Discounting water

[Jeana]

What do most of you use for the water discount % in your soap recipes.

I finally took the time to research what discounting water is and does. So now I'm curious what most people use for a standard discount %.

Do most of you discount water only to speed up the curing time, or are there other benefits as well?

[CareBear]

I haven't the foggiest what the 'discount' is cause I don't know what you are stating with. (i.e., discounting means taking some off - but if I don't know how much you ave to start with I cannot tell you how much...)

However I use about a 35-40% lye concentration.

ETA: It doesn't speed cure time, though - it just helps me get it out of the mold more quickly. A good soap still needs its full cure IMO.

[Jeana]

Maybe I should have asked what % lye solution do people prefer. (which is lye + water, divided by lye, right?)

When I calculated some of my recipes I have ranged between 36% - 25%. I am interested if this is a typical range.

[IndulgentCreations]

I think most of mine are 33%.

[sudsnwicks]

Jeana, it is the other way round: lye divided by lye+water. I use a lye concentration of 25-40% depending on the recipe. Using the lower end (25%) is helpful for fragrances which accelerate. The benefit of using a higher concentration (40%) is that the bars shrink less during curing as there is less water to evaporate away.

[eugenia]

I'm typically at 33% lye solution.

[jbren]

I pre-make a 33% solution knowing that if I am using a finicky FO, I can always add to it.

[ChrisR]

Mine are 35 to 40% solution.