My "normal, Plain Jane" soap recipe calls for 570grams of water. I use 470grams of water for the lye, and have room-temp cream or coconut milk which I don't put in until the lye & fats are emulsified well, but a bit before trace. The soap comes out a nice light translucent ivory every time.
I like coconut milk because it's plentiful & lathers like mad. Also, for me, it's better than water when doing a rebatch, just seems to make everything come together more nicely for some reason I don't understand...
I only wish decent powdered milk was available here. Sadly, it's all irradiated "long-life" boxed milk or comes in a plastic bag. Yuk! The cream is not irradiated, tho, so that's why I use it.
Finally, this year I got the hookup with Julio, who comes on horsecart to deliver fresh milk every week. But I've been putting that into coffee & cheese instead of soap.
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)