ I couldn't find "smoosh" in the CP lexicon, can you provide a graphic depiction?

Similar to whip, stir, hiss, blend ... anything that gets the dottiness out lol.