Teach Soap

I am a newbie......haven't even done first batch yet. I have 99 percent of the ingredients to make a batch, but I'm one of those people that have to read everything first.

I have a question about mold types. I have several recipes that I'd like to try, some of them just say pour into a 4 pound mold, some of them give mold dimensions. How do I know how much soap a 4 pound batch makes or what size mold to use? If I use, lets say, a silicone loaf mold, how many pounds of soap will it hold? Is there a simple way to figure this out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I find soap making very interesting and am "hooked" already.
Still, so many questions.....

Thanks,
Shelia

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Shelia
Newbie still learning.....

Measure length x width x height (how high you want the soap to be, not necesarilly the very top of the mold), then multiply by 0.4 That includes both oils and lye water.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks for the fast response. I will give that a try.

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Shelia
Newbie still learning.....

Hi sapxn032! Welcome to the addiction!
I just want to add that a 4# batch is a pretty large batch for a first soap. You might want to scale it down to 1 or 2 pounds in case something goes wrong. That way you won't have wasted a lot of oils. My first 5 batches were just 1# each until I got a feel for the process. Then I started making larger batches. It's also a good idea to just do a plain batch with no scent or color.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I totally agree with Linda. First batch not more than 0,5 kg. It about one pound.
Wish you success and joy

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Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration

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www.fostersfields.ca
https://www.facebook.com/FostersFields

First, not all of the water evaporates. It really somewhat depends on how much water you used for the lye solution and then heat, humity, age of soap would play a part.
I am thinking that soapers tend to use the oils as the batch size because that would stay constant. And so much of what we add to our soap - coloring, scent, oatmeal, milks etc are based on the oil weight.
That was really great that your DH was able to make a mold for you. I read your other comment about lining it and it sounds fantastic!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Thank you all for the welcome. It is a little confusing at first, one reason I'm trying to read as much as I can. The most confusing part is trying to figure out how much the recipe makes and which mold to use. I plan on my first batch this weekend. I'm trying to figure out the lye calculator and have just about got that down (every recipe I come across, I run it thru just to get the feel of how much ingredients to use)...it's the scaling down that is confusing because I'm not sure how much the recipe makes to begin with.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm anxious to get the first batch under my belt....there are so many recipes that I want to try, very pretty soap out there. I got the idea that I wanted to do soap for Christmas presents, so I figured I better get started since they have to cure.

Shelia

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Shelia
Newbie still learning.....

I forgot to add that I probably will do a batch with no added ingredients for my first. Go simple. That way I can always use to rebatch and get a feel for just how much soap I'm actually making.

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Shelia
Newbie still learning.....

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www.fostersfields.ca
https://www.facebook.com/FostersFields

Good luck, and welcome to the addiction!!!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

To understand the full soap batter amount just add the ounces or grams of the water, lye, and oil\fat. If I was doing FO\EO and coloring I would add those in as well. This will be your total amount. Now there will always be a little waste... I use a spatula and clean out my batter bowl very well, but some always remains.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I keep silicone ice cube trays handy for any batter that won't fit in my molds. This gives me nice little guest soaps and makes sure there is less waste! You could also grate them or cube them smaller and use them for chunk or grated soap embeds!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Thanks Heather, that is a good idea. You could use them as samples, too.

Shelia

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Shelia
Newbie still learning.....