Halving recipe amounts

[Thisbe]

Can anyone tell me - if I'm following a cold process soap making recipe and want to make a smaller batch, can I just halve (or even quarter) the amounts of everything given in the recipe or doesn't it work like that?

I'm just getting started with (or rather hooked on!) soap making, but want to try out different types without ending up with huge quantities of soap to have to find homes for (my family & friends may start to object after all!).

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

[greannancrafts]

Always run any recipe through a soap calc before commencing

Why not come on one of our courses

Jane

[Thisbe]

Thanks! I might just do that Jane - I'm in Cambridge so not so far from you by the looks of it.

[janiejakemum]

I thought about doing this for my next batch, maybe halving the recipe.

I have heard that smaller batches of soap can take a lot longer to trace - just so you know.

[Rosamundi]

The bigger the batch the more heat it generates which speeds up the chemical reaction so I find that my 10Kg plus batches traces quicker than my 1Kg batches - mind you for both I use a hand blender to mix them with so it takes less than 10 minutes for either of them

Opps forgot to say that yes it should work out the same if you halve a recipe but just to be on the safe side I would run it through a soap calculator especially if it's a published recipe from a book as some books have mistakes (I know one of Melinda Coss's does on one of her recipes) and others use very high superfatting (Susan Miller Cavitch)

[Thisbe]

Thanks for your help!