| Question: | Does your software soapmaker pro also show cost for lotion making?. Can I add additives, oils, etc. to the software program? | Answer: | You will need to insert the prices you pay for your products. Then the program makes the calculations for you as to the cost per bottle, etc. You may also add additives to the program. You can even add items such as bottles, caps, boxes, etc. if you choose. So, whenever new oils or products are used that are not yet included in the software, all you do is add it. It's a great program. |
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| Question: | Can I run SoapMaker on my Mac? | Answer: | SoapMaker requires Microsoft Windows, but you can run Windows on your
Mac. a.. For the new Intel-based Macs: Apple Bootcamp b.. For older Macs: Virtual PC Some people have great success in running a Virtual PC on their Mac. Other than the statements above, We don't know when it is going to available just for straight Mac's. |
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| Question: | Can I use SoapMaker for lotion recipes or for melt and pour soap? | Answer: | SoapMaker is intended to be used for all your recipes, including lotions or M&P soap. When you open a new recipe you can set it's type to 'non-soap'. The recipe form is different for non-soap recipes; there is no lye area, water is handled like any other ingredient, and percentages are calculated across the whole recipe, not just the base oils. (The 'Qualities Graph' only applies to soap recipes, as it's based on the properties of various oils when saponified.) If you have the Professional version of Soapmaker, you can 'make a batch' of lotion or M&P soap just as you would with a regular soap recipe. Have a look at 'recipe types' under the Help menu for more information. |
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| Question: | What's the difference between recipe classes and recipe types? | Answer: | Recipe classes are like 'folders'. You can create any class names you want to help you classify and organize your recipes into groups or categories. The classes provided with SoapMaker are just for illustration purposes; you can use them or replace them with something meaningful to you. Recipe types determine the behavior of the recipe form. There are 3 recipe types: Solid soap (the default when you open a new recipe) Liquid soap - the lye section uses potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide Non-soap - the lye section is disabled, and the water amount is entered directly, rather than calculated. The weight measurements have greater precision. Use the 'non-soap' type for lotions, salves, etc. When you open a new recipe, you can select the desired type by choosing 'Change type' under the Recipe menu. |
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| Question: | How can I include my labor costs? | Answer: | Define an 'additive' called labor_hour or something similar, and input your hourly rate as the 'Purchase Price' and a quantity of 1. Use the weightless 'item' unit. Now you can include as many 'items' of labor_hours as you want in a recipe to see the total cost. If you have SoapMaker Professional, you can even track your total hours worked along with your inventory. Add a 'Labor budget' to your database by using the Add Stock feature in the Ingredients dialog. Or if you just want the Labor for cost reasons, you can simply ignore the 'low labor' warnings whenever you make a batch, and the Labor item in your inventory will go negative with no ill-effects. |
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| Question: | How do I delete ingredients I don't want? | Answer: | You can delete any or all of the additive ingredients. Just choose 'Additives' under the Ingredients menu, select the one you don't want, and click the Delete button. The base oils provided with SoapMaker cannot be deleted. We chose this approach to avoid a situation where someone had deleted an oil, and then decided later she'd like to try it, only to find she no longer had all the properties needed. If you find it awkward when inputting oils because of the long list, you could try using the keyboard shortcuts. Just open the Help Index and type 'shortcuts' to find out more. |
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| Question: | I have a lot of additives - is there any way I can categorize them in the ingredients list? | Answer: | You can organize the additives list by prefixing the name of each additive with its type - for example: FO-Lilac, EO-Lavender, COL-Blue. Since the list is sorted alphabetically, all the 'FOs' will be together, etc. |
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| Question: | How do I change the currency for ingredient costs? | Answer: | The currency you use in SoapMaker can be anything you want as long as it is decimal based. The $ sign just indicates that the number is a cost. The ingredient costs that came with the program are only examples which you can replace with your own ingredient costs. You can change the currency symbol by selecting the International (INTL) tab in Preferences. |
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| Question: | I don't see goats milk in the oil list. How can I add it to a recipe? | Answer: | Whole goats milk contains only about 4% fat, so even if you replace all the water in a recipe with goats milk, it will have a very small effect on the amount of lye. For this reason, we did not include goats milk in SoapMaker's list of base oils. For example, if you made a tallow recipe and replaced all the water with goats milk, it would require only 1.6% more lye. You can include goats milk as an additive, and reduce the water amount accordingly. The goats milk can be used to super-fat, or you can reduce the lye discount by one or two percent if you prefer. |
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How long my soap will last |
| Question: | I wanted to know if the soapmaker software shows how long recipes will last before it goes rancid. Does it provide expiration dates for the products? How long before bacteria forms; and if not how can I test my products for bacteria and expiration dates? | Answer: | Unless your formula has a very high superfat percentage the soap should last years. It is unsaponified fats that will cause rancidity. If you use no more than a 5% to 6% superfat you will be fine. We have had soap last 6 years or more sitting in the shop, no air conditioning, high humidity. The only thing that may occur is that some EOs can discolor, lavender is prone to this. Due to individualized formulation, the broad and extensive range of possible combinations, no software will be able to predict or quantify the outcome of a formulation. |
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