Quick Q: When making soap, how important is a...

ORChick

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Boogity said:
ORChick said:
Someday - soon, I hope - this country has got to join the rest of the world, and go metric.
Me too. President Jimmy Carter didn't do the U.S.A. any favors when he abandoned his "Metrification of America" program.
I may be wrong about this, but the way I remember it President Carter did not "abandon" metrification willingly. He was all for it, but others were not - but don't ask me which others :lol: Whether it was congress, or big business, or both, or neither, I don't know, and am too lazy to look it up :p
 

aggieterpkatie

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ORChick said:
aggieterpkatie said:
I don't want to go metric. :rant <----tantrum :lol:
Why not?

It is so much easier, once one gets the hang of it. And it is just a tad ridiculous that the U.S. is the only developed country that doesn't do metric.
Well, because....because I'm used to the way it is, that's why. :lol:
 

ORChick

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aggieterpkatie said:
ORChick said:
aggieterpkatie said:
I don't want to go metric. :rant <----tantrum :lol:
Why not?

It is so much easier, once one gets the hang of it. And it is just a tad ridiculous that the U.S. is the only developed country that doesn't do metric.
Well, because....because I'm used to the way it is, that's why. :lol:
Oh, well then, of course ... makes perfect sense :lol:

Actually, it does - no one likes major change. I remember 'way back in 1971 I happened to be in England on the day that they changed their money to metric. I had grown up in America, the money I was most familiar with was metric - dollars and cents. But ... I had attended school for 3 years in Ireland (same money as England at the time - just different pictures on the notes and coins), and had learned their antiquated Pounds/Shillings/Pence system, and was quite familiar with it. Well, on the day that it all changed to Pounds and Pence I was enraged! How dare they change their *perfectly good system*, which I (after much work) finally understood, to this *stupid* new system. I happened to be in a small, country store that day, and the owner and I had a nice little rant about the change. :lol: I laugh at myself now, every time I think about it :lol:

Sorry, BBH ... this has wandered rather far from soap and scales I'm afraid. Maybe we should start a *Metrics* thread somewhere else?
 

Bettacreek

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It's so worth the $20 to buy a digital postal scale that weighs in grams.
As for metric system, I think our system is silly. Makes for extra work for me, since I have to convert hospital measurements (metric system) into "layman's terms" for patients. :/
 

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I just realized that I can set my bowl on my digital scale and it zeros out when i turn it on, so I can just weigh all my oils in one bowl. I have been weighing the bowl and doing the math. :barnie I felt like such a ditz when i realized i could just push a button. :rant
 

ORChick

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Bettacreek said:
It's so worth the $20 to buy a digital postal scale that weighs in grams.
As for metric system, I think our system is silly. Makes for extra work for me, since I have to convert hospital measurements (metric system) into "layman's terms" for patients. :/
Last time I was in hospital one of the nurses wanted me to use the toilet on his schedule (3:00 in the early morning). When I told him it wasn't yet necessary, and please go away and let me sleep, he responded that it had to be now, because he had to measure output. I told him that I could do that. But ... but ... it's metric! :lol: So I told him that I wasn't an idiot, and could manage that too. And then I went back to sleep. :lol:
 

big brown horse

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Sorry, BBH ... this has wandered rather far from soap and scales I'm afraid. Maybe we should start a *Metrics* thread somewhere else?
No bigs, I got my answer and I bought a digital kitchen scale. :D

However just for yucks, does anyone know what they used before electricity? (I've seen scales and weight sets in my mom's antique shop, but did everyone have one?)
 

ORChick

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big brown horse said:
Sorry, BBH ... this has wandered rather far from soap and scales I'm afraid. Maybe we should start a *Metrics* thread somewhere else?
No bigs, I got my answer and I bought a digital kitchen scale. :D

However just for yucks, does anyone know what they used before electricity? (I've seen scales and weight sets in my mom's antique shop, but did everyone have one?)
:lol: Actually, I have something of a small collection of scales. My grandmother's is a spring type, with a dial on the bottom, and a flat surface above, that moves up and down on a spring. Put your article to be weighed on the platform, and the dial swings around to the correct weight, in pounds and ounces. And I have another that DH found for me in an antique store, a balance scale - put article to be weighed on one side, and add assorted already measured weights to the other until the thing balances; it had a couple of weights with it when he bought it, but I found a set of weights, from 200grams down to 1 gram, when I was in Europe some years ago, and brought it home with me. I have another of the balance types that has a scoop like container on one side, and the weights go on the other. Unfortunately it isn't accurate, something is off on the balance, but I like the way it looks anyway. I could probably fix it if I needed to. I have a digital scale as well, which is handy when I have several different things to weigh; as mentioned, there is a Tare button to bring it back to zero - but for single things I really like the oldies.
 

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big brown horse said:
Sorry, BBH ... this has wandered rather far from soap and scales I'm afraid. Maybe we should start a *Metrics* thread somewhere else?
No bigs, I got my answer and I bought a digital kitchen scale. :D

However just for yucks, does anyone know what they used before electricity? (I've seen scales and weight sets in my mom's antique shop, but did everyone have one?)
SHHH. Don't tell anyone ... I use a big old antique kitchen scale for all of my soap making measurements. :hide It is a dial faced scale and did I mention :old old? This baby is still darned accurate, so why oh why do I need a new one.

BTW my soap is nice and mild. :D
 

valmom

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I make 2 lb batches, so fairly small. My first one when I didn't know any better was 1 lb and came out a bit harsh. Then I read somewhere that the bigger the batch the bigger the margin of error allowable, so I went to 2 lb batches. I bought an el cheapo digital scale that does grams- I really prefer it on grams, I feel like it is more accurate. It probably isn't, but with grams I don't feel required to read to 4 decimal places like on ounces. :p My only problem is I would love a really accurate scale that didn't need a battery- you know, just in case ;) Every time I see a scale I look at it to see if I can read the dial (my eyes aren't what they used to be, even with readers) and if the bowl can be removed/replaced with my own containers (my digital has a nice flat surface that I can set any bowl on and tare it.)

LOL, Hillfarm! I made sure that my scale had a tare function!
 
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