Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well. I really think master batching is a great time-saving technique and also has several other benefits. *Please remember whenever you are mixing up lye you must use a suitable bottle, it should have a number 2 or 5 symbol on it* . The hot water test I mention in the video is an extra precaution to test your bottle. Also do not fill your bottle right to the top, the solution gets hot so it will need room to give off a bit of pressure, so leave a bit of a gap. I hope you enjoyed the video, if you have any questions or comments then please leave them below and I will get back to you
I just asked a question on the comments elsewhere, but I’m wondering about what to do once I have the fats and lye water mixed separately and at room temp…DO I WARM UP ANY PART OF THE FATS (or even the lye water, which makes me so nervous😂) before combing OR DO YOU JUST COMBINE EVERYTHING AT ROOM TEMPERATURE? Thanks in advance for your help and all your amazing videos with your phenomenal soaps! I love them so much! ❤😊
I’ve always assumed master batching meant huge quantities of oils mixed together. I tried it once - I was getting tired of mixing up 2000 g each day to make soap and figured I’d try to make a months worth at a time. Well, that’s 60 litres worth! I put the mixed oils in big pails, and stored in my basement. It probably works better if you have a dedicated storage area and can put it all in a big drum. In the long run I can see how it saves you time - you only have to measure once instead of every time you make soap. I’ll have to try again with smaller amounts. Maybe making up 10 litres of oils once a week will be more manageable.
Hi Kali, ooh yes it sounds like you were making a lot and almost at the point of wanting a proper oil tank etc. I think a lot of people consider masterbatching for large scale, but it's really useful just to stop you having to keep making up individual amounts, the once a week idea sounds perfect.
I've been "master batching" for a few weeks now and, thanks to your video, I've gotten the hang of it! I love that I can simply remove the amount of oils I need, pop that into Soap Calc to calculate how much lye water I need, and go on from there. I put both the oil and lye water containers on top of a heating pad at high, so not only do they get to the same temperature at the same rate, I can leave them there until I'm all ready to soap. I measure out about 5,000 g of oils/master batch (I make soap daily). If I have a small amount remaining of oils and lye water, but it's not enough to make a full design, I use whatever is leftover to make soap dough in a color I think I might need in the future. So much fun!
That's so lovely to hear, I'm so pleased it's working out well for you. Isn't it nice to just be able to grab what you need and get on with soaping. Thank you so much for letting me know :-) Ooh and how exciting about the soap dough
Thank you for this. I must admit that sometimes I don’t make soap because of time constraints, this looks like a huge time saver. Now to get a container for my oils.
Deb Walters I’m inspired!! Sometimes I don’t want to make soap because I have to melt everything every single time; then wait for the lye water to cool down, and It always feels like a hassle! This is very exciting! Looks like she uses an old ice cream pail! I’m sure I can get one of those pretty easily! 😜
i know this is old, but i just love how she uses "anything weird" when explaining that she's keeping it simple and not stress over the process. i am having a bad day and that made me giggle. also this video has taught me so much, some of the other videos are complicated and lengthy. this one is straight to the point and easy to understand. thank you!!!
Lisa, I use your videos to determine the amount of soap my molds hold, and I’ve made my first master batch. I ended up with more soap batter than my mold can hold twice now. I went back to the first video on determining volume of the mold, and I noticed that you don’t use the amount of fragrance oil (that number was 0 on your calculations) in the total batch weight. That changed my percentage of oils from 68% to 72%. I was surprised there was that big of a difference. I generally use 5% FO in my batter, and I think that’s why I’m ending up with more batter than I need. How do you account for the FO in your calculations? I think your videos are wonderful, and I keep going back to them time and again. AND I watch the commercials so you can get that small monetary compensation from TH-cam. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
Hey Karolyn, thank you so much, I appreciate your time in watching the adverts. Now with your mold 5% FO should not make that much difference, especially if you do 5%of oil weight. Hmm are you measuring your mold correctly, maybe double check the internal measurements, are you using the height as the height of your soap bar, not the height of the mold. Why not send me your dimensions, a snapshot of your soap calc recipe with FO and what you've been getting as your amount. I'll then check everything to see if I can spot any problems. Email me at info@idreaminsoap.co.uk and I'll check it out for you
It's so interesting to see the behind the scenes stuff like this. I can completely understand wiping everything with vinegar too. It's such a great cleaner in addition to its ability to neutralize lye. The smell of vinegar used to make me sick, but now I associate the smell with cleanliness. 😃
Thanks Whittany, it's funny, I agree with you. I make all of my own home made cleaners for the house, I don't use any commercial ones at all. The 1st time I cleaned my bathroom with my cleaner, I thought ooh vinegar, hmm not sure, but it goes away really quickly and leaves a nice fresh small and like you that initial vinegar smell now means clean. I even use vinegar in my wash instead of fabric conditioner, cheaper, nice soft clothes and luckily no smell of vinegar there though :-)
This is great. I make small batches as I'm still learning and the whole oil and lye solution is tedious. Have one go at it to last a long time would be much better.
Thank you so much for your videos! I've found them really helpful and I've been soaping since the 1980's.😊 Just goes to show that there's always more to learn. It's fantastic. I'm working up the nerve to try this now that i know that the separation is not a problem!💜
That's excellent news Ruth, yes the oils will not go all solid again, so you can just give them a stir and pour them out. I hope you do try it, it makes it so much easier not having to always measure everything every time.
Yet again...another brilliantly done, informative and educational video! I'm just starting out and feel like master batching is still a bit too intimidating for some reason. But it looks like such a time saver. I'll definitely come back and rewatch this video when I'm ready to give it a try. I've been learning so much from your channel! I wish you could see my notebook! Lol! Can't wait for the next video...stay well and happy soaping! ❤
Thank you so much, I'm so pleased you found it helpful. If you're still new you may not be making that many loaves, but I would say as soon as all the weighing out every time starts to be a bit of a bore then just give it a go :-)
Excellent, once you start it will hopefully save you lots of time and \i find it so handy to have ready mixed oils available if I want to do a little test or something
Lisa! Thank you for such a great video! I sometimes avoid making soap some days simply because of the time factor. This shows me a great way to save time & have more fun in the creative process💞💞💞💞 Have a Blessed Day❤🙏❤
I wish I had your informational videos when I first started making soap. It took me month and months of research before I even attempted my first batch! And the great thing is, I still learn something new from you! Thanks you so very much!!
Bless you, Lisa! This is the video I absolutely needed today! I've only been making soap for 11 months, but I am just starting up my soaping business and want to increase my production. This information is exactly what I needed to boost my production and you made it so easy to understand, even for me! Thank you so much!
This makes a lot of sense and would certainly save me time. My question is temperature. If I want to soap between 80-90 degrees, how do I get the oils and lye solution up to that temp?
HI Chanie, just pour off the oil you need for your soap and warm gently in the microwave, and for the lye pour what you need and put your jug in some warm water to warm up a little
Excellent that's great news. For they lye I use the calculation to work out how much I need in my soap, so in my example in the video I had made up enough lye solution that would have been right for 3000g of oils in my recipe. When I weighed the made up lye it weighed 1186g. therefore I know that to use it at the correct rate for my recipe 3000g of oil would use 1186g of lye solution, therefore if you divide those you see that 1g of lye is needed for every 2.53g of oils. So if I was doing a soap that needed 1000g of oils I would do 1000 / 2.53 and that would tell me that I need to use 395g of my made up lye solution for my new soap. Hope this helps :-)
You’re changing my soaping world! I’ve been master batching my lye, but not my oils, which has made me very resistant to making small batches for testing fragrance oils. Tomorrow I will find a bucket!
That is excellent news and I'm so happy, yes I love the fact that if I get a new fragrance I can quickly make up a little single soap (I do 100g total) and do a test straight away.
I really must do this. Now I know what I'm going to do with those empty 2lb coconut oil jars. And I've never heard of making lye solution more than a few days in advance and that would commit me to making soap on a deadline, but if I can do it longer ahead, well, why not! That's a lot less cleanup and room for error.
Excellent news, as long as your lye is kept sealed it will last for months no problem :-), ooh just a thought if you are talking about making lye in the jars, you shouldn't use glass to make lye up as the lye can etch into the glass and cause it to shatter, this isn't just for masterbatching but preparing lye generally.
I'm so glad I came across your channel!! I recently started exploring the world of cold process soaps and the information you provide is extremely helpful. Thank you
Hi Lisa, another great video. I saw the title and thought "do I really want to watch this, it's for the big guns, not for little old me" but being a major fan, I thought I would give it a go. You've really changed my mind, and I am definitely going to try this, weighing out is a real pain, only beaten by the washing up! Several preconceived ideas have been blown out of the window and I am going to do this at the weekend. Thank you 😘
Woohoo, that's excellent news, yes we may not need gallons made up but certainly if you only have to measure everything out every now and again then that's a plus :-)
This was incredibly helpful! So easy to understand and will be such a time saver. And safer. Every time I open my lye container little bits get all over the place and it statically clings to things and is just a real stress. This will be a godsend to just do it once and have it last for several batches. I was surprised to see that the oils remained soft once cooled. I was thinking I was going to have to heat up the whole tub to get it mixed every time. You’re an absolute gem xxxx
Hi Lisa Thank you for this wonderful tutorial. Master batching oils is such an efficient way to go about things. I hate making up the lye solution (and waiting round for it to cool) every time, but was very trepidatious about using your method to masterbatch lye. But today, upon finishing my current bottle, I summoned the courage and am so glad I did (it is now full of a 1:1 lye sol'n). It is cooling at this moment (I just had to rush in here to say thank you). I love your videos. They put me in a lovely calm frame of mind for soaping :D
I absolutely love this video . I’ve been because of work .so am trying to binge watch I also haven’t made a soap since December. It’s gonna be like starting all over again especially since I was and still learning
Hi Joan thank you so much. I'm so pleased you find the videos helpful and I'm always open to suggestions of topics that people would like videos on. Best wishes :-)
Thank you very much for this sharing. Will definitely try this in my next batch. I make 2-4 small batch every weekend and weighting oils and lye do takes time😊
Hello Lisa I just came across your channel, I love it you explain so well. I'm new to soap making, I enjoy making cold processed soap. Great idea of masterbatch I'll have to try it. I have a question now with the cold weather is it okay to leave soap curing in the garage? Thank you soo much.
Hi Lisa, so pleased you enjoyed it. I think curing in the garage can be a bit tricky as the cold can make the soap attract moisture, and then the soaps can go a bit odd with fluctuating temperatures too
Thank you so much Naturally Pure Botanicals, I'm so pleased you found the video helpful, it makes it worthwhile making videos when people benefit from them. :-)
On the lye method - that was a LEAP OF FAITH IN LISA for me!! I would say a couple of things though. I think the rule for the bottles (for lye) should be HDPE 2 (or 4). Absolutely not 1 or 3, I know that. I think that would be a better rule than testing with hot water. I found one in the house: an old anti-limescale product. Laundry detergent plastic bottles are also HDPE 2 (the triangle on the bottom with 2 in it). Also, I hesitated and then went to the hardware store and picked up gloves for use with chemicals for 4 euros. I am VERY HAPPY that I did so. All went well until I just turned the bottle on its side just after adding the lye: it fizzed out a bit uncontrollably before I had the time to ease open the cap (with my special gloves). I'm now in a bit of a dilemma wondering whether the fizz loss (10 grams out of 750gms) was more likely to be a mix, or more water, or more NaOH. I think I'm going to soldier on with it as I hugely superfat (otherwise I'd throw it out). This may be because I was doing 50/50. Perhaps. Anyway, I'm just posting this so others are aware that doing it for 50/50 lye is a bit tricky... I'm undaunted, I'm going to try again the next time. Yes, yes, my bottle was clean. I went to extraordinary lengths to ensure it was..
Thank you so much for posting your update Orla, Oh absolutely anything you use for Lye should be marked with a 2 or 5 on the bottom, I'm not sure what plastic the 4 is for. I always advise using these containers and now you have mentioned it I wish I had put that in the video too. My reference to testing the bottle with boiling water was not to replace using the 2 or 5 bottle but rather as an extra test when you have one of those bottles. Thank you for taking the time to jot down your experience. I would say a 50:50 solution would get hotter, so if you fill a bottle right up that may put quite a bit of pressure on the top of the bottle. My bottle is never completely full, there's always a little room for expansion as such. that would probably help if you are doing 50:50 as well.
@@IDreamInSoap THANK YOU LISA. I think it is a great method, and you are, I think, the only one who has shown it on video. It's true as you point out - not filling the bottle too much is no doubt important, especially for 50/50 preparations.
Thanks Orla, I have now added extra info about the type of bottle and not filling right up to my pinned comment and the description. I appreciate you taking the time to leave your comment as I think it was very useful information for people
Thanks so much. I didn't know one could master batch oils. How would one insert the weight of each oil if one pours some of the master batched oils to use on a soap calculator
Thank you for this simply explained video on master batching, I have been making up a bowl of hard and soft oils and leaving it until I need it (usually within a couple of days) and doing my lye and putting it in the refrigerator until the night before and leaving it out overnight. I did worry by keeping the hard oils and liquid oils mixed together was I damaging the hard oils by making them stay liquid. But noe thanks to you I know I was worrying for nothing. Thank you again for your interesting and informative video. Stay safe and well Lisa and family.
Thank you so much Tanya, yes it's all absolutely fine. I'm so pleased you found it helpful, and thank you so much for always leaving comments for me :-)
Hi Lisa, thanks for another info packed video. I was with you until the lye section. I have a few questions if you have a little time to respond. Do you always make that liter bottle for yr lye? You said that liter is for 3000g of oil. So if I understand this correctly, I should start @ the 3000 g of oil & work up or down from there, depending on how much oil im using. Let's say I need to use 1000g of oil for a batch, 1000g divided by 2.53= 395g/14oz so that is how much MB lye solution I need for the 1000g of oil. Is that correct? The same with making a larger batch of lye. 4000g of oil wld need 1580g of lye solution and so on. I hope I am understanding this correctly. I like yr method more than the 50/50 method where you have to add more water & such. Sorry this is so long but I want to fully understand this method. Thanks so much. Cheers!
HI Gwen, yes you are exactly right. So anytime I'm making soap I do just that. Take my oils, say 1040g and divide by 2.53 =411g MB lye. Bear in mind though that the 2.53 is for my recipe. So you would make up a batch of lye for your recipe. It can be for however much you like I just tend to find that 3000g of oils needs enough lye that would fit in my bottle. So for example if you did a 100% olive oil soap at 34% lye concentration according to soapcalc that would need 386g lye and 750g water, so when you weigh that after mixing it should still be pretty close to 1136g. Lets say it does weigh the 1136g then you know 3000g of your olive oil recipe needs 1136g MB lye, so your figure would be 2.64 instead of my 2.53. I hope that makes sense. Best wishes
@@IDreamInSoap Hello Lisa! Awesome. I forgot to ask how you came up with the numbers to begin with but you've answered here. Can you tell me what the reason for changing lye concentration is for. Is that the way you do a water discount? How do you come up with say 34% (your exp above), vs the standard 38% on soapcalc? That's been a mystery to me. Thanks again for helping with my soap making education! Cheers!!
Thanks Lisa. One day could you also explain the 50/50 master batching for lye please, it confuses me lol and you explain things in such a good way. I wish I could have private lessons with you hehe 😃
Hey Kerry, the 50:50 is used if you change the lye concentration you use in different batches, so the idea is you have your lye made as strong as it can be. So if you want to use it as 50:50 you could, but if say you wanted your lye solution for your soap to be 2:1 you would add more liquid, so lets say your recipe needed 100g of lye, you would pour out 200g of solution, that would then be 100g water and 100g lye, to get to 2:1 you would then add another 100g of water, so you now have 200g water and 100g lye. I don't do it myself but know a lot of people do, but then I always soap using the same lye concentration. I'm not sure how much time it saves as if you add water to your lye it will heat up again so you wold need to wait for it to cool. I guess it would be useful if you partly use other fluids.
@@IDreamInSoap you see I already understand 50:50 better now. I now know i don't need to do it this way, I'll stick to master batching as you explain in the video. Thank you x
@@silkysuds5653hi. I just found Lisa’s video on masterbatching and your question, I just started using 1:1 lye solution master batch per Muddy Mint youtube video, this allows adding of another liquid form when making soap. Eg if use 2:1 lye solution in soap recipe you use 2/3 of master batch and 1/3 other liquid (milk, aloe, carrot etc.). It is brilliant.
Lisa that was a new thing to me .... master batching! Never heard of it but what a fabulous idea. I only make 1kg loaves, every week or 2. I’m going to do this master batching. However I generally soap around 100 degrees F. So how does master batching affect the temperature of my recipe? Does it mean I would soap at a cold temperature? It’s winter here in Australia! Thank you sooo much for your sharing and teaching. I’m learning heaps from you. ❤️🌺🌈
Hi Lynne, I'm so pleased you found it useful. I always soap between 80-90F so I always warm everything up slightly. I stir up my oils, pour off what I want and put in the microwave for a few seconds just to warm up a bit. For my lye I put it in a jug and sit it in some warm water to warm that too, it only takes a minute or so to come to the temperature you want.
this is so very very helpful ive learnt a lot ! thankyou for for teaching us .. and you have such a lovely teaching way !! best regards from new zealand 🌵🌵
Hi Neelam, I have a couple with some icing on which include how I make my icing etc, this one th-cam.com/video/d5b0mALBigE/w-d-xo.html and this th-cam.com/video/vg1VAr540GY/w-d-xo.html but they're not piping flowers or anything. It's certainly something I can go into more detail with in a future video. Thanks for the suggestion, always keen to hear what people would like to see.
Thank you very much for taking the time to give us this useful information. Just want to say this also I've never heard a voice lovely as yours, you would be a fantastic (the best) narrator for audible and such (children's books especially) ok hope that was ok 😇
One by one you keep answering my questions! I have been very curious about master batching. I was wanting to do this but didn’t think I would be able. I thought for sure I would have to store my oils in a large drum and I just don’t have that kind of space right now. I hope to sell my soap one day but for now I still need to make my first bar! LOL With this video you have shown me that I can think about master batching on my size not a business size but when I am ready I can do the business size. I have a question but it is not about master batching, Is there a “normal” size to cut your soap? I know depending on the size mold you use I think it makes a different size bar once cut. For instance the tall and skinny molds. I am sure that you have a video lined up that will answer my question but I can’t find an answer anywhere about this. I am getting ready to purchase a few molds so I was wondering if there was a normal size bar of soap? I really enjoyed this video. Take care and looking forward to your next video.
Hi Karen, lovely to see you, so pleased you liked this. Yes I find the 'mini master' batching so helpful, I typically make up either 3 or 4kg of oils at a time and that works really well for me. Hmm I don't think there is an official standard size bar, I know lots of people like to cut at an inch thick, I do 2.5cm which is pretty well the same. My standard loaf molds are 7cm wide and I think it's a nice size, so my bars tend to be 7cm x 7cm x 2.5 cm . My tall and skinny are 6cm x 9cm x 2.5cm, so these are actually slightly heavier bars but I don't like a bar thinner than 2.5cm
This makes so much sense...and will save so much time in measuring out all the oils, melting etc! I have a question...if you use lard or tallow does the masterbatch oil mixture need to be refrigerated? If so, presumably it would solidify quite a bit...so you’d need to put the bucket in a bucket of warm water to melt a bit before blending and pouring off? I’m guessing you don’t have to refrigerate if you use palm? Time to get my small fridge out of storage me thinks 😁😁. Great video 👏🏻💕
Hey Hilary, I don't use lard, so don't refrigerate mine, but do agree that if you do then refrigerating would be the best thing to do. In that case I would probably make up my masterbatch and if you were going to put it in the fridge put it in smaller containers (they would probably sit in there better)
Thank you for this video Lisa 🤗 I always thought master batching was for the big timers. I bit the bullet this weekend and batched some oils and my lye. Soaped last night and it was so relaxing 😁 it was a small batch of soap and I didn't have to struggle measuring out by the fraction of a gram. It's so much more precise as well as the bigger numbers in the master batch can more easily and accurately be measured out. I'm never going back to the old way save and except for new formulas. Very grateful for your sharing 😁
AW that is brilliant, it makes such a difference doesn't it and I, like you, love the fact that you can be some much more accurate with larger amounts :-)
Well done tutorial. I tried master batching once and it went well. But because of everyone here and animals I wasn't happy with storing lye water (although extremely well labeled, I worried too much). But watching you do it, had me thinking. I don't get lye lint and it is always clear. Could be the high altitude here. So I am going to just batch my oils and make up the lye water as I go. Love how you check your calculations. I don't force gel and soap at room temp, then let it do it's thing, so that would be just perfect for me. Love the magnetic measuring spoon set you sent Karen. Can I ask where you ordered them? Thanks ever so much for sharing . You have some great methods. 👍. Blessings
Hi Cheryl, I think that's a good compromise with the masterbatching, to me the oils are the most work to weigh out and if you want a small amount for a test, having a big batch you can pour a bit from is perfect. I got the spoons on Amazon, not sure if you're Uk? but anyway I'll put the link and I'm sure you can find similar, I love them and find the skinny end really useful for narrow neck jars. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KG43T1X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Found them. I am going to have hubby mount an inch wide metal tube on the wall behind soaping table. This will keep them handy. I wanted to say I live in the US and above 8000 ft. That is why I seem to not have the probable or maybe soap making issues that some seem to have with lye lint or not well mixed soap batter. Now I am just guessing..... because I read of others problems in these areas of mixing, etc., and it is the only thing I can think that is different. Thanks again ☺
Great video, I’ve never heard of masterbatching. I’ve only been soaping about 4 months and am still small batches but see the value. Maybe when I settle on recipes I might try it.
Hi Lisa! This is the video I needed. I started reading Kevin's book but have not gotten to that section yet. I have been wondering how to speed up the soap making process, well, you just answered my question. 😂 As always great informative and helpful video. 💕💜💙💚
Thanks Lisa .... I do mater batch my oils but in smaller batches ... but you answered my query about the oils solidifying which is why I don’t do big batches ... I’ll give it a go 🐝🐝🌈🌈🧼🧼🧼
You are always so sensible and helpful. I’ve only made about 12 batches of CP soap and no matter how smart and careful one is, it is so easy to make mistakes especially with regard to measuring several oils. A major benefit of master batching, then, is that you have only had to measure all the oils once, therefore eliminating errors in what would be the next several batches. I’m going to try this. Thank you for your help and your time, Lisa.
Yes, that is a good benefit and if you measure larger amounts if you do make a tiny error it's not as bad, so 10g over if you are pouring 2000g is much better than if pouring 200g. Just make sure you give everything a really good stir before you use your masterbatch each time
Hi Lisa, I’ve made my first masterbatch! I think this will save so much time in the long run. In doing my measuring I have discovered my scales are not 100% accurate, even though they’re good quality ones...this is worrying, as I’m about to submit my recipes for assessment. Would you be kind enough to recommend which scales you use, as they look good quality ones and there are so many out there to choose from. I’m in the UK. Best wishes, and thank you again for this tutorial xx
HI HIlary ooh yes you need some good scales. I have KD7000 scales, they seem great. I also bought a 5kg calibration weight (it was about as much as the scales) but at least I can make sure they stay accurate. So pleased you did a masterbatch, it saves so much time and great if you just need a little bit of soap to test something
@@IDreamInSoap I’ve started making my lye just for each batch and using the heat to melt my masterbatched oils. For my recipe it works great as long as the masterbatch isn’t too cool. It saves so much time 😃 xxx
Lovely video Lisa. Thank you again. Just like one person commented already, masterbaching is intimidating to me now. I promise to get braver and rewatch this video to give it a try. I can see lots of time savings. Thanks!
Hey Tania, thanks a lot it doesn't need to be intimidating it's just like mixing up a big batch of oils etc, hopefully when you're ready you'll give it a go :-)
I Dream In Soap yes. I agree. One question. When you are ready to make soap how do you manage the actual temperatures of your batch oils and lye solution. Do you have to bring them to a certain temperature depending on what your design may be? If you do, what method(s) you use to raise the temp of oils and of the lye solution?
I’m so glad you posted this video! I save so much time now, and get straight to the fun part when soaping. One question ... can sodium lactate be added to the masterbatch of lye solution, or does it need to be added when making the soap? I’ve tested adding tussah silk to the masterbatch, and that seems to work fine (just needs a quick shake when using it), but I don’t know what to look for to test the sodium lactate addition.
Excellent news, it's so nice to just pour some out and get on with it. Ooh thank you for the info re the silk. i don't use it myself but I'm often asked, so that's very useful to know. Unfortunately sodium lactate needs to be added just before you make the soap. I, like you thought it would be good to add it to the masterbatch lye once cooled, however, luckily I asked a friend of mine before I tried it and she told me that it doesn't work (she'd done it) something weird happens to the SL and it leaves white splodges in the soap. I do have SL in big letters written on my lye solution bottle, at the top so I see it every time I open the bottle, just so I don't forget it.
Hi, I did try this method and had my jug of lye solution in my sink. I gently shook the bottle as you did and it looked like the lye had dissolved so I added cold water in my sink to cool it off. The lye had not dissolved and then became a rock solid lye at the bottom of the jug. Let this be a lesson to others if you do this ensure the lye is fully dissolved :/ I should have mixed the solution around in the jug much more apparently. Lesson learned.
Thank you for this very helpful video! Just a quick question as I've just set aside my first masterbatch! Would it be best to heat the oils just before use to get them clear again? Or does the clarity have no affect on the trace? Thanks for any advice
Hi, I always warm mine slightly, just to get them between 80-90F as that's the temperature I like to soap at. Many people do use room temperature, cloudy oils, but you can risk getting stearic spots and a false trace, so warming slightly I find is a good. Just heat a little bit, don't heat them all the way up again as you'll be waiting for ages for them to cool down.
Thanks Lisa for this wonderful video again. I missed on for how long can I store lye solution?? Also...what if I make soaps of different oils and butters everytime??
Hi Veenu, thanks for leaving me a comment. As long a you keep the bottle sealed up tightly it will last for ages, at least a month if not more, but keep the lid on it whenever you are not pouring from it. If you use a different recipe each time then masterbatching your oils won't really work. If you mainly use the same core ones and then just swap one of them out you can masterbatch the ones taht are the same (as long as they are the same % each time) and just ad your different oil as you go to make soap, but if you always do a different recipe you won't be able to do it.
Hi Lisa... Thank u so much for sharing this information... I’m just starting to venture into the soap making process... I have a question... maybe a silly question but I’d like to know when ur using the master batch of lye water doesn’t it need to be warm or at a specific temperature when being mixed together with the oils ? Like if u make a master batch n decided to make soap 2 days later ... Do u need to reheat ?
Hi, you do not need to reheat, al lot of people soap at room temperature, but I always soap between 80-90F. I do reheat my oils for a few seconds in the microwave and for the lye, I weigh out what I need and then stand that in some warm water to warm up a little
Hi Lisa, Greta video and now I’m using this method all the time. The lye is just so clear with this method and it’s so useful having ready measured oils and lye, especially when you want to mix up a tiny batch for testing. Thank you for sharing your tips and knowledge 💕
Hey Hilary. I'm so pleased. Yes, I love the super clear lye, it's great isn't it. A bit odd the 1st time you do it, but then you don't want to do the open jug method any more and as for just having to tip out ready batched oils, so much better :-)
This is great information! I'm new to soap making and trying to work out my recipe but when I do I'll definitely do this! Also, I didn't realize the 'lye lint' was because it was exposed to air. So much to learn. Thanks very much.
Thank you for this excellent tutorial. I’ve watched several different master-batching ideas and this makes the most sense for me also. Appreciate you taking the time!
What a great breakdown but just for clarification. Are you basically measuring the oils and or hard oils needed to make soap according to the size of your mold, multiply it(for how many batches for that mold) along with the lye, and when you need to use if, you're dividing the amounts of oils & lye to match that batch of soap(per the mold), and that's it? I just want to make sure that I understand correctly. Thanks
HI, no I don't try to do a specific number of batches for my mould as I use all different moulds, so I just make up an amount of oil, for example 10 or 20kg of oils at a time, then pour off what I need, that fits the mould I'm about to use when I make a soap
Another brilliant tutorial, Lisa,; thank you so much! I also appreciate your clear answers to the questions posed in the comments. I’m very appreciative of how you graciously share your soaping knowledge. Kudos!
THANK U SO MUCH FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE IT WILL HELP ME GREATLY. I'VE JUST GOT BACK INTO MAKING SOAP AND OTHER PRODUCTS. I USE TO DO IT WITH MY MOM A WHILE BACK. BUT KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK HUN , AND THANK YOU SO MUCH I REALLY DO LEARN A LOT FROM YOUR VIDEOS...I LOVE THEM BLESS BE AND STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE!!!
Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well. I really think master batching is a great time-saving technique and also has several other benefits.
*Please remember whenever you are mixing up lye you must use a suitable bottle, it should have a number 2 or 5 symbol on it* . The hot water test I mention in the video is an extra precaution to test your bottle. Also do not fill your bottle right to the top, the solution gets hot so it will need room to give off a bit of pressure, so leave a bit of a gap.
I hope you enjoyed the video, if you have any questions or comments then please leave them below and I will get back to you
I just asked a question on the comments elsewhere, but I’m wondering about what to do once I have the fats and lye water mixed separately and at room temp…DO I WARM UP ANY PART OF THE FATS (or even the lye water, which makes me so nervous😂) before combing OR DO YOU JUST COMBINE EVERYTHING AT ROOM TEMPERATURE? Thanks in advance for your help and all your amazing videos with your phenomenal soaps! I love them so much! ❤😊
Thank you for your very prompt response at my other comment. I really appreciate it.
I found the laundry detergent jugs are a number 2 . Is that safe??? I can't believe they are a number 2. 😯😯😯
I’ve always assumed master batching meant huge quantities of oils mixed together. I tried it once - I was getting tired of mixing up 2000 g each day to make soap and figured I’d try to make a months worth at a time. Well, that’s 60 litres worth! I put the mixed oils in big pails, and stored in my basement. It probably works better if you have a dedicated storage area and can put it all in a big drum. In the long run I can see how it saves you time - you only have to measure once instead of every time you make soap. I’ll have to try again with smaller amounts. Maybe making up 10 litres of oils once a week will be more manageable.
Hi Kali, ooh yes it sounds like you were making a lot and almost at the point of wanting a proper oil tank etc. I think a lot of people consider masterbatching for large scale, but it's really useful just to stop you having to keep making up individual amounts, the once a week idea sounds perfect.
I've been "master batching" for a few weeks now and, thanks to your video, I've gotten the hang of it! I love that I can simply remove the amount of oils I need, pop that into Soap Calc to calculate how much lye water I need, and go on from there. I put both the oil and lye water containers on top of a heating pad at high, so not only do they get to the same temperature at the same rate, I can leave them there until I'm all ready to soap. I measure out about 5,000 g of oils/master batch (I make soap daily). If I have a small amount remaining of oils and lye water, but it's not enough to make a full design, I use whatever is leftover to make soap dough in a color I think I might need in the future. So much fun!
That's so lovely to hear, I'm so pleased it's working out well for you. Isn't it nice to just be able to grab what you need and get on with soaping. Thank you so much for letting me know :-) Ooh and how exciting about the soap dough
Thank you for this. I must admit that sometimes I don’t make soap because of time constraints, this looks like a huge time saver. Now to get a container for my oils.
Yippee, excellent news Louise. Thank you for always leaving comments for me.
Thanks for the encouragement to us “small loaf” soap makers. Masterbatch will help me 🎉 after all! Brilliant 😍
Thank you Deb and that's great news. I do find it's so nice to just grab and go when I want to make some soap :-)
Wonderful information! ❤️
Deb Walters I’m inspired!! Sometimes I don’t want to make soap because I have to melt everything every single time; then wait for the lye water to cool down, and It always feels like a hassle! This is very exciting! Looks like she uses an old ice cream pail! I’m sure I can get one of those pretty easily! 😜
i know this is old, but i just love how she uses "anything weird" when explaining that she's keeping it simple and not stress over the process. i am having a bad day and that made me giggle. also this video has taught me so much, some of the other videos are complicated and lengthy. this one is straight to the point and easy to understand. thank you!!!
Thanks so much Dawn, I'm so pleased you found it useful
So happy when I see you've uploaded a video. Your cheery voice just makes my day. They are always educational too 😁
AW, thank you so much Jennifer, that's so lovely of you to say :-)
Lisa, I use your videos to determine the amount of soap my molds hold, and I’ve made my first master batch. I ended up with more soap batter than my mold can hold twice now. I went back to the first video on determining volume of the mold, and I noticed that you don’t use the amount of fragrance oil (that number was 0 on your calculations) in the total batch weight. That changed my percentage of oils from 68% to 72%. I was surprised there was that big of a difference. I generally use 5% FO in my batter, and I think that’s why I’m ending up with more batter than I need. How do you account for the FO in your calculations? I think your videos are wonderful, and I keep going back to them time and again. AND I watch the commercials so you can get that small monetary compensation from TH-cam. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
Hey Karolyn, thank you so much, I appreciate your time in watching the adverts. Now with your mold 5% FO should not make that much difference, especially if you do 5%of oil weight. Hmm are you measuring your mold correctly, maybe double check the internal measurements, are you using the height as the height of your soap bar, not the height of the mold. Why not send me your dimensions, a snapshot of your soap calc recipe with FO and what you've been getting as your amount. I'll then check everything to see if I can spot any problems. Email me at info@idreaminsoap.co.uk and I'll check it out for you
It's so interesting to see the behind the scenes stuff like this. I can completely understand wiping everything with vinegar too. It's such a great cleaner in addition to its ability to neutralize lye. The smell of vinegar used to make me sick, but now I associate the smell with cleanliness. 😃
Thanks Whittany, it's funny, I agree with you. I make all of my own home made cleaners for the house, I don't use any commercial ones at all. The 1st time I cleaned my bathroom with my cleaner, I thought ooh vinegar, hmm not sure, but it goes away really quickly and leaves a nice fresh small and like you that initial vinegar smell now means clean. I even use vinegar in my wash instead of fabric conditioner, cheaper, nice soft clothes and luckily no smell of vinegar there though :-)
This is great. I make small batches as I'm still learning and the whole oil and lye solution is tedious. Have one go at it to last a long time would be much better.
Thank you so much for your videos! I've found them really helpful and I've been soaping since the 1980's.😊 Just goes to show that there's always more to learn. It's fantastic. I'm working up the nerve to try this now that i know that the separation is not a problem!💜
That's excellent news Ruth, yes the oils will not go all solid again, so you can just give them a stir and pour them out. I hope you do try it, it makes it so much easier not having to always measure everything every time.
Glad to know that master batching will work for small “loafers” as well as big “loafers”. As always, very informative and enjoyable. Thank you.
Ha, ha, I love that. We can have the small loafer club :-)
Yet again...another brilliantly done, informative and educational video! I'm just starting out and feel like master batching is still a bit too intimidating for some reason. But it looks like such a time saver. I'll definitely come back and rewatch this video when I'm ready to give it a try. I've been learning so much from your channel! I wish you could see my notebook! Lol! Can't wait for the next video...stay well and happy soaping! ❤
Thank you so much, I'm so pleased you found it helpful. If you're still new you may not be making that many loaves, but I would say as soon as all the weighing out every time starts to be a bit of a bore then just give it a go :-)
Thankyou so much for this video! The wholesale side of my business has grown so much so this is crucial for me at the mo!! X
Your process makes total sense. Thank you!
Hi Shiela thank you so much for your very kind comment 😊
Thank you for taking the fear out of this. I've avoided masterbatching until now. Going to start doing it.
Excellent, once you start it will hopefully save you lots of time and \i find it so handy to have ready mixed oils available if I want to do a little test or something
Lisa! Thank you for such a great video! I sometimes avoid making soap some days simply because of the time factor. This shows me a great way to save time & have more fun in the creative process💞💞💞💞
Have a Blessed Day❤🙏❤
That's excellent news, yes it will save time and then when you feel the urge you can just pour out what you need and off you go :-)
I wish I had your informational videos when I first started making soap. It took me month and months of research before I even attempted my first batch! And the great thing is, I still learn something new from you! Thanks you so very much!!
AW, thank you so much Micol, that's so lovely to hear, thank you for always being so supportive, I really appreciate it.
Bless you, Lisa! This is the video I absolutely needed today! I've only been making soap for 11 months, but I am just starting up my soaping business and want to increase my production. This information is exactly what I needed to boost my production and you made it so easy to understand, even for me! Thank you so much!
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much Lisa, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
This was very informative land helpful. Can you masterbatch with additives, such as citric acid or tussah silk?
This makes a lot of sense and would certainly save me time. My question is temperature. If I want to soap between 80-90 degrees, how do I get the oils and lye solution up to that temp?
HI Chanie, just pour off the oil you need for your soap and warm gently in the microwave, and for the lye pour what you need and put your jug in some warm water to warm up a little
Finally I understood!! Thanks for a nice and clear explanation ....I have a question , why do you divide by 2.3 the lye ??
Excellent that's great news. For they lye I use the calculation to work out how much I need in my soap, so in my example in the video I had made up enough lye solution that would have been right for 3000g of oils in my recipe. When I weighed the made up lye it weighed 1186g. therefore I know that to use it at the correct rate for my recipe 3000g of oil would use 1186g of lye solution, therefore if you divide those you see that 1g of lye is needed for every 2.53g of oils.
So if I was doing a soap that needed 1000g of oils I would do 1000 / 2.53 and that would tell me that I need to use 395g of my made up lye solution for my new soap. Hope this helps :-)
@@IDreamInSoap this was very helpful
Thank you Lisa , I was a bit apprehensive about the % of lye to use . You cleared it for me . Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Love your videos, details, presentations. Thank you :)-
Thank you so much Basia
You’re changing my soaping world! I’ve been master batching my lye, but not my oils, which has made me very resistant to making small batches for testing fragrance oils. Tomorrow I will find a bucket!
That is excellent news and I'm so happy, yes I love the fact that if I get a new fragrance I can quickly make up a little single soap (I do 100g total) and do a test straight away.
I really must do this. Now I know what I'm going to do with those empty 2lb coconut oil jars. And I've never heard of making lye solution more than a few days in advance and that would commit me to making soap on a deadline, but if I can do it longer ahead, well, why not! That's a lot less cleanup and room for error.
Excellent news, as long as your lye is kept sealed it will last for months no problem :-), ooh just a thought if you are talking about making lye in the jars, you shouldn't use glass to make lye up as the lye can etch into the glass and cause it to shatter, this isn't just for masterbatching but preparing lye generally.
I'm so glad I came across your channel!! I recently started exploring the world of cold process soaps and the information you provide is extremely helpful. Thank you
Glad it was helpful, I'm so pleased :-)
Hi Lisa, another great video. I saw the title and thought "do I really want to watch this, it's for the big guns, not for little old me" but being a major fan, I thought I would give it a go. You've really changed my mind, and I am definitely going to try this, weighing out is a real pain, only beaten by the washing up! Several preconceived ideas have been blown out of the window and I am going to do this at the weekend. Thank you 😘
Woohoo, that's excellent news, yes we may not need gallons made up but certainly if you only have to measure everything out every now and again then that's a plus :-)
I have watched this video everytime I “small batch”… you are forever in my “reference material” watchlist. -Naty (formerly alchemist oasis hawaii)
👍😊
Thank you so much for this video. The master batching will make my hobby life much easier 😊
Glad it was helpful, yes it does mean you can get on with soaping much more quickly
I really appreciate your videos. You have given some good time saving tips. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you so much Josephine, that's very kind of you.
This was incredibly helpful! So easy to understand and will be such a time saver. And safer. Every time I open my lye container little bits get all over the place and it statically clings to things and is just a real stress. This will be a godsend to just do it once and have it last for several batches. I was surprised to see that the oils remained soft once cooled. I was thinking I was going to have to heat up the whole tub to get it mixed every time. You’re an absolute gem xxxx
Hi Lisa
Thank you for this wonderful tutorial. Master batching oils is such an efficient way to go about things.
I hate making up the lye solution (and waiting round for it to cool) every time, but was very trepidatious about using your method to masterbatch lye.
But today, upon finishing my current bottle, I summoned the courage and am so glad I did (it is now full of a 1:1 lye sol'n). It is cooling at this moment (I just had to rush in here to say thank you).
I love your videos. They put me in a lovely calm frame of mind for soaping :D
Cool. Just make sure no one can mess with your storage area. Could be dangerous.
I absolutely love this video . I’ve been because of work .so am trying to binge watch I also haven’t made a soap since December. It’s gonna be like starting all over again especially since I was and still learning
Goodness me, not since December, oh gosh that's ages you poor thing. I hope you get time to make some soon :-)
Thank you so much, Lisa! You are saving all of small soaper time.
That's so kind of you to say Sarinthip thank you so much 😊
I really like how you explain, I appreciate you sharing how to's. 😊 You make such lovely soaps!!!
AW, such a lovely comment, thank you so much that's really kind of you to say and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me :-)
I really appreciate you taking your time to do videos such as this. Very valuable information especially for us newbies
Hi Joan thank you so much. I'm so pleased you find the videos helpful and I'm always open to suggestions of topics that people would like videos on. Best wishes :-)
Thank you very much for this sharing. Will definitely try this in my next batch. I make 2-4 small batch every weekend and weighting oils and lye do takes time😊
Well this sounds just perfect then, excellent news :-)
Hello Lisa I just came across your channel, I love it you explain so well. I'm new to soap making, I enjoy making cold processed soap. Great idea of masterbatch I'll have to try it. I have a question now with the cold weather is it okay to leave soap curing in the garage? Thank you soo much.
Hi Lisa, so pleased you enjoyed it. I think curing in the garage can be a bit tricky as the cold can make the soap attract moisture, and then the soaps can go a bit odd with fluctuating temperatures too
Thanks that was really helpful and will save me lots of time. Excellent explanation. I'll be having a go with my next lot of soap.
Thank you so much Naturally Pure Botanicals, I'm so pleased you found the video helpful, it makes it worthwhile making videos when people benefit from them. :-)
Fantastic information!
Do you heat the oils or lye you’re going to use before soaping? Or just soap at room temperature?
I do heat them up a bit to avoid a false trace and stearic spots. I always soap between 80-90F
Heat up lye?
On the lye method - that was a LEAP OF FAITH IN LISA for me!! I would say a couple of things though. I think the rule for the bottles (for lye) should be HDPE 2 (or 4). Absolutely not 1 or 3, I know that. I think that would be a better rule than testing with hot water. I found one in the house: an old anti-limescale product. Laundry detergent plastic bottles are also HDPE 2 (the triangle on the bottom with 2 in it). Also, I hesitated and then went to the hardware store and picked up gloves for use with chemicals for 4 euros. I am VERY HAPPY that I did so. All went well until I just turned the bottle on its side just after adding the lye: it fizzed out a bit uncontrollably before I had the time to ease open the cap (with my special gloves). I'm now in a bit of a dilemma wondering whether the fizz loss (10 grams out of 750gms) was more likely to be a mix, or more water, or more NaOH. I think I'm going to soldier on with it as I hugely superfat (otherwise I'd throw it out). This may be because I was doing 50/50. Perhaps. Anyway, I'm just posting this so others are aware that doing it for 50/50 lye is a bit tricky... I'm undaunted, I'm going to try again the next time. Yes, yes, my bottle was clean. I went to extraordinary lengths to ensure it was..
Thank you so much for posting your update Orla, Oh absolutely anything you use for Lye should be marked with a 2 or 5 on the bottom, I'm not sure what plastic the 4 is for. I always advise using these containers and now you have mentioned it I wish I had put that in the video too. My reference to testing the bottle with boiling water was not to replace using the 2 or 5 bottle but rather as an extra test when you have one of those bottles. Thank you for taking the time to jot down your experience. I would say a 50:50 solution would get hotter, so if you fill a bottle right up that may put quite a bit of pressure on the top of the bottle. My bottle is never completely full, there's always a little room for expansion as such. that would probably help if you are doing 50:50 as well.
@@IDreamInSoap THANK YOU LISA. I think it is a great method, and you are, I think, the only one who has shown it on video. It's true as you point out - not filling the bottle too much is no doubt important, especially for 50/50 preparations.
Thanks Orla, I have now added extra info about the type of bottle and not filling right up to my pinned comment and the description. I appreciate you taking the time to leave your comment as I think it was very useful information for people
Fantastic video. Thankyou very much for sharing. You are one very talented lady 💐💐
Thanks so much. I didn't know one could master batch oils.
How would one insert the weight of each oil if one pours some of the master batched oils to use on a soap calculator
Thank you for this simply explained video on master batching, I have been making up a bowl of hard and soft oils and leaving it until I need it (usually within a couple of days) and doing my lye and putting it in the refrigerator until the night before and leaving it out overnight. I did worry by keeping the hard oils and liquid oils mixed together was I damaging the hard oils by making them stay liquid. But noe thanks to you I know I was worrying for nothing. Thank you again for your interesting and informative video.
Stay safe and well Lisa and family.
Thank you so much Tanya, yes it's all absolutely fine. I'm so pleased you found it helpful, and thank you so much for always leaving comments for me :-)
Thank you Lisa for your time. I love your videos
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much ters cronje, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
It's so kind of you to give us such a time-saving method !
That's so kind of you to say Catherine , thank you so much 😊
Hi Lisa, thanks for another info packed video. I was with you until the lye section. I have a few questions if you have a little time to respond. Do you always make that liter bottle for yr lye? You said that liter is for 3000g of oil. So if I understand this correctly, I should start @ the 3000 g of oil & work up or down from there, depending on how much oil im using. Let's say I need to use 1000g of oil for a batch, 1000g divided by 2.53= 395g/14oz so that is how much MB lye solution I need for the 1000g of oil. Is that correct? The same with making a larger batch of lye. 4000g of oil wld need 1580g of lye solution and so on. I hope I am understanding this correctly. I like yr method more than the 50/50 method where you have to add more water & such. Sorry this is so long but I want to fully understand this method. Thanks so much. Cheers!
HI Gwen, yes you are exactly right. So anytime I'm making soap I do just that. Take my oils, say 1040g and divide by 2.53 =411g MB lye.
Bear in mind though that the 2.53 is for my recipe. So you would make up a batch of lye for your recipe. It can be for however much you like I just tend to find that 3000g of oils needs enough lye that would fit in my bottle. So for example if you did a 100% olive oil soap at 34% lye concentration according to soapcalc that would need 386g lye and 750g water, so when you weigh that after mixing it should still be pretty close to 1136g. Lets say it does weigh the 1136g then you know 3000g of your olive oil recipe needs 1136g MB lye, so your figure would be 2.64 instead of my 2.53.
I hope that makes sense. Best wishes
@@IDreamInSoap Hello Lisa! Awesome. I forgot to ask how you came up with the numbers to begin with but you've answered here. Can you tell me what the reason for changing lye concentration is for. Is that the way you do a water discount? How do you come up with say 34% (your exp above), vs the standard 38% on soapcalc? That's been a mystery to me. Thanks again for helping with my soap making education! Cheers!!
Thanks Lisa. One day could you also explain the 50/50 master batching for lye please, it confuses me lol and you explain things in such a good way. I wish I could have private lessons with you hehe 😃
Hey Kerry, the 50:50 is used if you change the lye concentration you use in different batches, so the idea is you have your lye made as strong as it can be. So if you want to use it as 50:50 you could, but if say you wanted your lye solution for your soap to be 2:1 you would add more liquid, so lets say your recipe needed 100g of lye, you would pour out 200g of solution, that would then be 100g water and 100g lye, to get to 2:1 you would then add another 100g of water, so you now have 200g water and 100g lye. I don't do it myself but know a lot of people do, but then I always soap using the same lye concentration. I'm not sure how much time it saves as if you add water to your lye it will heat up again so you wold need to wait for it to cool. I guess it would be useful if you partly use other fluids.
@@IDreamInSoap you see I already understand 50:50 better now. I now know i don't need to do it this way, I'll stick to master batching as you explain in the video. Thank you x
@@silkysuds5653hi. I just found Lisa’s video on masterbatching and your question, I just started using 1:1 lye solution master batch per Muddy Mint youtube video, this allows adding of another liquid form when making soap. Eg if use 2:1 lye solution in soap recipe you use 2/3 of master batch and 1/3 other liquid (milk, aloe, carrot etc.). It is brilliant.
Lisa that was a new thing to me .... master batching! Never heard of it but what a fabulous idea. I only make 1kg loaves, every week or 2. I’m going to do this master batching. However I generally soap around 100 degrees F. So how does master batching affect the temperature of my recipe? Does it mean I would soap at a cold temperature? It’s winter here in Australia! Thank you sooo much for your sharing and teaching. I’m learning heaps from you. ❤️🌺🌈
Hi Lynne, I'm so pleased you found it useful. I always soap between 80-90F so I always warm everything up slightly. I stir up my oils, pour off what I want and put in the microwave for a few seconds just to warm up a bit. For my lye I put it in a jug and sit it in some warm water to warm that too, it only takes a minute or so to come to the temperature you want.
I Dream In Soap wonderful thank you for that info. I’m definitely going to do a master batch. 🥰🌺🦋
this is so very very helpful
ive learnt a lot !
thankyou for for teaching us .. and
you have such a lovely teaching way !!
best regards from
new zealand 🌵🌵
You're welcome Sandy. 😉
Thanks for the video. Please share a soap icing making and doing video
Hi Neelam, I have a couple with some icing on which include how I make my icing etc, this one th-cam.com/video/d5b0mALBigE/w-d-xo.html and this th-cam.com/video/vg1VAr540GY/w-d-xo.html but they're not piping flowers or anything. It's certainly something I can go into more detail with in a future video. Thanks for the suggestion, always keen to hear what people would like to see.
Thank you very much for taking the time to give us this useful information. Just want to say this also I've never heard a voice lovely as yours, you would be a fantastic (the best) narrator for audible and such (children's books especially) ok hope that was ok 😇
So nice of you.
😊😍
One by one you keep answering my questions! I have been very curious about master batching. I was wanting to do this but didn’t think I would be able. I thought for sure I would have to store my oils in a large drum and I just don’t have that kind of space right now. I hope to sell my soap one day but for now I still need to make my first bar! LOL With this video you have shown me that I can think about master batching on my size not a business size but when I am ready I can do the business size. I have a question but it is not about master batching, Is there a “normal” size to cut your soap? I know depending on the size mold you use I think it makes a different size bar once cut. For instance the tall and skinny molds. I am sure that you have a video lined up that will answer my question but I can’t find an answer anywhere about this. I am getting ready to purchase a few molds so I was wondering if there was a normal size bar of soap? I really enjoyed this video. Take care and looking forward to your next video.
Hi Karen, lovely to see you, so pleased you liked this. Yes I find the 'mini master' batching so helpful, I typically make up either 3 or 4kg of oils at a time and that works really well for me.
Hmm I don't think there is an official standard size bar, I know lots of people like to cut at an inch thick, I do 2.5cm which is pretty well the same. My standard loaf molds are 7cm wide and I think it's a nice size, so my bars tend to be 7cm x 7cm x 2.5 cm . My tall and skinny are 6cm x 9cm x 2.5cm, so these are actually slightly heavier bars but I don't like a bar thinner than 2.5cm
I Dream In Soap thanks Lisa. That helps out a lot. Take care!
EXTREMELY helpful and answered all my previous questions on how AND why. I’ll be master batching moving forward using your methods. THANKS!!!
This makes so much sense...and will save so much time in measuring out all the oils, melting etc! I have a question...if you use lard or tallow does the masterbatch oil mixture need to be refrigerated? If so, presumably it would solidify quite a bit...so you’d need to put the bucket in a bucket of warm water to melt a bit before blending and pouring off? I’m guessing you don’t have to refrigerate if you use palm? Time to get my small fridge out of storage me thinks 😁😁. Great video 👏🏻💕
Hey Hilary, I don't use lard, so don't refrigerate mine, but do agree that if you do then refrigerating would be the best thing to do. In that case I would probably make up my masterbatch and if you were going to put it in the fridge put it in smaller containers (they would probably sit in there better)
Thanks Lisa, yes that’s a good idea. When I eventually get my own workshop I can have my own separate fridge 😁...this is my goal 🤞 xx
Another fabulous Video - keep 'em coming !!
Thank you so much Amanda, I'll try :-)
Thank you! I'll definitely be doing this ❤
good luck. ;-)
Again, many thanks! This may be a game changer for me!
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much Robin , and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
Thank you for this video Lisa 🤗 I always thought master batching was for the big timers. I bit the bullet this weekend and batched some oils and my lye. Soaped last night and it was so relaxing 😁 it was a small batch of soap and I didn't have to struggle measuring out by the fraction of a gram. It's so much more precise as well as the bigger numbers in the master batch can more easily and accurately be measured out. I'm never going back to the old way save and except for new formulas. Very grateful for your sharing 😁
AW that is brilliant, it makes such a difference doesn't it and I, like you, love the fact that you can be some much more accurate with larger amounts :-)
Well done tutorial. I tried master batching once and it went well. But because of everyone here and animals I wasn't happy with storing lye water (although extremely well labeled, I worried too much). But watching you do it, had me thinking. I don't get lye lint and it is always clear. Could be the high altitude here. So I am going to just batch my oils and make up the lye water as I go. Love how you check your calculations. I don't force gel and soap at room temp, then let it do it's thing, so that would be just perfect for me. Love the magnetic measuring spoon set you sent Karen. Can I ask where you ordered them? Thanks ever so much for sharing . You have some great methods. 👍. Blessings
Hi Cheryl, I think that's a good compromise with the masterbatching, to me the oils are the most work to weigh out and if you want a small amount for a test, having a big batch you can pour a bit from is perfect. I got the spoons on Amazon, not sure if you're Uk? but anyway I'll put the link and I'm sure you can find similar, I love them and find the skinny end really useful for narrow neck jars. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KG43T1X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thank You so much. I will look. 💕
Found them. I am going to have hubby mount an inch wide metal tube on the wall behind soaping table. This will keep them handy. I wanted to say I live in the US and above 8000 ft. That is why I seem to not have the probable or maybe soap making issues that some seem to have with lye lint or not well mixed soap batter. Now I am just guessing..... because I read of others problems in these areas of mixing, etc., and it is the only thing I can think that is different. Thanks again ☺
Fantastic video! You make everything so clear and enjoyable to learn about. Thanks for another great vid!!
Thank you so much Beck, I'm so pleased you enjoy my videos, you are so good to always leave comments for me, I really appreciate it 😊
Great video, I’ve never heard of masterbatching. I’ve only been soaping about 4 months and am still small batches but see the value. Maybe when I settle on recipes I might try it.
Hi Lisa! This is the video I needed. I started reading Kevin's book but have not gotten to that section yet. I have been wondering how to speed up the soap making process, well, you just answered my question. 😂 As always great informative and helpful video. 💕💜💙💚
Thanks Lisa .... I do mater batch my oils but in smaller batches ... but you answered my query about the oils solidifying which is why I don’t do big batches ... I’ll give it a go 🐝🐝🌈🌈🧼🧼🧼
Hey Teresa, nice to see you again :-) No they shouldn't solidify unless you keep them somewhere really cold.
I love your channel, you are an amazing artist. And I appreciate that you take plenty of your own time to teach us. Tha'k you!
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much Nanouchka PB, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
You are always so sensible and helpful. I’ve only made about 12 batches of CP soap and no matter how smart and careful one is, it is so easy to make mistakes especially with regard to measuring several oils. A major benefit of master batching, then, is that you have only had to measure all the oils once, therefore eliminating errors in what would be the next several batches. I’m going to try this. Thank you for your help and your time, Lisa.
Yes, that is a good benefit and if you measure larger amounts if you do make a tiny error it's not as bad, so 10g over if you are pouring 2000g is much better than if pouring 200g. Just make sure you give everything a really good stir before you use your masterbatch each time
Thank you, Lisa. Very informative as always.
You are so welcome, thanks Patricia
Thank you, Lisa! Most helpful.
You're welcome. 🙂
Hi Lisa, I’ve made my first masterbatch! I think this will save so much time in the long run. In doing my measuring I have discovered my scales are not 100% accurate, even though they’re good quality ones...this is worrying, as I’m about to submit my recipes for assessment. Would you be kind enough to recommend which scales you use, as they look good quality ones and there are so many out there to choose from. I’m in the UK. Best wishes, and thank you again for this tutorial xx
HI HIlary ooh yes you need some good scales. I have KD7000 scales, they seem great. I also bought a 5kg calibration weight (it was about as much as the scales) but at least I can make sure they stay accurate. So pleased you did a masterbatch, it saves so much time and great if you just need a little bit of soap to test something
@@IDreamInSoap I’ve started making my lye just for each batch and using the heat to melt my masterbatched oils. For my recipe it works great as long as the masterbatch isn’t too cool. It saves so much time 😃 xxx
This was sooooo informative as a new soap maker. Thank you!
Lovely video Lisa. Thank you again. Just like one person commented already, masterbaching is intimidating to me now. I promise to get braver and rewatch this video to give it a try. I can see lots of time savings. Thanks!
Hey Tania, thanks a lot it doesn't need to be intimidating it's just like mixing up a big batch of oils etc, hopefully when you're ready you'll give it a go :-)
I Dream In Soap yes. I agree. One question. When you are ready to make soap how do you manage the actual temperatures of your batch oils and lye solution. Do you have to bring them to a certain temperature depending on what your design may be? If you do, what method(s) you use to raise the temp of oils and of the lye solution?
Marvelous work yet again.
Thank you so much Pam 😀
I’m so glad you posted this video! I save so much time now, and get straight to the fun part when soaping. One question ... can sodium lactate be added to the masterbatch of lye solution, or does it need to be added when making the soap? I’ve tested adding tussah silk to the masterbatch, and that seems to work fine (just needs a quick shake when using it), but I don’t know what to look for to test the sodium lactate addition.
Excellent news, it's so nice to just pour some out and get on with it. Ooh thank you for the info re the silk. i don't use it myself but I'm often asked, so that's very useful to know. Unfortunately sodium lactate needs to be added just before you make the soap. I, like you thought it would be good to add it to the masterbatch lye once cooled, however, luckily I asked a friend of mine before I tried it and she told me that it doesn't work (she'd done it) something weird happens to the SL and it leaves white splodges in the soap.
I do have SL in big letters written on my lye solution bottle, at the top so I see it every time I open the bottle, just so I don't forget it.
I Dream In Soap Thanks! Much appreciated 😊
Fabulous video thank you.
Hi, I did try this method and had my jug of lye solution in my sink. I gently shook the bottle as you did and it looked like the lye had dissolved so I added cold water in my sink to cool it off. The lye had not dissolved and then became a rock solid lye at the bottom of the jug. Let this be a lesson to others if you do this ensure the lye is fully dissolved :/ I should have mixed the solution around in the jug much more apparently.
Lesson learned.
This was very informative...thank you!
You're welcome!
This is a wonderfully organized and helpful video full of advice! Thank you for all the work you put into your videos, Lisa! 😊
Thank you so much Shonna, you are so good to always leave comments for me, I really appreciate it 😊
You have encouraged me to give it a try! Thank you
Excellent news, I'm sure you'll love it :-)
Great video and very helpful. Thank you!!!
Glad it was helpful!
Lisa, thank yoiu SO MUCH for all your wonderful videos.
You are so welcome. Thank you so much Orla :-)
Another great informative video from I Dream in Soap! Thank you Lisa!
Thank you so much Tri Athlete, you are so good to always leave comments for me, I really appreciate it 😊
I Dream In Soap you deserve it!
Thank you for this very helpful video! Just a quick question as I've just set aside my first masterbatch! Would it be best to heat the oils just before use to get them clear again? Or does the clarity have no affect on the trace? Thanks for any advice
Hi, I always warm mine slightly, just to get them between 80-90F as that's the temperature I like to soap at. Many people do use room temperature, cloudy oils, but you can risk getting stearic spots and a false trace, so warming slightly I find is a good. Just heat a little bit, don't heat them all the way up again as you'll be waiting for ages for them to cool down.
Love your videos Lisa, keep them coming - so informative and clear. Thank you
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much Karen, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
Thank you again Lisa! I never thought of melting the hard oils first, I’m going to try this🥰
Hope it goes well and saves you some time :-)
Thanks Lisa for this wonderful video again. I missed on for how long can I store lye solution?? Also...what if I make soaps of different oils and butters everytime??
Hi Veenu, thanks for leaving me a comment. As long a you keep the bottle sealed up tightly it will last for ages, at least a month if not more, but keep the lid on it whenever you are not pouring from it. If you use a different recipe each time then masterbatching your oils won't really work. If you mainly use the same core ones and then just swap one of them out you can masterbatch the ones taht are the same (as long as they are the same % each time) and just ad your different oil as you go to make soap, but if you always do a different recipe you won't be able to do it.
Hi
I love your channel
But I wonder how much water do you need l mean the % of water in your recipes ??
Thanks
I always use 25% water to oils, which for my recipe is a 35% lye concentration
Hi Lisa... Thank u so much for sharing this information... I’m just starting to venture into the soap making process... I have a question... maybe a silly question but I’d like to know when ur using the master batch of lye water doesn’t it need to be warm or at a specific temperature when being mixed together with the oils ? Like if u make a master batch n decided to make soap 2 days later ... Do u need to reheat ?
Hi, you do not need to reheat, al lot of people soap at room temperature, but I always soap between 80-90F. I do reheat my oils for a few seconds in the microwave and for the lye, I weigh out what I need and then stand that in some warm water to warm up a little
Very informative, thanks for sharing
Hi Freddie Ivory thank you so much for your very kind comment 😊
Hi Lisa, Greta video and now I’m using this method all the time. The lye is just so clear with this method and it’s so useful having ready measured oils and lye, especially when you want to mix up a tiny batch for testing. Thank you for sharing your tips and knowledge 💕
Hey Hilary. I'm so pleased. Yes, I love the super clear lye, it's great isn't it. A bit odd the 1st time you do it, but then you don't want to do the open jug method any more and as for just having to tip out ready batched oils, so much better :-)
This is great information! I'm new to soap making and trying to work out my recipe but when I do I'll definitely do this! Also, I didn't realize the 'lye lint' was because it was exposed to air. So much to learn. Thanks very much.
So pleased you found it useful Elaine
Thank you for this excellent tutorial. I’ve watched several different master-batching ideas and this makes the most sense for me also. Appreciate you taking the time!
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much Sandie , and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
What a great breakdown but just for clarification. Are you basically measuring the oils and or hard oils needed to make soap according to the size of your mold, multiply it(for how many batches for that mold) along with the lye, and when you need to use if, you're dividing the amounts of oils & lye to match that batch of soap(per the mold), and that's it? I just want to make sure that I understand correctly. Thanks
HI, no I don't try to do a specific number of batches for my mould as I use all different moulds, so I just make up an amount of oil, for example 10 or 20kg of oils at a time, then pour off what I need, that fits the mould I'm about to use when I make a soap
Lisa, thank you so much for this video, it was so well explained and useful! Will be saving so much time with your tips, thank you!
AW that's lovely to hear, thank you so much nsziszo, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment for me 😊
Another brilliant tutorial, Lisa,; thank you so much! I also appreciate your clear answers to the questions posed in the comments. I’m very appreciative of how you graciously share your soaping knowledge. Kudos!
That's so kind of you to say Karen, thank you so much 😊
Thank you very much , will give this way a try ..sounds best method I’ve seen so far for sure !
Excellent news, it's so nice to have a whole lot prepped and then you can just get on with it :-)
You're such an artist and an amazing teacher! Thank you for your videos!
Hi Renee t thank you so much for such and nice comment and also for taking the time to leave another comment for me 😊
Learning so much from your videos
Hi TERRI thank you so much for your very kind comment 😊
THANK U SO MUCH FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE IT WILL HELP ME GREATLY. I'VE JUST GOT BACK INTO MAKING SOAP AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
I USE TO DO IT WITH MY MOM A WHILE BACK. BUT KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK HUN ,
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH I REALLY DO LEARN A LOT FROM YOUR VIDEOS...I LOVE THEM
BLESS BE AND STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE!!!
That's so kind of you to say Heavenly Momma's, thank you so much 😊