NEW! Check this out! :-) - Some generous soapmakers contributed this delightful soapy explanation with illustrations in order to visually explain the process of Saponification and Lye Discounting. I just love this! Thanks to Pat B! and Jennifer Davis of Canis Art!
Here is the link: http://www.canis-art.com/soaping.htm
Majestic Mountain Sage Lye Calculator - Troubleshoot your recipes before disaster strikes!
As previously stated, many soapmakers prefer to use the Lye Calculator at Majestic Mountain Sage and feel its saponification numbers result in a milder soap. This is a GREAT tool, and before you make a recipe, you plug your ingredients into the open fields, hit a button and it will tell you how much lye is needed for the amount of fats you are using. It is recommended that you make your soap with an extra 5-8% fat to be sure that it will be mild. If you are adding a lot of fragrance oil to a batch ... like 4 oz. or more (essential oils tend to be stronger and have a different composition, so probably not a problem in this regard), you may not want it to be overly superfatted in addition...this may contribute to some soaps oozing glycerin while curing).
A hint for calculating shortening SAPs on MMS: Majestic Mountain Sage doesn't have a field for shortening, since its ingredients can vary. For ease in calculating, you can plug your shortening amounts into the field of some other oil with a similar SAP number. For a SAP value of .129, use the Safflower or Corn Oil field. (I used to recommend Avocado, which has a lower number, but think some of the shortening recipes were too superfatted, so have upped it slightly.)
Majestic Mountain Sage Lye Calculator for Creating Soap Formulas
(http://www.the-sage.com/services/calculator.html)
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