Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Am I the only dummy who can't figure out the soap calculators? I'm sitting here for hours & hours on end between tears and rage because it makes no damn sense to me!!I have searched every which way from Wednesday on the forum - but can't find any basic explanations. I have gone to several recommended sites and just get more & more confused. NOW I know why I have been so daunted by making my own soap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 What specifically do you have a problem with? I usually use the one from summerbeemeadow.com, and I love it. You type in the # of oz. of each oil, decide how much superfatting you want, and hit the button. It will even resize your recipe for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasBrat Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I'm a soap calc dummy. :wave: I have yet to understand and use that one. I use MMS's calculator. I suppose using the soap calc would be useful for determining different options for soaps but I am happy with my recipe that I currently use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbren Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I use Soapmaker, but before I bought that, I used the one at Rainbow Meadows. I can't figure out soapcalc for the life of me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I find soap calc super easy. Where lies the confusion? I'll try to help.e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Thank you ALL for such quick responses.It appeared to me the majority of the soapers here used this hellacious agonizing thing - http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.asp .Using recipes I 'think' I can manage just to double check the lye is properly calculated. But starting from scratch I haven't the foggiest as to what % of what I want. And how am I supposed to know how superfat my discount water should be (ok, little joke there but you get the idea I think....I hope) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Lurkin', start with a tried and true recipe, then adapt to your needs (i.e., put the recipe in soapcalc or whatever, than play around with adding or subbing different oils, etc.). I recommend starting with Darwin's which is great just the way it is. Creating from scratch can be challenging from best - so I say find a basic recipe and then adapt it...I would say use the amount of water that is recommended by the calculator (don't discount) - till you are well versed in soaping. As for superfat, most of us use 5% or 6% - so that's a reasonable place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 K -I'll have to go on a Candletech search & destroy mission after the lil one is down for the night. Darwin? I'm assuming (probably wrong though - is a person here?)Why would you superfat? What is superfat (other than my heiny;) )?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Hmmmm - I think you need to back up before you get into creating recipes and actually making soap. Start at the miller web site http://www.millersoap.com/. This is really important in understanding soaps and the ingredients. START THERE.In the meantime, superfat (my heiny too) means oils in excess of what the lye in your formula (folks here say recipe) can saponify. You need some extra because you need some "wiggle room" to avoid getting a soap that has excess lye (lye heavy) - which would be very bad for your skin. Generally 5-6% gives plenty of room for error (assuming you have the proper scale, that goes to 1 gram or .1 oz, and make a batch of 1# ABSOLUTE smallest, 2# is better). You can go higher if you want a soap to be more "moisturizing" but if you do you risk soap that goes rancid or doesn't clean - matter of preference though. Don't go below 5%.There are other basic recipes here as well - some even simpler - check out the recipes section under B&B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbren Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I find soap calc super easy. Where lies the confusion? I'll try to help.eHi Eugenia...thanks for the offer. I just get very frustrated because it just doesn't seem 'organized' enough for me. There's too much 'going on'...if that makes any sense at all. By the way...where are you in NJ...I'm in Philly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I would recommend you use an existing recipe as well. Don't try to create your own just yet; that might be a bit premature. Try making a "tried & true" recipe from here or millersoap.com website. If you like it, you can enter that recipe into soapcalc and check the numbers for hardness, lather, cleansing, etc. Print the recipe out or jot down the numbers on the fatty acid profile as well (lauric, myristic, etc.) Then you can come up with your own substitutions and see if the numbers are similar to the recipe you like. Try to make sure your numbers fall within the range guidelines that soapcalc offers. When you're a beginner, I can't stress this enough. SIMPLE is best. Just get your feet wet with the famous trinity of soaping: olive, coconut and palm. Use 50% soft oils (olive) and 50% hard oils (a combo of palm and coconut). Seriously, you can make perfectly fine soap with just those three. You can also use olive, coconut and lard if you prefer. KISS is the principle here -- keep it simple! You really don't need a lot of fancy ingredients to make good, basic soap. Honestly, I churned out TONS of soap using existing recipes before I even touched soapcalc. lol I love it, but there *is* a learning curve there. I wouldn't expect you to understand soapcalc when you're a newbie to soaping. There's a lot to learn when it comes to soaping, and only time and experience are going to help out with that. It took me a while to understand soapcalc. If you want to understand it better, read up on and study the various fatty acid profiles of different basic oils, and learn which fatty acids contribute which properties to the final soap (hardness, lather, conditioning, etc.) You want a combination of those factors eventually, but that will come in TIME as your understanding increases.hth, and happy soaping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinInOR Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 The FAQ section has a couple of posts that might help as well:Soapcalc http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3179MMS http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977There's lots of good stuff in the FAQ section http://www.candletech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27It takes awhile to get the hang of it. Don't get discouraged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Thank you ALL for the valuable input. Alot of those links I had read previously but hadn't saved, I got em now!! Was up til 3am reading - yipes!! Back up at 5 for 'Mommy I need a glass of water', then up for school at 730....gonna be a loooooooong day!!Though, I did 'try' a recipe last night that I'm about to unmold. At this point I can say.....ummmm, it smells good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Congrats on that batch! :highfive: Yep, lots of reading. You've got the idea! Then put that book knowledge to good use by gaining valuable experience actually MAKING some. You're on the right track! Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Ok ALL, it appears anything that could have gone wrong.....did, lol. But I already know where I made a few of my errors so that's a start right?Be nice, I really did try.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Really nice, especially since you are such a newbie. Love your color! What scent are they?My first ones were plain - castile (90% OO, 10% castor oil) - no color or scent. These look good to me. There are lots of swirl techniques, and they all take practice - I see a few air bubbles, but those will go away with practice as well!Did you check if they are still zappy? If not, give a quick wash and see what you think - keep in mind theyw ill improve dramatically over the first couple fo days and continue to get better (IMHO) over the next few weeks.I babble (headache short-circuiting my thinking...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostly Lurkin Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 I'm thinkin I may stick with my melt & pour, lol.They are scented in BB PepperBerry (I LOVE this FO!!)Lesse...what went wrong, lol. Umm, the tops are crumby, the smaller ones have a ton of air bubbles despite being beaten half to death on the counter. The cut ones have orange spots, air pockets, seeped a wee bit of oil & have wee lil white specks (lye???) in em.I'm not stickin my tongue on em to see if they're 'zappy' lol- I like that term. and I just washed my hands with it now & didn't burn my hands off which I'll take as a good sign, lol.Sorry about the headache. Just ruins a day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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