# Reduction



## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

I have read over the Wal-Mart recipe, and I cannot figure out how many lbs. soap result. I need to be able to reduce this because I do not currently have a soap mold that is big enough for that much soap, as I can tell it is a fairly large batch.
I have been practicing with a 1-lb. recipe in my soap making book that utilizes different oils (no lard) and I am ready to try a different recipe. 
Please let me know the total resulting pounds so I can figure out the reduction.
Thanks in advance!


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## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

It makes roughly seven pounds. For any recipe, the result is pretty much the total weight of the fats & oils, since most of the liquid dries away. The walmart recipe is enough to fill the vicki mold from Kelsei, 3 logs about 1+" thick--makes a nice-size bar. If you calculate the percentage of each fat/oil in the walmart recipe, you can then go to the lye calculator at thesage.com and up-size or down-size the recipe, and the lye calc will let you know how much liquid & how much lye you need for the percentage of superfatting your after. It isn't nearly as intimidating or difficult as it seems at first.

Tom


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

thank you very much Tom!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Also Sandy just fill up your mold with water to as deep as you want to use it and pour the water into something you have on your scale, tared back to zero...the weight of the water is approximently the weight of your butters and oils. Make it once, then further tweak it for your liquid/lye amount if your mold is too full. Vicki


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

thanks vicki, that is an excellent idea.
And while I'm here--is there a general rule of thumb of how much EO to use per lb. of soap? I realize that might change
with what KIND of EO...I'm just looking for a ballpark estimate to start.


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## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

So far, I've only used Aroma Haven FO's, and most of them seem to work pretty well at 3oz per batch. Cinnamon can be reduced a little, while Cucumber-melon needs just a bit more,IMO. MMS.com has a calculator that gives FO suggested amounts for THEIR oils, which are a bit more spendy, but they claim you can use less. I haven't used theirs yet, so I don't know.

Tom


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

MMS's calculator also includes EOs. I use that as a starting point.


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

thnx


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