Prior to the 18th century, however, soap use still was not wide spread. I've been in love with soap making since I made my first batch. I don’t use softener either. The color of the soap batter can greatly affect the color of your soap. The methanol can be distilled out of the glycerin to capture the methanol or simply heated under a fume hood to remove methanol. If you placce the hydrometer in plain water it would read a density of 1.00. In days past, our grandmothers used potash, made from wood ashes and animal fats. There is less chance of infection and you can drink the sample to see how the fermentation is coming along. In a nutshell the hydrometer is reading the quantity of solids that are dissolved in your mead. Remember, learning skills means you always have them, no matter what. Soap mold that will make 12 bars of soap. If the liquid to be tested is not at room temperature, allow it to reach room temperature before testing. The hydrometer is used to measure this density change. Mercury used to be used to weight the bulb, but newer versions may use lead shot instead, which is much less hazardous in case the instrument breaks. When making wine or beer at home you must measure the density of the liquid to figure out when the fermenting is complete. Use silicone molds. It is pretty easy to use a hydrometer. It is not known whether any of the skin-loving properties of the produce will survive the soap making environment, but there is just something extra appealing about a blueberry scented soap filled with fresh blueberry puree. They are deep, and the hydrometer can float after each draw off. No need to use detergent – they already have soap on them. Hydrometers are made of glass with a weight at the bottom and typically three scales of measurement along the sides of its long narrow stem. Hooked on Soap Making! Soap making business is lucrative and offers reliable and constant revenue for business men and women who are producing and those marketing soap wholesale or retail. How to read a hydrometer (Specific Gravity) Before using the hydrometer Make sure both the hydrometer and hydrometer jar are clean. An early description of a hydrometer comes from a Latin poem, written in the 2nd century AD by Remnius, who compared the use of a hydrometer to the method of fluid displacement used by Archimedes to determine the gold content of Hiero II's crown. The hydrometer is an instrument most homebrewers eventually add to their arsenal of beer making equipment, as it allows you to measure gravity, track fermentation and help determine when a beer is “finished.” But, to the newbie, it can be an intimidating instrument to use, and many seasoned brewers find out they’ve been reading it incorrectly for years. Methanol will boil off at temperatures above 68°C. Use hot water and turn you washer off after it agitates a bit. Start with the above recipe, then if you enjoyed the process, use the lye calculator to invent your own recipes and variations. If not, check your nearby thrift store, dollar store, or discount retailer. Take the amounts of your oils and run them through an online lye calculator. Hydrometer, device for measuring some characteristics of a liquid, such as its density (weight per unit volume) or specific gravity (weight per unit volume compared with water). Save up all your soap making towels and blankets for one laundry load. Lard Lard can be used at up to 100% of your recipe to yield a hard, creamy bar of soap that comes to trace very slowly, allowing time for special effects. Use caution when handling to avoid injury. There’s melt and pour which uses a pre-made base that you melt and add fragrance and color too. Soap making is a skill, and like any skill, the best way to learn it is to start. Find out how to use … The key word is potential not realized. Pour soap into mold. Soap bark tree Quillaja saponaria (dried, powdered bark) The inner bark of the soap bar tree has high levels of saponins and to this day is used as an emulsifier and foaming agent. The hydrometer reads specific gravity of a liquid in comparison with water. Specific Gravity. Native to Chile, it can grow in other parts of the world due to it being both drought and cold-tolerant. All residual methanol must be removed before the glycerin can be used for making soap. By the way, these colorants can be used in all methods of soap making: Melt & Pour, Cold Process, and Hot Process. There are several different types of hydrometers, but the most common version is a closed glass tube with a weighted bulb at one end and a scale going up the side. Likewise, soap made from wood ash was produced in some of the larger towns in England during the 13th century, and by the 1400s, French mysophobes were making Marseille soap by mixing seawater, ash and olive oil. Melted soap can be very hot! 1. For this spirulina soap making test batch, we will use the exact same recipe as described at the beginning of this tutorial only we will decrease the lye amount from 84 grams to 78 grams which will increase the super-fat percentage in the soap to our needed 12% level. If you place the hydrometer in plain water it would read a density of 1.00. A stainless steel pot (do not use aluminium) A large pyrex measuring cup, minimum 4 cups, or other heat resistant container that you would be able to pour your lye in a smooth steady stream. The usage rate for sodium lactate is 1 tsp. If at any time during this process the melted soap in your measuring cup starts to harden before you’ve transferred it all into your molds, re-heat in the microwave for 10-second intervals until it returns to its liquid state. It is best at 30% or less of your recipe. In order to make soap, you need to combine a caustic substance with oils or fat. If you want to try making some of your own soap at home, you'll find that a lot of the tools and equipment are probably already in your kitchen. 2. But it is necessary to know the starting potential alcohol. How to Customize Your Soap. To ensure your colors are true and bright, it helps to use lighter-colored oils … Rubber gloves. Fragrance or essential oil (optional). A hydrometer is used to calculate the specific gravity of a liquid. This wonderfully addictive craft has allowed me to express my creative side while providing my family with a product that is actually useful! Before you jump into the process of making soap, there are a few things to know. Allow 45 minutes of boiling at temperature to ensure all methanol is driven off. Once you get hooked on soap making (and you probably will) you can invest in some good equipment, but to get started, just find the cheapest available. You can use it in soap making at up to 20% of your total recipe. Used in two determinations. Once the lye has reached optimal soap making temperature, the sodium lactate can be added. Using a hydrometer when making mead. You can make so many different colors of soap using various herbs and clays from the earth! These three measurements are specific gravity, Balling/Brix (the percent sugar by weight), and potential alcohol. To use, shake a small amount of the dried and powdered bark in warm water. Make sure the temperature is in the recommended range as per your... Place the hydrometer into the liquid and allow it to settle (maybe do this over a sink in case of overflow!). Original Starting Gravity (OG) and 2. To test for this you use a hydrometer. Pour the liquid carefully into the hydrometer jar to avoid the formation of air bubbles. Make sure the hydrometer does not touch the bottom or the sides of the hydrometer cup. If you click through and make any kind of purchase I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A hydrometer is one of the simplest tools a home brewers has at their disposal, but also an important one so I thought I would spend a few moments this week discussing how to properly use a hydrometer and also how to adjust your hydrometer readings for temperature. 3. The use of a hydrometer is necessary to calculate the alcohol by volume (ABV) content of your beer, cider or wine. The density indicates how much sugar is left in the mixture for the yeast to consume. The device consists essentially of a weighted, sealed, long-necked glass bulb that is immersed in the liquid being Sarah Dalziel is passionate about skills, knowledge, and self-sufficiency. Potential Alcohol. Do this by pouring it slowly down the side of the jar. Freezer paper to be used as a mold liner. Calculate the amount of lye and water. Then you can work some numbers. How To Use a Hydrometer: Add your sample to the hydrometer jar (sample holder). Not only is it a process that uses science, but it's also just a fun activity to make your own soap with the properties that you want. Let them soak until cool and then finish the cycle. Candy thermometer. It is best to have separate kitchen tools for soap making and not to use regular kitchen tools. If you can create a smooth consistency, you can add it to your cold process soap. Don't stick the hydrometer into the whole batch. The more sugar consumed by the yeast, the more alcohol is in the liquid. Soap-Making Basics. Hydrometer cups are very convenient in determining maple syrup density. It is a sealed glass tube with a weight at the bottom and a graduated scale along the neck. At this point, you can also decide on any add-ins for your soap to customize the color, scent or texture. David Fisher In the world of soap making, there are several processes or styles of soap making. The saponification process makes its own “heat” and the soap hardens and saponifies overnight. If you’d like, use spoon to texture the top of soap then decorate with flower petals such as cornflower, calendula, or rose. We recommend starting with a few simple oils and making no more than 1-3 pounds of soap in a batch, as you are learning. Two plastic stir sticks. Use a sanitized siphon or Wine Thief (turkey baster) to withdraw a sample of the wort to a Hydrometer Jar (tall, narrow jar) and float the hydrometer in that. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000. Cover soap lightly with piece of wax paper or parchment paper. (This one makes a nice bar shape.) Saponification is the soap making process, which uses the basic solution lye and different types of fats. If you are in doubt, please ask the nearest soap dealer along the street you are living, how often he / she visits the market to replace his / her stock. Use combination of hand stirring and short bursts of the immersion blender to mix oils and lye solution. per pound of oils. The hydrometer probably dates back to the Greek philosopher Archimedes (3rd century BC) who used its principles to find the density of various liquids. Hydrometer Composition and Use . Safety goggles. FTC Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. You can use any kind of fruit or vegetable puree in your soap. Simply measure out the sodium lactate, and stir into the cool lye water. The hydrometer reads specific gravity of a liquid in comparison with water. There’s cold process which mixes the melted oils and lye together but doesn’t add any additional heat. But if you want to use a hydrometer, here’s how to read it. It should taste like beer even though it may taste a bit yeasty. A hydrometer is a device used to measure the specific gravity (SG) or density of a liquid with respect to water. Mix until soap reaches trace. Once you drop the hydrometer in the wort (careful, you might get some overflow), you give it a little spin to make sure no air is clinging to it. Soap made with a lot of olive oil, such as the Castile Soap shown above, will produce a soap batter with a yellow/green tint. The science behind soap making is in the structure of the fats, the properties of the lye, and the chemical reaction that produces cleaning molecules. To get started, decide on the oils that you will use to make your soap and the size of the batch. A candy thermometer can be used to determine the temperature when you’re processing your sap into syrup. HYDROMETER BASICS. When transferring melted soap into the molds, bubbles will form on the surface of the soap. The natural glycerin in soap acts as a fabric softener. Brix mostly used in wine making. Reading the hydrometer is pretty easy stuff—but it does require a trip down memory lane…to Grade 6 science class. For soap making, it’s recommended to wait until the lye water has reached temperatures of 130 °F or below.