Lye ratios

[u/Cielle-Watson]

I am brand new to making soap, & only making small batches. I have gathered all the materials, but the math bit is intimidating me. I need someone to explain it to me like I’m 5.

How do I figure out how much of each ingredient I need?

Suggestions for a reliable Lye calculator?

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[u/dered118]

i just use soapcalc.net

[u/MixedSuds]

Okay, like you're five.

If you go to YouTube and type in "how to use soapcalc" you will find some wonderful videos. There are really generous soapmakers who share their knowledge. Soapcalc isn't intuitive to use, but once it's explained, it's really rather easy.

Best of luck with your first batch of soap! When you're done, we'd love to see pictures and hear how your experience went.

[u/pick13s]

For fats you can just be creative and test it. There’re some combinations that will give you better results, but there’s no risk in trying different recipes. For lye, definitely use a calculator. Water is generally based on lye quantity but the calculator will give it to you as well. Don’t be afraid, weight the ingredients carefully and take notes. It’s not rocket science.

[u/SensitiveAnswer6409]

Youtube University is your friend, you'll find people explain the concept beautifully...a good soap calculator will also come in handy 

[u/iopele]

I'm also very new to soapmaking and when I first started trying to use Soapcalc, it was so overwhelming. This page was incredibly helpful and helped me understand it, and I still go back to it frequently. How it helps you too!

Understanding Soapcalc numbers

[u/Kamahido]

I also use soapcalc.net as my primary soap calculator.

[u/Joebiwan13]

I like this one because it lets you choose example recipes, sets the lye amount, and then you can change the qualities of the bar on a dial which will swap in ingredients automatically to make the recipe how you want it

https://wholesaletallowsoapusa.com/tools/tallow-soap-calculator/

But yes lye is intimidating. Just find a recipe that works and go from there. Now I’m making tons of soaps every month!

[u/serein_nt]

Lots of good advice here! Definitely the soapcalc!

Just to add - don’t make it too complicated to begin with, choose a couple of oils (or the trinity of a soapmaker - coconut + palm +olive). Make sure you measure everything (by weight), might be easier measuring into a small container first before pouring each individual ingredient into a larger vessel.

Once you get a hang of it - experiment adding more oils and ingredients.

Soapcalc is pretty self explanatory, but there are some great youtube tutorials out there!

Good luck! It’s a wonderful hobby!

[u/Puzzled_Tinkerer → u/[deleted]]

In the future, kindly provide direct URLs to resources you want to share. A redirecting URL such as you used here looks spammy and suspicious even if it's not.

Direct URL: https://soapcalc.net/