HOW TO MAKE HANDMADE SOAP

First , I will talk about superfatting. Most lye calculators will superfat the recipe for you automatically. So why we should do the superfat in cold process soap recipe? - this is the reason...

Superfatting is the technique by adding an extra amount of oil into the soap recipe but keep the amount of lye the same.

Lye discounting is the technique by using the same amount of oil but less lye. For example, using 9.5 ounces of lye instead of 10 ounces would amount to 5% superfatting (5% extra oil).

Normally 5% superfatting is standard %superfat that mostly soapmakers use.

The great lye calculator site :
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php

The reasons we should do superfat
The rest of oil in the soap give us extra moisturizing...however, too much of the rest oil in the soap isn't good because the soap will be a softer bar and get rancid quickly. So the best is just small amount of oil in the soap which is 5% superfat is recommended.

Another reason to superfat is the safety. If your weighing isn't precise , Superfatting helps in the safety. Because there is a little extra oil in the recipe ensure that every one of the lye molecules will have more than enough opportunity to pair up with an oil molecule.

Normally, most lye calculators will calculate superfat 5% for you. If not, you can discount lye. For example, if your recipe calls for 10 ounces of lye and you want a 5% discount, multiply that by .95 (95%). That would give you 9.5 ounces of lye.


Discounting water
In soap recipe , more water will result in softer soap and takes longer time to mix until it trace , longer time to unmold and cure. On another hand, using less water results in soap that get trace faster and takes less time to unmold and cure.

And the same as superfat that lye calculators will calculate water discount for you. The amount of water in the recipe depends on the amount of lye (not oils). Once you know the amount of lye you will use , then you can calculate the amount of discount water by following this (in case you would like to calculate the water discount manually) :

Calculate a non-discounted water amount :
Water = Lye Amount * 73 / 27

If the recipe requires for 3 oz of lye:
Water = 3 oz lye * 73 / 27
Water = 8.1 oz

(The most common “non-discounted” lye and water solution is 27% lye and 73% water.)

For water discount , I would like to recommend a ratio of about 33% lye and 66% water.. then we can calculate easily. For example, if the recipe requires for 2.4 ounces of lye, I will use 4.8 ounces of water. (Just use this formula to calculate , The amount of discount water = 2 X the amount of lye )

However, different recipes use different discount water because some ingredients in each recipe absorb water which can result in cracking if you discount water too much. Some fragrance and additives can also react or affect trace.