A Guide to Weight vs. Volume

A recurring question from crafters who make soap, lotions and other products grapple with the question of using weight vs volume for making the perfect product.  If you have wondered what would be the best answer for that question would be to check out The Soap Queen's recent blog post titled A Guide To Weight vs Volume. Because using either one for a recipe can make alot of difference in how your recipe turns out.

Measuring in Part Plus Recipes

Measuring in parts is often referred to as the "simpler's method"  and it can be really forgiving when using this method when making herbal recipes.  The beauty of using this method is that a recipe can be scaled up or down in almost any measuring device.  Would you like more?  Then check out the blog post titled Measuring in Parts (with recipes) from The Mountain Rose.

Metric Conversions & More

If you are interested in converting your recipes from different measurements, I found these online metric conversion tables that will help you in all your conversions:

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/store/Calculators-p-11.html
http://www.the-sage.com/calcs/measures.html

Or from page 126 of Handcrafted Soap by Delores Boone, here is a conversion chart for the most commonly used conversions:

pounds to kilograms multiply by 0.45
kilograms to pounds multiply by 2.2
ounces to grams multiply by 28.4
grams to ounces multiply by 0.04
fluid ounces to milliliters multiply by 29.57
milliliters to fluid ounces multiply by 0.034

For fragrance calculations use the following:

http://www.the-sage.com/calcs/fragcalc.html

For your cold process and hot process soapmaking here is a link to a lye calculator:

http://www.the-sage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php

If I find any more that may be useful for your recipes, I will let you know.

Weights and Measurments

To help you with some of your recipes, here are measurements and equivilents:

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup
12 tablespoons = 3/4 cup
16 tablespoons = 1 cup

1 cup = 8 ounces
1 cup = 1/2 pint
2 cups = 1 pint
4 cups = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon


Metric
1 ounce = 28.35 grams
1 gram = 0.035 ounce
1 quart = 0.946 liters
1 liter = 1.06 quarts



Source: Natural Beauty at Home...More Than 250 Easy to Use Recipes for Body, Bath and Hair by Janice Cox.

Measurement Guidelines

Have you come across an unfragrant recipe and did not know how many drops of essential oils to add? Well, maybe this can help.

The instensity of pure essential oil (PEO) varies from oil to oil, and often batch to batch. Ingredients in different unfragranced caries bases likewise vary, so the aroma intensity and texture of your finished products will display slightly different characteristics each time. Add oils carefully drop by drop, mixing thoroughly, and do not exceed these guidelines. 'Drops' refers to drops from an integrated drop dispenser of an essential oil bottle. Bear in mind that absoultd are up to eight times stronger in aroma intensity than essential oils, so adjust your measurments accordingly. The author of this book that this information does not mention fragrance oils, so I would take that into consideration. Here some guidelines:

Bath Salts: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 2 oz (1/4 cup) unfragranced bath salts.

Dusting Powders: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 4 oz (1/2 cup) unfragranced powder base.

Body Oils: Add 20 to 25 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced carrier oil/s.

Bath Oils: Add 20 to 25 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfrangranced carrier oil/s.

Body Lotions: Add 20 to 25 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced lotion.

Cleansing Milks: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced cleansing emulsion base.

Facial Oils and Creams: Add 5 to 10 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced oil or cream.

Bath and Shower Gels: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced bath or shower gel base.

Liquid Soap Cleanser: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced liquid soap base.

Hair Shampoo: Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced shampoo base.

Hair Conditioner: Add to 15 drops of essential oil/s to each 1 oz (30 ml.) unfragranced conditioner base.


Source: Natural Bodycare...Recipes for Health and Beauty by Julia Meadows. Sterling Publishing, New York. 1998. page 33.