How much water do you need to completely dissolve lye?

Here is the answer to your next soap making question:

A good general guide is to measure the total weight of fats/oils and divide it by three and use this weight of distilled water (33%).

In practice a water reduction can be used and the quantity reduced to about 30%, but reducing the amount too much can have an adverse effect on the saponification process, leaving the soap lye heavy, it can also cause the soap to be brittle.

The amount of water can also be increased to 38% but not too much more, or the setting of the soap can be affected and the curing period extended before the soap is hard enough to last well.

To calculate the precentage, simply take the weight of oil and multiply by between 0.30 and 0.38 depending on the required effect. Personally, I would use 33% and therefore multiply by 0.33.

More soon.