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Miller's Homemade Soap Pages |
I am a newbie soapmaker and have only 4 batches under my belt. Thus far I have had only one difficult batch which got almost too hard to cut when it sat overnight. The rest of my batches have been coming out excellently thanks to having great recipes and that stick blender. I am wondering how best to store my soaps after they are ready to use. Can you shrink wrap homemade cp soaps or does this adversely affect them? I have searched all over trying to find out if this is ok to do or if leaving them out in the air is the better method.
I'm still working this out myself. I would not shrink wrap them for long term storage because they could either sweat, or continue to shrink and the wrap will get loose. Complete open air storage makes really hard bars, but they will lose a lot of scent. What I've been doing is storing the soaps in a drawer-like affair I got at Costco pretty cheap (it's plastic)... and having them in a semi-open environment after they get a few weeks of open air curing under their belts. The drawers allow me to arrange the soaps with a bit of space, but crack them open to let some air in... but not total open air.
I would shrink wrap the soaps when you are ready to give them away or sell them, but not way far in advance. You might post your concern on a forum such as Latherings and see what other folks who use shrink wrap recommend and what their experience is. I have them linked on my soapmaking links page.
Subject: Re: Loved your web pages
After reading your pages I went out and bought a 2 speed stick blender, WOW what did I ever do without it before.
I also enjoy going to the Renaissance faires as well as arts and crafts. My youngest grandson is so allergic to ALL commercial soaps/detergents that I really had to help him. I make for him a basic olive/canola oil (50/50) mix with no scents/additives. Now he no longer has to go to the doctor for steroid shots/creams.
Robert Akers
That's great! I love hearing stories like yours and I've noticed the same for people who have sensitivities... many of them see improvement even with scented homemade soap.
Glad you're enjoying the blender. Isn't that neat?
Subject: soap question
hi,
i read the article in the july 9-12 usa today. i made a double batch. it was great!!!!!!
i drew a picture on the computer for a wrapper, cut the soap into 18 pieces, wrapped them and gave them all away. i like to make things for christmas. you guessed it, this year i am making soap. the usa today article talked about tea tree and peppermint oil soap for pimply faces. the question is what kind of soap base and how much tea tree oil and how much peppermint oil?
it took me a week to find lye.
thanks a lot
david robbs
Lost my reply to this, but the recipe mentioned was Susanna Brandon's... the gal who wrote the U.S.A. Today article. I would guess that for a batch the size that I post on the site, you could use 1 to 1.5 oz. peppermint and maybe a 1/2 oz. of tea tree oil. Don't know what she used though.
Subject: Another Inquiry
Dear Kathy,
Thank you for your quick response. I appreciate it a lot. Now that you have answered my questions I can start soapmaking anytime now. I want to make soap before the the holidays because I plan to give it as gifts to my friends. There is nothing better than giving friends something you made personally with your hands, a labor of love. That's why I envy your craft and I hope to make it my craft soon.
I do have one more question, while I was reading all about soapmaking I came across a remark that said I can double the recipe but I cannot cut it in half. Well, I was wondering what can happen if I do cut it in half and if this is true for all soap recipes. I want to try out some recipes before making them in big batches, and since the costs of the materials are not exactly cheap I want to make sure that the recipe is good. Yep, that's me, a "cheapskate". But, honestly, soapmaking materials are not easy to find or afford here in my place. I can't even find beeswax here. There are only three stores I can locate that sell essential oils.
Thanks again for reading my letter and when I start my soapmaking activity I certainly will keep you in touch.
Hi! You can cut recipes in half, but the concern is that the smaller the recipe the more touchy it will be as far as the balance of lye to fats ratio. Your margin for error gets tinier and tinier as the batch gets smaller. It means you have to have a really good scale (with decimal points) and be very accurate in your measurements. If measuring carefully, you should be able to cut my recipes in half and have it work out okay. Something else you can do (particularly with a soap that is part tallow and doesn't get thick too fast) is make a batch and at light trace, divide it into portions (or pour off one bowl at a time so that the rest stays warm) and scent them differently... then pour each. Might help to have another person on hand for that, but it's doable. Just another option. In doing that, take care not to let the soap lose too much heat.
Good luck in your soapmaking. I'm sure you will find it very satisfying to make your own gifts. Hope it all turns out well! :-)
First I would like to thank you for your site it is full of valuable information. I had been thinking about making soap for awhile. With the information on your site I felt confident to proceed. For my first (and so far only) batch I made Rachel's "Tried and True" recipe. I'm hoping you may be able to critique the final product. I followed your directions to the letter. Everything boiled and bubbled the way I think it should have and in the end I had a chunk of hard white soap. The only thing that seemed wrong with the final product is that it was some what brittle when being cut. I tried dental floss which was very difficult and finally used a straight metal spatula which was a bit easier but both ways caused many of the pieces to break apart. Needless to say my bars are not neat rectangles. Is this normal? I measured ounces with a measuring cup because I do not have a scale. Which way do you think yields the most consistency in terms of good batches (a scale or a measuring cup)? Lastly some things on your site I found especially helpful 1. the stick blender 2. the mold (I made a wooden one) & instructions to line it with freezer paper (I used wax paper the soap came right out) 3. the mitre box (I have difficulty cutting straight lines without a guide. In fact I'm trying to figure out a way to make a mitre like box with guides to make the first cuts from the block so they will be straight.) 4. All the information was great! The detailed descriptions and the pictures made all the difference. Thank you very much. I'll be anxiously waiting your response so I can make my next batch.
L. Rausch
I WOULD RECOMMEND A SCALE. :-) This is probably what happened. It sounds like your batch is lye heavy which will cause it to be brittle like that. You can rebatch it, figuring out how much you were short on the oil/fats and adding that back in... or let it cure, pulverize and wash your clothes with it. Did you read the information on Rachael's page on recipes using liquid measures? I think there are some conversion numbers there for measuring certain oils (I need to go back and look). Check that out with what you actually put in and maybe you can figure out what is still needed for rebatching, if that's what you want to do. For rebatching ideas, check on the rebatching page part of "Soapy Success".
Kathy, thanx for all the help you have given me thus far. I'm always tickled that you answer my e-mails! Now for my question. Alot of folks freeze their downspout soap to enable them to unmold it yet you recommend against this practice. Why? Does it stop further saponification? (Sometimes it is the only way I can get mine out.)
-Thanx, Cindy-
I've always read and believe that it is better for the curing process not to expose your soap to excessively cold temperatures in the first couple of weeks. This freezing technique, I believe, has its origins in melt and pour... where the saponification is not an issue. It is a quick and dirty way to get the soap out... but if you leave it a bit longer in the tubes, it should eventually shrink away at the sides a bit and be easier to break free.
If this works for you and you feel the end product is no different, then keep using the technique. I have not made soap in the PVC tubes, so haven't struggled with this problem... although I've chuckled through more than one post on what people have done to extricate their soap from the tubes! :-)
I love your site and have found it to be very helpful. I've made several batches and am now wanting to standardize my bars. So far they have been all kinds of shapes and sizes depending on the size recipe. I saw your mold and want to know, what size bars do you make with it? Not weight but dimensions please. Thanx- you should write a book!
-Cindy-
I think I already did... on the Internet... for free! Some of the info is not mine but passed along by me, so not all original stuff. It's been suggested before... I'll have to think more about that!
The bars I make (after cure) are approx. 2" W x 3 1/8" long x 1" deep. These vary slightly and are a bit bigger when first cut, before shrinkage. I guess a rule of thumb would be close to 2 inches wide, 1 inch deep and about 3 inches long. A little variation is fine and any dimension you'd rather have is up for grabs as well... that's just what I get from those boxes and those weight around 4 oz. Some batches will have longer bars if I add soap chips or something that brings the level up slightly. This is not EXACT... but close to give you an idea.
Hope this helps with your calculations.
Greetings Kathy:
I purchased a stick blender and tried it yesterday...and wondered where success has been all of this time. I've had more questionable batches than completely successful ones and the one from yesterday was WONDERFUL. It set up into the pudding consistency within 5-10 minutes, etc., and I hadn't had any batches show me true trailing before: no matter how long I sat there and stirred (and stirred and stirred). I'm wondering if hand stirring is drastically affected by altitude, etc.. Anyway, I'm sold on modern technology and the stick blender is GREAT!
Thanks for the very nice recipes included on your site: the resulting number of bars (using the wooden box mold) was very close to the number estimated for each batch.
-Helen-
Thank you for such a nice letter. It came at a good time. Someone just told me that a woman teaching a soapmaking class in California had badmouthed my "corrupt" information on the web. She's a purest who wouldn't dream of using a stick blender on her soap. I'm sure she makes a fine product, but I love my blender! I have found the texture of my soaps has improved greatly since I started using this tool. Glad it worked well for you also!
Happy Soaping!
Thank you for your prompt reply to my dilemma! Miracles still happen- the "Botched Batch" is by far my most favorite!! (Read about this on the "Botched Batch" page.) Except for the top which was a little crusty and easily shaved off, the bars cut easily and look beautiful!! I'm so thankful that I can benefit from all your experiments and use all your recipes. Your notes, explanations, and incredibly beautiful pictures, inspire me and give me an assurance that my soap will turn out. So far I've made four of your 8lb recipes batches and they all turned out wonderful!! It's so tempting to use them before 3-4 weeks of cure time- I can hardly wait and neither can my family. I suppose I can buy some PH strips to test them.
Sorry to keep bugging you but I have another question regarding storage during cure time. I have found that generic soda pop cardboard trays work perfectly to store 32 bars of soap from your recipes. I line the trays with wax paper, but am wondering if that provides adequate air circulation for them. What do you think? Will it prolong the curing time or are they alright to use? Also do you turn your soap; how often? :)
I forgot to ask ONE more question. About packaging your soap to sell; do you wrap them in cellophane so the scent keeps or do you just use wrap-around paper labels? If I make soap now to sell in November do I need to keep them "air tight" after they age so they don't lose their fragrance? I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. What do you do with left over soap that doesn't sell, especially if you have lots? I plan to use soap for gift giving (that was my original motive for doing this in the first place), but does the soap last indefinitely? Well I confess I asked more than one question. I guess I should find a chat room of some sort on-line so you can get some peace!! As always thanks for your help! Because of people like you, I am already beginning to share my enthusiasm and what I know with others. My Mom wants to learn how and plans to visit so we can make soap together. My 17 year-old daughter has already made a batch with me. It's really been FUN having soap to bring us together!!
Thanks again!
-Gail-
Hi! I don't know if this is the most reliable thing with homemade soap... even the mild stuff will probably test around 10 or 11 (if I remember right... have never done it). You can try the cheap and old fashioned "tongue test" ... putting the tip of your tongue on the aged soap. It will "bite" if it still needs more time. Either way... I doubt if it tastes very good!
I usually only turn the soap a time or two during the first week. After that, I don't worry much about it. Long term storage... depends on how cured they are when you put them closer together and the particular recipe. I've had some batches ooze and others stay nice and hard no matter what. You should check the soap every so often and see how it's doing. If it's a "dry" and well behaved batch, you can probably store it the way you mentioned. The problematic ones might benefit from more air around each bar. I bought one of those inexpensive "drawer" units made from plastic at Costco. It has 9 drawers of varying depths and I can put a batch of soap in each one. If they are still fairly fresh (not cured a full month to 6 weeks yet), I've left the top of the drawer slightly cracked to let moisture escape. This gives them some air but still keeps more of the scent in compared to total open air storage.
I wrap the soaps in a cigar band type label when it's time to sell them and sometimes slip each bar into a reclosable plastic bag (like a ziploc type, but smaller... maybe 4 X 4 or 4 X 5). That way people can open the bag to sniff, but it can be kept closed to keep in the scent. Some will hold their fragrances longer than others. I think the fragrance oils hold better than many of the essential ones (patchouli is probably an exception... that stuff is really potent!). Not sure on that, but it seems to be my experience so far. Probably depends on the formulation also. I would keep them "semi" airtight like I explained before and check them every so often to make sure they're not developing any weirdness. Soap that is not overly superfatted and made well will keep for a long time and be good, but the scent will gradually fade over time.
Hi, its me again. Now that my soap come out right I have another problem. Whenever I use EOs ants try to eat my soap. The same thing goes whenever I use honey. What is the problem? I thought caustic soda was poisonous.
-Clarrissa-
There shouldn't be much free lye in the soap any longer... I've heard of animals eating soap also... BLAH! This is a new problem to me! I guess you'll have to find some sort of way to store them where the ants won't get to them and still allow the soap to get enough air that it won't sweat. Interesting challenge. Maybe some cheesecloth? Hmmm...
Good luck! Sorry I've not encountered this before. I guess the obvious solution is to get rid of those ants!!! :-)
Your page has been so helpful to me in the past! I've just experienced two soap "nightmares" in the last week, though. 1) I tried to make glycerin soap using your directions. I used many colors of soap though, and right now have the worst brown color imaginable. It's no where near clear yet, but it's only been through one melt. I have it in the crock pot now, and I'll just sit tight and see what happens. I figure I can add coffee scent to it and dye it brown if nothing else. Maybe folks will think that's the way it's supposed to be! 2) I used Rachael's tried and true recipe. I've had great luck with this recipe.Followed directions exactly. I added green and black pigment from the Pigment lady to get a beautiful steel gray color. Than I added finely minced seaweed. Unmolded it, tried to cut it. Couldn't even get through it with a hacksaw! I'm going to try to rebatch it and see what happens.
Hi! I forwarded your message to Rachael (those were her instructions for the glycerin soap) and this was her response:
I don't know what happened either... that's weird. Was the seaweed extra salty? Salt will harden a batch also.
Good luck with reclaiming. That should smell interesting! ;-)
I'm so glad I found you're site! I loved reading all the letters from everyone - it just proves you do learn more from mistakes. I have an oops to share & a question. My first batch I used some palm oil that I bought at a local African store. It was a deep yellow & my soap came out orange - I added a little cinnamon & oatmeal & it looks great. The question - is all palm oil that color? Would like to use it but I would like a lighter color of soap. Now to my oops - last night I tried the hand-held blender for the first time -was doing it in a 5-qt.bucket. My husband was doing the mixing & in an effort of trying to keep it from splashing out, he inadvertently put a hole in the bottom of the bucket. We were able to save 3/4ths of it but it did make a mess & could have been a dangerous disaster - lesson: use glass or stainless! I am excited about the remaining soap - I used almond, coconut, peanut oil & lard. I used the MMS lye calculator & was very impressed with it. Well, thanks for being there to give us newbies support so we don't quit.
-Kris Schmidt-
Thanks for your "oops" ... I'll be updating pretty soon and I put your email in the pending folder.
Yes... you can get bleached refined palm oil... it's kind of a creamy color. I get buckets from Shay and Company in Portland, OR and Columbus Foods also carries it. You can get smaller sizes as well. There are other sources for palm on the net if you only want a smaller quantity... look at some of the links I have in the supplies section for some possibilities.
Happy soaping! You should call that oops batch "Liza Soap" ("there's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza...") (maybe "Old Fashioned Liza Soap instead of Lye?)
Think I'll go to my room now...
Thank you for all the time and energy spent on this website - it is wonderful when everyone generously shares their talents.
I have only been making soap for about 6 months - but when I started I became all consumed and went a little berserk. I have shelves and shelves of soap that smell nice, are a nice shape and lather and feel great. . . the only complaint I have is that the colors of the bars are fading over time leaving them looking. . . blah. I have used natural herbs and spices, candle dyes and crayola crayons. All seem to be loosing their original color.
I generally use a combination of all or some of: olive, coconut, almond, canola, and soy oils. Could one or more of the oils have this effect? I have been adding a hint of vitamin E to each of these batches as well (hoping to avoid this very problem).
It is just such a shame - batches made 4 months ago have taken on a completely different appearance.
Also, is it true that crayola and candle wax dyes are not approved by the FDA for soapmaking?
Thank you, thank you,
Looking forward to more stories,
-Sandra-
I've had a couple of batches change over time, but most not. One was colored with beta carotene and it lightened over time (which actually was welcomed). The other was a castile batch that changed its shade of pink a bit in storage, but I think it's because it was drawing moisture and getting more damp (as olive oil soaps will tend to do if exposed to much moisture). Are your soaps exposed to much heat or sunshine? The sun could definitely bleach them out if it's hitting them. That's the first thing I'd check.
Some crayons work and some don't color properly. I posted Rachael's remarks on this on the "design your own" page. I don't believe they have been approved by the FDA for soap, but probably no one planned to use them for it. I have never personally had problems with them and don't worry over it. As long as you are making soap and not something with cosmetic claims, you don't have to fret over having them in there (legally we are not even required to list the ingredients if we claim it is "soap"... but if you list any you need to list ALL). Cosmetics have to have everything listed and only use USDA approved ingredients. This is my understanding, but there is more out there on the Web to read if you want to dig.
Hi, you haven't heard from me in a while... it's your neighbor in Washington, the one who just got started with soapmaking. Well.. I thought I'd just pass along a couple of things that have really worked for me :) First.. I really like rectangular soap, but I also wanted to make soap in the round. My husband is one of those really paranoid people, he was afraid of chemicals leaching into the soap from PVC, so I had to look around for other potential containers... and I found two really cheap ones. :) First is Pine Sol, the 1.06 liter container. It actually has ridges on the sides to mark where to cut the soap rounds for you! Of course you have to ruin the Pine Sol container after you use it once, but I thought it was really neat. :) It makes about six nice sized round bars. The second container that I found in my kitchen is a Talking Rain water bottle. This one you don't have to ruin, just cut off the top and the bottom so that you have a smooth round cylinder, and then block them off like you do with PVC. It makes really large rounds though, so for those who like smaller bars, it wouldn't be the one to use. Maybe one of the smaller water bottles would do just as well. But I know I manage to collect those things unimaginably, so we have maybe five right now. Anyway.. just thought I'd pass that along.
Happy soaping!
-Katie-
Thanks!
I made a batch of soap and replaced 4 oz of olive oil with Shea butter (for extra moisturizing). I melted the Shea butter and it went in with the rest of my oils - olive, coconut and vegetable. I had made this recipe dozens of times, but this was the first with the Shea butter. When I added the lye to the oil it saponified immediately (and I mean instantly). I really didn't have very much time to add my exfolients and EO and when I put in the mold I had to take a spoon and put it in in clumps and smooth it out with a spatula - not a pretty sight. The soap though still turned out fine. I make my soap at a temperature of 80 degrees (lye and oils). I use the same recipe for all my soaps and occasionally replace 1/2 cup of olive oil with other oils ie. jojoba, almond, etc. This is the very first time that it Saponified so quickly and I'm suspicious it was the Shea Butter, but not sure why.
Shea butter is known to hasten trace... next time add it at light trace and quickly stir it in. Those are pretty low temps also... that would also increase trace when using the shea. Glad the soap turned out okay in the long run, but isn't that frustrating when your goodies get all clumped up like that? :-/
Glad it all came out in the end. :-)
I would like to know if I can make bars of soap out of Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Almond Oil liquid Soap. How could I do that without using lye or lard??
Thanks for your help.
-Cyndie-
This might be tricky because your soap was probably made with potassium hydroxide, which makes a more liquid, soft soap. Sodium hydroxide (lye) makes a hard bar of soap. I don't know how you'd make soap out of soap anyway. You can make any number of soaps at home without lard or animal products, but not without lye. Lye is not your enemy... it's a fallacy to think you can make soap without it (or some other caustic base substance to turn the fat molecules into soap compounds). Correctly made and cured homemade soap is milder than anything you can buy... even those fancy clear glycerin bars. Don't let the lye thing put you off. I think some of the marketers our there who claim their soap has no lye have confused the public. They are being misleading when stating that. It just means they didn't use lye in their portion of the manufacture... but in the beginning, it was used to saponify the fats. Notice on the soap labels that word, "saponify" ... or "sodium tallowate"... "sodium cocoate", etc.? That means tallow or coconut oil that have been made into soap with the use of sodium hydroxide (lye)... that's the sodium part.
Sorry I can't help you convert that liquid into bars... but I hope you give another look to make soap at home. It's wonderful stuff!
You most likely don't need any ideas from me, but will tell you one anyway... we double and triple refine our tallow, by getting rid of the muck at the bottom of the bowl, after it hardens, then remelting, and letting it reharden, then separate the muck again. There's much less the 2nd time, and even less the 3rd time. Pretty soon you end up with a nice cake of almost snow white tallow. So called "Russian Tallow" is simply well refined tallow.
Also, we found that putting portions of partially rendered fat in a blender and goosing it briefly seems to speed the process... but it is messy.
-Guy-
Thanks for the suggestion!
This may be a very stupid question, but as a new soapmaker, I have read as much as I can find on soapmaking, but one piece of information eludes me. How can you tell what quantity of ingredients you need in order to end up with a specific amount of finished soap? I understand about the relationship of lye to water, to fats and oils, and the proportions of each, but let's say I want to make an 8 lb batch of soap, or a 25 lb batch, or a 30 lb - whatever - working backward from that, do I assume that I need to start off with 8 lbs of oils plus fats? or 25? or 30?
Most recipes tell you beforehand how much soap they will make.What if I want to make a different quantity of that recipe?
I have recently made some 6 batches of castile soap, with olive oil making up 40 to 50% of fats and oils. I use palm and coconut oil, and manage to reach trace within 20 minutes, sometimes in 15. I use a whisk, by hand, temperatures around 100, and my batches, since I am still a beginner, are relatively small - about 2.5 lbs of finished soap. The soap is reasonably hard, considering the experiences I have read about on your web page.Yes I am a natural soapmaker, but not stir crazy. I will try a stick blender soon. I need to purchase one first. Any preferences?
By the way, I consider your soapmaking page among the best I have found yet on the net. I contact it more frequently than any other.
-Ana Antaki-
>I will try a stick blender soon. I need to purchase one first. Any preferences?
I've had one for a long time and can't remember the brand right now (Moulinex?)... people talk very highly of Braun if you want higher quality. I think that would last longer than the cheapest ones, but they are not bad if you don't abuse them and run them for too long without a break. Be sure your mixing blade is stainless steel and there is nothing aluminum on the want that would contact the soap. Occasionally, I hear from people who have had a problem with their cheap blender. Mine has a nylon casing around the shaft that drives the blade and soap never gets to the metal shaft... the mixing blade at the bottom is stainless steel.
Thank you very much!
On soap yield... I would probably make estimations based on what I already know. With my mold I can get around 32 bars of soap (makes around 8 - 9# and starts with about 6# of fats). If I were to double the recipe, I'd assume 64 4 oz. bars, etc. Not much science there! Bar count will also depend on your mold dimensions and what works for you in cutting. You might need your bars to be a bit heavier than 4 oz. and thus will get fewer.
I don't have all this figured out like a science... sorry I don't have a precise answer for you. It's a lot like cooking and guessing yield based on what you started with before multiplying the recipe, I guess!
You will enjoy that stick blender... just be prepared to hold onto your hat! Trace time is a matter of minute(s)!
This is Margaret and I have really hard soap. I have been using a sharp knife to cut the soap. The recipe that I used was:
The block looks great smells great, no scent added. Just very very hard. I usually make goat's milk soap and I like to make milled soap but the goat's milk soap sometimes is too soft.I thought that I would mill the reg. soap with milk and see if it was harder and would last longer. I am going to try this later. On Aug. 12th I am doing a Demo on Goat's milk soap for 30 kids and this soap was to go to them...guess I had better make a new batch or two and instead of letting them make soap balls I will just give them some soap.I get very nervous with kids and lye. No one here has heard of goat's milk soap and I have known of it for sometime...I have a hard time getting the fragrance to hold but I am working and reading on that. Any suggestions???? I will let you know how the remilling turns out I am still looking for a shoe box sized soap dish!!!!!!!
Thank you for your help.
-Margaret-
Hi, again! All I can figure out is that the salt did it. That's the main difference from the soaps I usually make and salt will harden the bar. If you're giving this to children (laughed when I read "kids" after reading about your goats!), why not break it up the best you can in irregular sized pieces. It's homemade, after all. Looking rustic won't put them off a bit if the stuff lathers and behaves like soap. Just a thought. The longer you wait to try to cut this, the worse it's going to be to do anything with it, so I'd get a saw or anything that I thought would cut through it!
As far as fragrance goes... go with a good quality (not the terribly high priced "aromatherapy"essential oils, but like the ones you can get at A Garden Eastward) essential oils or fragrance oils that are known to work in cold process soap. Some people think that benzoin powder or tincture will help hold the scent. I've not decided whether it makes a great difference or not... but thought I'd pass that along. A couple teaspoons of the tincture in a 6# batch of soap should be plenty if you decide to try that. I get fragrance oils at Sweet Cakes and Lebermuth (they have it in bulk and a high minimum order) but Majestic Mountain Sage has some good ones also. I really like their Lavender Flowers and Rain Orchid. The lavender flowers is very strong and one ounce will scent a batch the size I make... 1.5 oz. would be even nicer (12 oz. lye and 6# fats roughly). I only use about 2-3 ounces of FOs in my soap, but with a weaker one might go as high as 4. On most of the Sweet Cakes ones I use 2. I don't like the soap super strong and am too cheap to buy the 4 oz. size! ;-)
Good luck! Let me know if you get that hunk sawed or chopped apart... I wouldn't wait much longer, which reminds me... I have two batches on the kitchen table waiting to be cut.
i would like to thank you for letting people know how to make lye soap. my grandmother past away before she could write it down or teach me. when i ask people how to make it they will not tell. i just want to make some for me then i can remember what she smelled like. i know that they say it doesn't smell but to me it did
thanks again
(I printed this much as I received it.)
Of all the reasons I've heard for wanting to make it, yours is the most touching. You probably want to make it using lard and/or a lard and tallow blend. Adding some coconut is probably not something she did, but would make better lather. I'm guessing she didn't add any scent so you would just end up with that homemade soap smell.
I hope it works out well for you. You probably want to start on the main page where the old lye company instructions are. If you have problems that are not covered on the page (read some of the soapy success section), let me know.
Your grandmother must have been a very special person. :-)
Thank you for your reply and thanks for being there for all of us 'lost' soapers!
I have just one question: I've had the worst time trying to find coconut oil in Las Vegas, but I have finally found something that may work. The company says that it IS 100% coconut oil, and it is called "griddle fry". I found this at a restaurant supply store. Would this be ok to use? It appears as a solid in the huge container. I have been making my soap without either coconut or palm because I wanted to get started and just couldn't find those oils, so I hope this one will work so I can see/feel the difference coconut oil makes!
thanks in advance :-)
-Terri L. Haley BSc, BA-
That stuff is just what you want. 100% coconut, white, hard at room temp. Sounds good to me. Now you can use as much as you want!
I was led to your pages by 2 nice people on the Sugarplum list. I have quickly read it twice. I did not see anything on how you figure out what temps your fats and lye water should be when creating your own recipes. Is there a standard?
Thanks for any info,
-Bobbi-
I don't really know. The original chart with temps that I have on the main page came from the old lye company instructions. In general, your temperatures are higher for fats with higher melting points. Another factor seems to be how temperature affects speed of trace. Susan Miller Cavitch felt that soap blended in the mid ranges (around 100-110 degrees, I think... haven't read it for awhile) don't trace quite as quickly, which is actually better if you're stick blending, swirling, or working with fragrance oils as opposed to essential oils. There is a range of acceptable temperatures, so I don't think there's an exact right and wrong here if you fall within that range. (Safe range is generally between 95-120 degrees, I would guess.)
How's that for a nebulous answer?!
Kathy, I have spent several hours educating myself and researching. I love the way your instructions are like you are with me in the kitchen.
I am a little apprehensive about the lye, but will heed your advice to the letter. I have several questions. First, do you use regular tap water or distilled? I wondered if the purification additives and fluoride would have an effect on the out come.Secondly, I saw no mention of the effect of current weather conditions? I have located a recipe called 3 oil that I think I will try. But, it does not include EO and FO instructions. How do you know how much to put in. A lady at the grocery (yes, I will chat with anyone that will talk back) said that the Amish use vanilla extract for fragrance. What do you think? Thanks in advance, will be looking forward to your reply.
> I love the way your instructions are like you are with me in the kitchen.
Thanks! Interesting way of putting it.
I have soft well water here that is untreated and use it out of the tap. If you have city water and are concerned, you could buy bottled or distilled water for your soap. I know many people who speak of doing this on the Latherings forum. Chill it before using so that it's cold before mixing in the lye (it will heat up a lot).
a major problem... but in the winter you might insulate your poured soap more than in the summertime (except if you have air conditioning and it's rather cool in the house).
Run your recipe through the Majestic Mountain Sage Online Lye Calculator before you make it to be sure the numbers are good. Not all recipes are as balanced as they could be (I like to go with a 5% lye discount... look for that column and make sure the amount of lye you desire is in that one.. if not, adjust your oils a bit and recalculate until it comes out right). Look on the page on my site called "Design Your Own Recipe" and I think I have a section that mentions the addition rates of certain essential oils, etc. I don't scent as heavily as many people do... usually anywhere from 2 oz. to 3 oz. of FO or EO for a 6# (oils) batch is good enough for me. This too depends on the particular strength of the oil used. I've heard of people trying vanilla extract, but for cold process soap I don't think you'd be totally pleased with the outcome. Would probably work better for a rebatch (which I HATE!). Sweet Cakes has a wonderful rich vanilla FO that is quite strong called "Special Edition Vanilla." It's kind of pricey to order from there (shipping), so you might as well get a few different ones or at least two if you're going to pay the shipping... or split an order with someone. Her oils cost a bit more but the quality is good. I also love their Bitter Almond fragrance oil... a little bit of that one goes a long way. There are also some wonderful EO blends you can buy from A Garden Eastward at reasonable prices. I have a link for her on my soapmaking links page. There are so many possibilities!
Good luck! Let me know how your first batch turns out.
I'm fairly new to soap-making, and have had wonderful success from the very first batch. Recently, I made a couple of batches with FO's from Sweet Cakes (I love their oils!), and in under 8 hours, the bars were nearly rock-hard! I didn't do anything different except use those FO's. Could the fragrance oil have anything to do with the soap becoming so hard so fast? I made the soap in the morning, and cut the bars that afternoon! I'm not complaining, it's nice, but was just wondering since I've read that these batches take up to a month to cure.
Any reply will be greatly appreciated
Terri L. Haley BSc, BA-
I've not noticed a correlation here, but are you making small batches? In the case of a small batch, some FOs tendency to cause more heating in the soap could actually make your soap set up a bit quicker (since it gets hotter and the saponification process is accelerated..small batches are notorious for cooling off too fast). These bars will still take a good month to be fully cured before you want to use them, but it's nice when they get firm early on and are not soft and/or mushy for weeks!
John and Cyndi Groth:
All this is answered on my site, but you have to do some reading to find it all! My favorite books are Melinda Coss' "Handmade Soap Book" and Susan Miller Cavitch... "The Soapmaker's Companion". If you can't find them locally, you can order online from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. The Coss book has lots of colorful pictures that are inspiring and helpful. The Cavitch book is loaded with technical info and line drawings. For starting out... you might like the Coss book more.
My recipes are tailored for using a 12 oz. can (the way lye used to come in the U.S. ... now it's in an 18 oz. container... a postal scale will be needed). You can divide those recipes (like cutting in half) as long as you measure properly. Real small batches are tricky because the lye measurements become more critical. A slight discrepancy in the lye amount can give you a lye heavy product or way too much fat. The larger batches are more forgiving. Many people think they'll make a big batch and rebatch it in small quantities for scenting. I would recommend scenting your first batch and then playing with the scrap pieces to decide if rebatching is for you. I HATE it! It's a pain and the finished bar is not nearly as nice and smooth as the original you grated up!
I think "trace" is described on the Traditional Methods page under the old lye company instruction.
Also... check out some of the other links I have listed on my soapmaking links page. Many other sites give basic soapmaking instructions as well.
Happy soaping! Let me know how that first batch turns out.
-Kathy Miller-
Kathy:
I've recently begun soapcrafting and love it! Also, just recently, our son up-dated our computer system, so that we could get on "the net" and have access to "all this"! Wow! I can't tell you and all your other links, how very, very wonderful and helpful all your information has been! I had been trying to "get going" for months, and your website did it for me! What a wonderful wealth of information and so well done!
Since the middle of May I have made 6 different batches of soap and even tried my hand at hand-milling (something I think I'll leave alone, since there is no way you can get liquid to 180o in a double-boiler on an electric stove!!) Also, won't try goat's milk soap for awhile--the goat's milk and lye literally foamed all over my cabinet--and still I've recaptured that batch by hand-milling. (Well, we'll see how it cures out!)
I was so nervous when I made my first batch, but determined. Couldn't believe it turned out so well. Anyway, now I'm "hooked" and love it!
Just wanted to tell you how great your website is and your products all look so great! And had to thank you and yours for all the fabulous information available.
Indebted and grateful,
-Ann Garrelts/Smoky Hill Suds-
Thanks!
Having been inspired by your brilliant site, I decided as a soap newbie to give the blender method a go with an oil-based recipe I got from my book. I had everything at the right temperature (I think) and was merrily blending away, keeping the blender low down in the mix so that everything wouldn't spatter everywhere.
Then I got a little cocky...I was amazed at how well things were going but just wanted to make sure everything was blending. So I carefully pulled the blender head up the mix a little and woosh, it was like I had added half a ton of bicarbonate of soda to a teacup! the soap mix foamed and bubbled a way up and out of the pot! Luckily I got it to the sink before it swept me away out of the kitchen. I carefully stirred the remainder until the bubbles/foaminess subsided and actually mixed it with my essential oils and colouring and poured it into the mould.
It was quite thick at this stage and I had my doubts, but it heated up beautifully and when I emptied out the mould and cut it into bars I was delighted to see that there were no lye crystals or big bubbles in the middle - so all is not lost. The point of this is to warn other newcomers to soap and blenders that this can happen it they are not very careful. Do you think my soap will succeed?!
Have you ever had a volcano experience at your stove? What cardinal error did I commit???
Your site is superb for someone like me in Ireland where soapmaking is considered a very odd hobby indeed!!!!! Keep up the wonderful work!
-Ann-Marie Foster-
Hi! Sorry I took so long to respond.
Was this with the blender still on or off? I've never had this experience, but I'm usually mixing 6# batches (amount of oils) in a fairly large pan. Might be different if you have the soap in a narrow container. Your soap should turn out just fine. Glad you weren't carried off by it! :-)
I've been trying to hear your message with an Irish accent! :-) So nice to hear from folks from so far away. I have Irish in my ancestry....Antrim, Ireland at the end of the 1700's... John Warnock. Have some Dowdles in there also. Anyway... back to soap!
I've never had that experience myself. I'm not sure what you did. Maybe mixed a little too long or in a deep narrow container? If the blender was going you could have whipped a lot of air into it and created a froth. You want the head of the blender submerged, but it doesn't have to be done in an extremely deep container (like it would if you were using an actual kitchen blender with a glass jar that screws on).
You are not alone... but I doubt you run into fellow soapmakers very often. You just watch... it will catch on.
Thanks for your delightfully written email. I chuckled my way through it. Hope your next batch behaves itself. Let me know how it goes.
Happy soaping!
I just love your website. I have been having great fun using vegetable cutters to cut out different shapes from soap and thought others might like to hear about the idea. It's a lot simpler than using different shaped molds to get interesting soap shapes.
I mold most of my soap in cardboard milk carton that I've finished with as the inside is waxed and when the soap is firm, it is easy to tear the carton off and then cut the soap into bars. I bought my vegetable cutters from a specialist kitchen shop. The tin I bought has 12 different cutter shapes and they are made of metal. They were called 'aspic cutters' in the shop. Different sizes are available and they are small so they just make little guest soaps. The shapes I have include stars, a triangle, moon, heart, flower shape. Mine are about 1 and a half inches diameter (3.75 cms). The set cost $16.00 Australian. I think you can buy one larger size and one smaller size.
When I unmold the soap, I just press a cutter into a bar which cuts the shape. It's then easy to push the shaped soap out of the cutter.
While reading your soapmaking page I saw the recommendation for using Pringles cans. I had quite the experience with Pringles cans! I made a lye soap. During the saponification the soap reacted with the pringles can, my guess the foil coating on the inside. Anyhow, huge gas bubbles formed between the foil and the plastic lining of the can. When I ripped the can off, I had a creatively sculptured length of soap. Not the smooth cylindrical tube I had expected. Maybe I did something wrong, but I'm steering clear of Pringles cans as soap molds.
Hi! When I EVER get the time to update... I'll post your experience on the soapy success page. I've never used them myself... but apparently many people have used them with success. Sorry you had such a problem! Must have been interesting soap.
Some people line their Pringles cans with tubes of freezer paper. That might prevent such a reaction.
Thanks for the feedback...
Hello! I'm a first time soaper who was initially inspired by your site... which is my favorite! After a couple weeks of tracking down oil sources, I finally made my 1st batch a day and a half ago. I used 32 oz soybean,8oz canola, 8oz palm, 16oz coconut,16oz olive,8oz tallow(the recipe called for cocoa butter, but I haven't been able to find any that didn't cost an arm and a leg and I read on a chart someplace that cocoa butter and tallow had similar qualities) 32oz water and 12oz lye. My 1st problem was that I was totally impatient and probably mixed the lye and oils a little too hot (130 degrees). Then the pan that I mixed them in which I THOUGHT was stainless steel apparently was some sort of an alloy with aluminum in it. The mixture produced about a 1/2 inch "head" of foam and even with a stick blender, it took an hour to trace.(The foam eventually disappeared) I pored it into 2 rubbermaid rectangular pans that were lightly greased with vaseline. I put the lids on, but didn't "lock" them on tight. Then I sat them in a Coleman cooler,shut the lid and slid it under my kitchen table.I had read about covering them with towels or putting them in the oven with the light on, but this just seems easier..They stayed warm and humid until the next am when I open the cooler.At this point they were still slightly warm to the touch and were sort of like a firm lip balm.I let them sit on the table uncovered until this am when I "flooped" them out of their pans. They are sort of in a cheddar cheese stage of firmness now and I was wondering is that how they are supposed to be? They were slightly grainy looking in the center of the top, but smooth and uniform on the sides and bottom... sort of a light toffee color. Since this was my 1st batch, I didn't use any color or scent because I figured I could always remill and add that later.Eventually, I want to add my color and scent at trace and cut out the remill process.I have about 6 different scents I wanted to try though and I knew that I wasn't quick enough at this point to divide it into smaller batches! ANYWAYS I made my 2nd batch last night using the Almond Joy II recipe (minus the cocoa and scent) and it turned out Booootiful!!! It went from a sweetened condensed milk stage to the vanilla pudding stage and went so smooth and looked good enough to eat! I was very tickled and my husband was laughing at me! I used a gigantic STAINLESS STEEL bowl this time and at was perfect! Will the fact that I used a part aluminum pot on that first batch like totally ruin the soap? It looks ok and smells and sudzes like soap! It didn't do too much for the inside of that pot though! Sorry this is so long! Thanks tons... -Julia Marlow-
Your first batch sounds normal in its texture. Should be okay. The SAP values of beef tallow are a bit higher than the cocoa butter so you should have adjusted the numbers a bit when substituting. Will only make your soap more superfatted though... not harsh. Not sure about that foam you described. I've never experienced that one. I HATE rebatching... so in view of the foam, etc., I would only shave up a single one pound batch to try rebatching (to see how you like it) and use the rest of the soap unscented. That's just me... but the quality of the rebatched bars are disappointing compared to the hard smooth bars of cold processed and cut. Also... not sure about the possibility of aluminum. If the soap seems weird after curing and trying it, you can always shave it up and use in the laundry. Soap is a wonderful cleaner for greasy dirt!
Thanks for writing. Sounds like you are on your way to being hooked! ;-)
My sister and I trying to be home soapcrafters, however, to date we've had so many unsatisfactory batches that we're pretty discouraged. My sister just happened upon your Botched Batches site, and from reading through some of the information you've provided, maybe there's hope for us yet. There's one thing puzzling me though. We've tried numerous recipes from books, and the authors make it sound like it's as easy as falling off a log - supposedly you mix up the ingredients, it's supposed to start setting up as soon as you pour it, and presto, the next day you SHOULD have a firm, translucent, almost waxlike block of soap. To date, this has never happened for us! The soap is always way too soft and mushy. If it turns out at all it's because I've reheated it again, but that rarely works either. We thought perhaps since we've wasted so many good-quality ingredients, that we'd try making ¸ and ¹ batches, and that perhaps they are cooling off too fast? Any suggestions? We've tried Ann Bramson's vegetable recipe and Sandy Maine's and followed both exactly. We have a digital scale, a sensitive thermometer, combine lye and fats between 95º-98º, stir continuously for an hour or so. We're doing everything possible to no avail. Hope you can help. Also, you keep referring to a stick blender to stir with - what the heck is a stick blender? We'd like to try it. Now for my only useful input. We use liquid chlorophyll to color the soap green. It turns out beautifully (even though our soap doesn't!) and doesn't fade away either. I found this at a health food store. Also, dillweed stays green when added, and adds a little visual interest (but no scent of it's own). We live in Minnesota so there's no altitude or weird weather to affect the soap process. Thank you very much. Sorry this got so lengthy.
-Kathleen-
I'm sorry I've taken so long to answer this. I've been very busy this week, and thankfully I noticed your email before it dropped off the screen!
>The soap is always way too soft and mushy. If it turns out at all it's because I've reheated it again, but that rarely works either. We thought perhaps since we've wasted so many good->quality ingredients, that we'd try making ¸ and ¹ batches, and that perhaps they are cooling off too fast? Any suggestions?
If you think this is happening when you mix the soap, do it in a stainless steel pan that you can warm up on the stove as you blend (low heat). Only enough to get it to that honey-like texture and then you turn it off.
>Also, you keep referring to a stick blender to stir with - what the heck is a stick blender? We'd like to try it.
One of the solutions to your problem! I have a picture of one on a couple of the main soap pages (where it says "Life in the Fast Lane!"). It does a very slick job of blending the soap and I have not had a crumbly or weird batch since I switched to one. Just beware... trace can happen in a minute or two... especially if you have shortening in the batch. If you are doing small batches with the stick blender, you will want a container that will allow the blender head to be beneath the surface when you blend... to avoid excessive air getting whipped into the soap. Also some head space so it doesn't overflow when the blender is on. It's the hand held electric gadget with a food processor-style blade a on the bottom. You can get one at most places for anywhere from $10 to $20. I will never go back to only hand stirring again! I trade off having the blender on and off and do some manual stirring in between... saves the blender from burnout and works better for the soap.
Thanks for the feedback. I've not used chlorophyll myself, but have info posted about it on the page... also the dill weed. Did put some of that in a batch awhile back... nice texture.
Happy soaping!
Thank you so much for your site! I have just started learning about soap making, and have gathered together some ingredients. I can get lard and tallow for free, so my interest at the moment is with them. I have been studying your "Design your own Soap" page, particularly the properties of the various fats and oils.
As I understand it, it is Lauric and Myristic fatty acids which contribute the cleansing property ... yet both lard and tallow have no lauric fatty acid, per the table on this page, and both are woefully low in myristic fatty acid. From your site, I know you use both of these fats ... and I presume the resulting soap cleans, having been used for generations without any other additives. What am I misunderstanding?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Regards,
-Lori-
The soap will work fine, but will not have as much lather as what you are used to from store bought soaps. If you want to bump up the lathering a bit more, you can add some coconut to your recipe (maybe a pound or so would be nice), or try a small bottle of castor oil (4 oz.). Coconut gives a more profuse lather with bigger bubbles and castor oil a fine slick lather more like shaving cream. If you want to make soap with just tallow and lard mixed, you can. I did that for years and it's very mild. Some people complain because it doesn't lather as much as they're used to, but it still gets the job done.
If you change your recipe slightly (I really should post one), be sure to run it through the online lye calculator at Majestic Mountain Sage first, to work out the bugs.
Hello Kathy!
I know you must get inundated with e-mails from obsessed soap makers all the time but I really wanted to write back and thank you for replying to my plea for help.
I am enjoying my new hobby. It's probably quite appropriate as I am a pharmacist by day! I've not yet tried any recipes with tallow replacing the palm oil. I'm not sure if the amount of lye needed will remain the same. In case you need to know for future reference, the shortening product available in Australian supermarkets is probably called Kremelta. We have it here in New Zealand - it consists of hardened coconut oil. I use it in recipes requiring vegetable shortening (eg. Crisco - which we don't have here!) as it is the only form of vege shortening available here. I suspect a little less is required than Crisco but I'm a very green soap maker so don't quote me.
What we can get quite readily is Coconut oil. This is probably due to our proximity to the Pacific Islands and indeed, we have many of these people living in our country. I can buy 750ml bottles for about US$2! Once again, thank you for opening my eyes to an exciting new (and useful) hobby. Having said that, my partner has committed the colour of my soaps to his memory so that when they appear in the bathroom, he can give them a wide berth. He's not very keen on using my homemade soap now that he knows what it's made of! This makes me laugh because if he saw what I put in the dinner, he probably wouldn't eat that either!
Kindest regards,
-Sarita Von Afehlt-
:-) If he saw what commercial soapmakers put in theirs and more importantly, what they remove, he would rush to use yours instead!
Your hydrogenated or firm coconut "shortening" would be great for soapmaking. Is it 100% coconut oil? If so, a good sap value for that (according to Rachael, whose numbers I used in some places on my sap chart which has a 5% cushion built in) would be .178. You asked about tallow versus palm in sap numbers. Their numbers are the same you can you can do a straight substitution on those oils/fats.
Have fun with your soapmaking. Eventually, you'll get your significant other to try a bar... especially if you give it out to friends who start oohing and aahing over it and want more! Maybe do a nice Bay Rum batch that will smell like shaving cream... men usually like that scent (I like Sweet Cakes' version, although the shipping might be pretty bad for you there!).
I think your shortening product has a different name than the particular one someone mentioned to me that was in Australia, but maybe they carry yours as well.
Do they have Vegemite in New Zealand? =:o My Aussie email pal sent us a sample..... :-P
Hello there from New Zealand. Have just found your site, it's really interesting. And I have a question............ ( actually a few !)
My grandma ( and Mum) used to "remake" soap, from the little bits left from store-bought bars. I think they just grated them(?) added water(?) and boiled (?), but how did it set into quite firm tablets ? Did they add anything else ? Could I ?.....such as oatmeal, oils, essences etc. I've been collecting little slivers for years and now have a shopping bag full, so it's time to do something about it. I do hope you can help. I'm very new to the Net, so am not sure what happens from here - I guess you just email me, right ? I hope so.
Hi! Would you believe I've received two emails from you fair country today? :-)
I think they only added enough water to melt the stuff down (not too much to start). You can always add more as needed. You could also work in other stuff after it's melted, like you would in rebatching soaps you've made yourself. Then pour, or mash into molds and let harden. The less water you need to add, the firmer it will get without waiting for weeks and weeks!
You might try moistening your shavings with just enough to dampen them, cover overnight and then put them in a low oven for a couple of hours (covered) and stir every so often. On my oven I would set it around 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll have to figure out the Celsius reading! :-)
Sounds like you're ready to go. Have fun with this. I hope they turn out to your liking. A great way to get your money's worth out of the soap you buy. Maybe in the future, you'll want to try your hand at making it from scratch.
Best wishes!
Hi I have just started to make soap. I have only made one batch to date. Which came out beautiful!!!! I used 24 oz. olive oil, 24 oz. coconut oil, 38 oz. Crisco. 12oz. lye. mixed with 30 oz.water. It did an hour of stirring to get it to trace.
I have read in "The Complete Soap Maker" that you can use "popping oil" which is what they use for popcorn. I saw this stuff at Smart&Final the ingredients are: coconut oil, beta carotene, artificial butter flavor.
CAN I REALLY USE THIS STUFF!!??
I would love to hear from anyone who has. I guess I could deal with yellow soap, but not soap that smell like popcorn.
Thanks in Advance,
-Cynthia-
It works fine... but you will have an intense screaming yellow color that will mellow slightly to a screaming softer gold. You can tint those soaps with colors on the warm side of the spectrum. The buttery flavor/smell doesn't linger after it's soap.
By the way... it's just me... I'm not a group, but have posted a lot of things from other people and forums.
Hope all is well with you and family. I have been on my soap making spree again, but ran into some problems. HELP! I made soap with tallow, lard, Vit E oil, Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Cocoa Oil, rosemary oil, and so on. But after two weeks when I try to shave the soap it burns my hands (around any cuts I have). Is it possible that something has happened and the lye hasn't set up like it should? I wanted to take it with me to a ron-da-voo (Mountain Men Gathering) but I don't want any one to use it, if the soap has something wrong.
Please help. ha!
Friends
-Ronnett-
Hi! We are fine... busy time of year. Thanks for asking!
Two weeks is still pretty young for soap and I think the animal fat soaps take a bit longer to mellow out than the vegetable ones. Recheck your figures and make sure you had the right lye to fats ratio and didn't make any errors there (I love to use the Majestic Mountain Sage Lye Calculator for that). If all is well there... it just needs more aging... probably until about 6 weeks. Batches are not all the same. Are you rebatching this stuff? I assume that's why you were shaving it. The heat process involved in rebatch will hasten saponification that might not be complete yet... but rebatched soaps take a bit longer to harden up.
That's my take on it... with more time it should be fine. If you think you goofed on the lye amounts and have too much, you can rebatch it and add the missing amounts of oil at that time and repour. Should be fine in the end.
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