ladysj Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Okay I've been playing with the Lye calculator. I'm going to try Darwin's recipe this weekend hopefully. My question is is there always suppose to be something in the water discount and superfat section? I am really confused about these 2 things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmadness Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 A water discount is when you use less water than the recipe calls for but the same amount of lye. The reason why people do this is to speed up the process of curing. The less the water, the less the curing time because there is less water to evaporate out of the soap. Most people cure soap from 4-6 weeks with a water discount it can be ready in 1-2 weeks.Super-fatting is the percentage of oils that are not bonded to a lye molecule. In other words, superfatting is done to make the soap more moisturizing and less "harsh". Most soapers superfat at 5% but usually no more than 10% is recommended. The more superfatting the shorter shelf life that your soap has because of the 'free oils'.IMO- if you are new to soap making I would not recommend a water discount. Unless you know your oils and FO very well it can cause seizing or acceleration that you will not be expecting. MOST recipes are with a standard 5% superfat.HTH.Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladysj Posted October 12, 2006 Author Share Posted October 12, 2006 Yes it does thank you Jennifer. I will just eliminate the water discount for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Different calculators sometimes recommend different amounts of water,and thus the "water discount" won't be the same in them. For this reason, I suggest you work with the concentration of lye in water (% lye) rather than "water discount" - it tells us mroe clearly just what you are doing.And I agree - no water discount for the beginning! Or for HP, for that matter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca_IA Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Different calculators sometimes recommend different amounts of water,and thus the "water discount" won't be the same in them. For this reason, I suggest you work with the concentration of lye in water (% lye) rather than "water discount" - it tells us mroe clearly just what you are doing.And I agree - no water discount for the beginning! Or for HP, for that matter!If one is just starting out, please do not even try to figure out what concentration of a lye solution to work with. There are way too many other things you are just starting to understand to add one more to the mix, and with lye, a minor screw up could end up a big mistake, a costly one. So in the beginning, use the amount of water the lye calculators tells you to (or in the range they tell you to use) and don't question it. Once you've got the system down and you are understanding formulating recipes and what fatty acids are and how they blend together to make a great/good/poor bar of soap, then come back and pick up some of the more advanced issues of soap making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Sorry I should have been more clear - I meant if she comes online and asks questions about a batch she made or something I can't always tell how much water was used unless she tells the lye concentration. SoapMaker shows the %, as does SoapCalc.com.But agreed, just go with the calculator and the defaults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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