# Recipe Help



## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

I need some help with the OMH soap recipe in "Goats Produce Too!" I put it thru the lye calculator on thesage.com and now I am very confused. It is telling me 0-4% fat range proceed with caution and that for this size batch I should use 8 - 12 oz. water. I think I am using the lye calculator wrong. Can one of you soap experts take a look at this recipe and tell me what you think.


4 C lard
5 C goat milk
1/2 C honey
1 C cool distilled water
1 1/4 C lye (12oz.)
2 C dry oatmeal - refined

Thanks in advance -
Anne


----------



## Whitney (Oct 27, 2007)

The lye calculator goes by weight, not volume. Did you weigh your 4C lard to get a weight to enter?


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I do not recommend soaping with cup measurements. Your 1 and 1/4 cup of lye and mine could be very different and you could easily make lye heavy soap with that small a recipe and not weighing out your ingredients.

How many ounces of soap will your mold hold? Fill it with water and pour it into a container on your scale you have weighed. Now simply use that much in lard on thesage.com viola! Your recipe and use the high number for your liquid in milk. Freeze the milk into ice cubes or into a ziplock, when frozen and you have all your ingredeients, pop them out or smash the milk into a stainless container (pot is fine) and slowly add your lye until it is all dissolved into the milk...the slower you go the better you soap will look in the end. Pour it slowly into the melty lard.....follow the directions in the sticky above for the wallmart recipe. That's a heck of alot of oatmeal in that recipe maybe start with a cup instead, and if this is your first batch of soap, don't put honey in it. vicki


----------



## Guest (Oct 10, 2008)

Convert your cups over to weight, and put into calculator and go by what the calculator says.. As vicki says that is alot of oatmeal in that small of recipe.. 
you should never never make soap by volume measurements, always use weights.. 
One cup is 8 oz, but can vary by oils etc... in weight..
Barbara


----------



## Guest (Oct 10, 2008)

All of the above.

I highly recommend the Wal-Mart recipe as your first recipe. It is really fool-proof. If you want just add some oatmeal the that recipe. Although, I wouldn't use anywhere near the amount that your recipe calls for! For a 7 pound batch, I would toss in a few handfuls at most. Don't use honey in your first few batches; it really heats things up!

Good luck. Try the Wal-Mart recipe... it really is the perfect recipe for beginners.

Sara


----------



## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

Thank you ladies. I did convert the 4 C of lard to 32 oz, but like I said I think I am using the calculator wrong - there is no place to plug in all of the ingredients, what would have happened if it saw that I wanted to use 6C of liquid and the calculator is telling me to only use 8-12 oz.? I will try the wal-mart recipe, but man I really wanted to use milk and it cautions not to do that the first few times until you get the hang of it.


----------



## Guest (Oct 10, 2008)

A confession... the first time I made soap I used the Wal-Mart recipe with goat milk and fragrance oil! I am a risk taker. :biggrin

Use the Wal-Mart recipe and you'll be fine.  Before you decide to add a FO, check with us to make sure the scent you choose is easy to work with.

Good luck!

Sara


----------



## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Have to tell you I also have always used goats milk in the walmart recipe make sure your milk is frozen and sprinkle on the lye to disolve I keep this in an ice water bath and have pretty nearly white soap. I grind my oatmeal (and don't use quik oat) use old fashioned, in a coffee grinder while others just use their stick blender. I use 1/4 to 1/2 cup per the recipe.


----------



## Whitney (Oct 27, 2007)

The purpose of the lye calculator is to tell you how much lye to use to saponify the types and amounts of oils and butters you are using. Then it will recommend to you a liquid amount. If you use a lot more liquid than it recommends your soap will take much longer to cure. I'm not sure what would happen if you used 6c instead of 12 oz! That is a huge difference. 

I agree with the ladies who suggested the walmart recipe. It is easy and the instructions Vicki included with it are truly step by step. 

I also used goat milk and FO w/ my first batch. :lol You will be fine. Like Sara said, ask here about the fragrances you are considering and we can tell you if they are suitable for beginners. 

Good luck!


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

go to thesage.com and put the wallmart recipe into it. Then you will sort of understand. The additives you want to use, oatmeal, honey etc...is not on there they are just extras.

You would not be able to get your soap out of your mold for weeks using 5 cups of goatmilk and another 2 cup of water.

Just to show you how dumb this recipe is.

32 ounces of lard
4.15 ounces lye
8 to 12 ounces of liquid 
3 tablespoons oatmeal
1 teaspoon honey

this would be the correct recipe and 1 and 1/4 cups of lye is 10 ounces of lye, not 12. 12 ounces would be 1 and 1/2 cups. So not only is this reciepe you posted lye heavy it is too wet...way to much liquid.

Are you sure you didn't miss putting an oil in this recipe? I mean it's too stupid to even be really written like this. Vicki


4 C lard
5 C goat milk
1/2 C honey
1 C cool distilled water
1 1/4 C lye (12oz.)
2 C dry oatmeal - refined


----------



## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

Vicki,

That is exactly how it is printed in my book. Page 122 of the 6th edition, July 1998. Maybe it is a typo or misprint. I did make a trip to town tonight and got all the fixin's for the wal-mart recipe. Now I will just have to wait for the EO's to come in. I bought my lye online back when I ordered my EO's. I did misunderstand on the lye calculator that they wanted a weight in ounces, not necessarily 4 cups converts to 32 ounces - and that when making soap you want the weight of the oils etc. in ounces not fluid ounces. I have not had a chance to run the WM recipe thru the calculator - maybe tomarrow. But I do think when I do that it will help me better understand how the lye calculator works.


----------



## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

Oh! I forgot to mention that the EO's I ordered are; Orange, Clove, Cinnamon, Lime and Patchouli. When they arrive is there anything I need to stay away from on my first batch?


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Really limit the amount of Clove and Cinnamon you use. There is a link on here to meadowfarm or meadow something that you can put the scents you purchased into it and they will then give you tons of recipes you can use to combine your scents.

Florals are the worst for me with causing problems.

If you use your oragne alone you will be unhappy with the scent after awhile it simply doesn't stick without listea or patch.

Vicki


----------

