It's been a busy fall! Sorry I didn't get these posted sooner. Just in time to remind all the deer hunters out there to save that fat for rendering into tallow for soap!
Here's the link to my favorite down loadable soap calculator:
It's a good reliable calculator the runs on Excel. It will take up some space on your hard drive, but not too much. Because it is loaded on the computer, you can still use it when the internet connection isn't working due to sunspots and/or blizzards. It's easy to use. You can save the recipes on another worksheet and only keep one file. I like calculators that differentiate between beef, deer and bear tallow. While there isn't a huge difference between them, there is a small difference in the amount of lye used ( okay, so .02 of an ounce isn't really all that much)
I bumped into this calculator while searching for the above calculator. http://www.metaphysicalfarms.com/pages/Lye-Calculator.html The site has good directions, nice YouTube videos of soap making, a few interesting recipes that have some pretty common oils plus very few ads. You can save your recipes to a URL or to their site (lots of people have done this). There is a good recipe and directions on how to make your own laundry soap, and information on different good things to add to your soap to make your skin even more beautiful.
Magestic Mountain is one that is easy to use and gives you a printable recipe. I heard from lots of people at the show this year this is the one they use: http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php It gives you a range of water to add, not a specific amount. It's not that critical as long as you are within the range. (It drives me nuts; I prefer a more precise measurement)
This one is pretty good too: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp. It gives you a recipe you can print to save for your next batch. It will show you the amount of cleansing, hardness, creamy, bubbly and conditioning your bar will be before you make it. It is a little clunky to use, but you will get used to it.
There are lots more out there. If you've read this far you obviously are interested in soap and soap making. My suggestion to you is try using the same recipe in several different calculators. You'll quickly see the variations between them which really isn't all that much. You will find the one that works best for you. Then scrap the rest and stick with your favorite-don't forget to bookmark it! For those of you who love Google Docs, sorry there isn't a soap calculator there.
If you have a favorite calculator, please feel free to post a link to it here. If you love good old mathematical calculations with or without a slide rule, most of the above sites list the saponification values, and you can do the computations yourself!
Here's the link to my favorite down loadable soap calculator:
It's a good reliable calculator the runs on Excel. It will take up some space on your hard drive, but not too much. Because it is loaded on the computer, you can still use it when the internet connection isn't working due to sunspots and/or blizzards. It's easy to use. You can save the recipes on another worksheet and only keep one file. I like calculators that differentiate between beef, deer and bear tallow. While there isn't a huge difference between them, there is a small difference in the amount of lye used ( okay, so .02 of an ounce isn't really all that much)
I bumped into this calculator while searching for the above calculator. http://www.metaphysicalfarms.com/pages/Lye-Calculator.html The site has good directions, nice YouTube videos of soap making, a few interesting recipes that have some pretty common oils plus very few ads. You can save your recipes to a URL or to their site (lots of people have done this). There is a good recipe and directions on how to make your own laundry soap, and information on different good things to add to your soap to make your skin even more beautiful.
Magestic Mountain is one that is easy to use and gives you a printable recipe. I heard from lots of people at the show this year this is the one they use: http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php It gives you a range of water to add, not a specific amount. It's not that critical as long as you are within the range. (It drives me nuts; I prefer a more precise measurement)
This one is pretty good too: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcWP.asp. It gives you a recipe you can print to save for your next batch. It will show you the amount of cleansing, hardness, creamy, bubbly and conditioning your bar will be before you make it. It is a little clunky to use, but you will get used to it.
There are lots more out there. If you've read this far you obviously are interested in soap and soap making. My suggestion to you is try using the same recipe in several different calculators. You'll quickly see the variations between them which really isn't all that much. You will find the one that works best for you. Then scrap the rest and stick with your favorite-don't forget to bookmark it! For those of you who love Google Docs, sorry there isn't a soap calculator there.
If you have a favorite calculator, please feel free to post a link to it here. If you love good old mathematical calculations with or without a slide rule, most of the above sites list the saponification values, and you can do the computations yourself!