made my 2nd batch of soap using an even more simplified method based on this already very simple procedure. this time I used the amounts I calculated after last attempt's imperfect results: 152ml water and 511ml sunflower oil for 100mg of 85.5% pure KOH. it took about 50 minutes to cook, start-to-finish, because I had to turn off the heat several times and wait for the suds to go down before I could continue.
also, I made a mistake by pre-heating the water in the microwave, and/or measuring the water in the same 500ml cup in which I measured the oil. there was some oil left in the cup, and though I could see where the oil was floating on top of the water and measured the water more or less accurately, adding the potash lye to the cup made it instantly boil over and I lost a little bit of it. luckily I had had the foresight to do that step in the sink. anyway, judging by the lack of liquid oil in the pot after it had cooked down to a paste, I don't have anywhere near the amount of superfat I had last time. I think this will be a good batch. but if not, next time I'll use a liter cup to mix the water and KOH, and use a different cup for the oil.
anyway, the simplification is I only used a silicone spatula for the whole thing, just stirring constantly. no other tools required. this is probably as simple as it gets.
last updated 2015-03-22 20:36:02. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com