Teach Soap

Hi Guys,

I've been away for a long time but am now getting back to being a soaper. I did a little work on a spreadsheet for myself to get a better grip on the soaping process. Some folk who've seen it suggested I should share it. I'm a little bit computer literate but not so good with the internet side of things so sharing is a challenge for me. I had thought I might be able to upload a file to the forum but it appears not.

I do have a little that I have thrown together, more by luck than judgement, where I can host the file. If you are interested in trying this out you need to have Apple's Numbers spreadsheet program for it to work. I got Numbers for free with my mac and I believe it is free on iPad and iPhone too. Even Windows users with a free iCloud account can use it.

Anyway, I'd be very grateful if some experienced soapers could give it a try and give me some feedback. The file can be downloaded directly from .

Many thanks in advance.

Grant

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Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

I have updated the little I put up and it is a bit more polished now. I hope you like it. There is a feedback page for anyone who tries this tool to let me know what I did right and what I did wrong. I'd be very grateful for any and all feedback.

_________________
Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

I just thought I'd announce a little embellishment to the "soap designer" part of the spreadsheet. I've added "steppers" to the oils input cells. This allows a gradual change in an individual oil's percentage value while seeing the result of the changes in real time on the graph. I like visual things so I find it helpful.

As I was typing this it occurs to me that the name "soap designer" is a bit grandiose for a spreadsheet. If anyone could suggest a better name I'm all ears.

I'm also quite keen to know if anyone has had a play with this? Even if you thought it was useless. I'll not be offended. I really made this for selfish reasons before I was encouraged to share it. I know Mac users are a minority but I thought there might be a few iPad users out in the soaping world.

_________________
Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

I've been working a little more on this project and have updated the with some more instructions and I've simplified the method for using it somewhat too. It has now reached v1.3.

I apologise that the interface is a little more cluttered now. One of the limitations of the Numbers app is that lists are not as flexible/powerful as they are in Excel. Consequently, I have had to leave little lists of things on the screen as an aid to memory for stuff like the names of oils, fragrances, colourants and soap moulds. Hopefully, it will help rather than hinder. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Grant

_________________
Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

Well, this is disappointing. It seems I have discovered a bug in the Numbers app! I should ask anyone who is using this tool to stop for a bit until I implement a few changes to work around the issue. In the meantime I'll take the tool off my web site (although the soap designer part still works).

Sorry for this. I'm glad I found it though as it did have an effect on water amounts and, to a lesser extent, lye calculations. Better safe than sorry so, as I said, I'll remove it as soon as I'm back at my computer after my holiday in beautiful Darwin, NT.

_________________
Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd pop in and apologise for not being around lately. I'm in a new season at work now and have only a little time for anything else. I've tried, and failed, to make this a priority.

I think the simplest solution in the short term is for me to split the tool into several simpler tools. Even this will take me a while. So, if you use any of these features, you may be pleased to hear that I'll be able to put up a properly working version once I have addressed the bug in Numbers. That part is easy but still will take me longer than I have available just now.

_________________
Cheers,

Grant

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. [Jim Elliott]