I finally figured out how to use the Soap Calculator. This is helpful when I want to substitute my own choices of oils, adjust the amounts within a recipe or simply make up my own. Its a great tool which automatically calculates the amount of water and lye needed for each recipe. It also gives some guidance for important soap qualities, such as hardeness of bar, conditioning, bubbliness, cleanliness, etc... This is the link to a great calculator.
http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp
As I was preparing for my trip up north, I thought it would be great to do a soap making demo for anyone who was interested in seeing the process. For this I would need a fairly simple straight forward recipe I could use. Something that would lend itself well to the option of additives. This was my chance to use the handy soap calculator.
This is the basic recipe I came up with.
9.4 oz lard
6 oz olive oil
4 oz coconut oil
2 oz avocado oil
8.13 oz water
3.17 oz lye
I decided to try it out at home first, just to make sure.
At the same time, I had seen someone on a soap making ofrum using a piece of down spout as a soap mold, and the shape of the soap was so adorable, Rob and I decided this was a "must have" mold. Off we went to Home Depot to purchase our pieces. Just in time to make my sample soap...
Of course, I had to adjust my additives - end result was the aromatic Coffee & Cream soap!
My adjustments? I used strong leftover coffee in place of the water. At trace I added approx. 1 Tbsp powdered milk, 1 Tbsp cocoa and 1 tsp coffee grinds. The coffee scent is hardly noticeable. I should have added a bit of my coffee FO. I can smell the cocoa, but I was using that mainly for colour, and I could have added a little more for a slightly darker soap.
All together, I am pleased with the soap.
In La Crete, we used the basic recipe listed above and added approx 1 tsp clear vanilla (bright back from Mexico) and 1 Tbsp ground oatmeal.
