How to Use a Lye Calculator
Тәжірибелік нұсқаулар және стиль
I have a series of "classroom" style videos coming up. These look at the elements of soap making beyond just making soap. I'm sure when most of you started making soap you used a recipe given to you or you found from (hopefully) a reputable soap maker/teacher. But we all reach a point where we usually want to start creating our own recipe. To do that you either need to be able to calculate a recipe from scratch (Say what! Yes, from scratch...I might even have a video series coming up on that!) or use a lye calculator.
So, today I am walking you through how to use a lye calculator. I use the calculator from SoapCalc.net. It is my favorite and one that gives you the most control over your recipe.
#lyecalculator #howtousealyecalculator #soapmaking #recipeformualtionforsoap
SoapCalc: www.soapcalc.net
SoapCalc Directions: www.soapcalc.net/info/helptext...
Modern Soapmaking How to Better Understand Water: www.modernsoapmaking.com/blog...
0:00 How to Use a Lye Calculator
0:05 Introduction to the Lye Calculator
1:23 Part 1 - The Oils
3:08 Part 2 - NaOH vs. KOH
3:22 Part 3 - Choosing Your Oil Weight
4:03 Part 4 - Water Content
5:15 Part 5 - Determining Your Superfat
6:00 Part 6 - Creating Your Recipe
6:50 Part 7 - Your Final Recipe
A little extra info on Calculating Water Amount
Water is needed to dissolve the lye (sodium hydroxide) and for the hydrolysis of the fats. Hydrolysis is a reaction involving the breaking of a bond in a molecule using water. The reaction mainly occurs between an ion and water molecules and often changes the pH of a solution.
When making soap too much water will result in a soft bar of soap that will need extra drying time and could even encourage rancidity (depending on how much water and the oils you used). Too little water could result in an inability for your lye to completely dissolve (worst case) or significantly speed up your trace (giving you less time to make the soap).
As you learn and experiment you will figure out a water “amount” that you want to use. The more water used the more fluid the mixture will remain. Higher water discounts will trace much quicker. However they will also cure quicker. It’s really a matter of preference. There’s no right or wrong water amount unless you go below a 50-50 solution. Sodium hydroxide needs at least equal amounts of water to dissolve. A good starting point is a lye solution strength between 25 and 33%.
What does 25% solution strength mean? When a water strength is referred to in a percentage the percentage is representing the lye. The remainder is water. So, a 25% solution means that 25% of your lye solution is lye and the remaining 75% is water.
A 33% solution means 33% is lye and the remaining 67% is water. A 50% solution means you’ve got each amounts of lye and water. You cannot go any higher than this if you want the sodium hydroxide to fully dissolve.
You’re going to work with a solution strength between 25% and 50%. If you’re unsure what strength to use or are new to soap making stick with a solution strength between 28% and 33% until you have a better understand of how water works in the soap making process.
Пікірлер: 18
Thanks so much for sharing. Each time I saw the calculator, I got confused and closed it but you explained it so well. Thanks so much.
@TheSoapArtist
2 ай бұрын
Glad this was helpful!
Thank you so much Jennifer! Your video is very helpful for me. Looking forward to your "classroom" style videos 😀
@TheSoapArtist
2 жыл бұрын
Glad this was helpful!! Hope you like the upcoming videos too! There’s a lot of stuff I want to share 🤎🤎
Thank you for sharing this info! I’m just getting started on my cold process soaping adventure and was wondering how to use that! 😊👍❤️
@TheSoapArtist
Жыл бұрын
Glad this was helpful!
Thanks for this very informative video. You broke it down very well. I am just finding myself tripped up on how to calculate it using goat milk instead of water. I understand that I am probably overthinking it but I just can't figure it out. Any tips would be absolutely wonderful and much appreciated! Thanks again!
@TheSoapArtist
4 ай бұрын
It doesn't matter. It's calculating your "liquid" amount. So if you want to use aloe water instead of distilled water it would be the same. Same with goat's milk or coconut milk or any other liquid. Now, using milk has lots of variables you'll need to decide on...is it condensed milk, fresh milk, are you using straight milk or blend of milk/water... mixing these will lye are generally done a bit different than just water because milk can "burn". So the amount is whatever the water is in the recipe.
@Ash0887
4 ай бұрын
@@TheSoapArtist ah, I understand. I will be using fresh goat milk, frozen of course! Thanks for the prompt response 😁
Thank you for sharing
@TheSoapArtist
10 ай бұрын
You're welcome!
Hi , just i wanna ask abou the benefits' soap and super fat , please 1- Do the oils' benefits remove when we combine them with naOH ? 2- when adding super fat , do i reduce from quantity of oil which combined or just add another one Ex : 500g oil + 50g super fat or 450g oil + 50 super fat ?
Super helpful! One question, How do you know the percentage you need for each ingredient to create a good bar of soap? Thank you so much
@TheSoapArtist
2 жыл бұрын
That is a whole other topic: Formulating a Recipe. There's a lot of knowledge that needs to be gained to formulate and that takes some time, experience, researching, and experimenting with. And, unfortunately, not something I can give a quick or simple answer to. The first place I'd suggest starting is learning about the different oils most common to soap making, the properties they lend to soap and then looking at the combinations of those oils and how they might work together. You can also check out Lovin' Soap (a blog and ebooks) with a lot of information on the topic. It's something I will work on teaching in the future, but it will take some time for me to pull that all together so it won't be anytime soon.
@Janabstra
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheSoapArtist I completely understand. Thank you so much for explaining. I really appreciate it!
If the mold is for 16oz won’t it overflow, should we just do 70% of the 16oz for the oils?
@TheSoapArtist
Жыл бұрын
You have to determine how much oil your mold will hold. Once you know that then you can use the lye calculator. This is the general way people determine it: threelittlegoats.com/how-to-calculate-how-much-oil-is-needed-in-a-soap-mold/ From experience I find these calculations to give you a little under what you need. One of my math videos (I forget which one specifically) gives a cheat sheet for the standard mold sizes and how much oil each will hold.
@TheSoapArtist
Жыл бұрын
Note: this example I assume I have a mold that holds 24oz and that I need 16oz of oil (basically).