# "Aleppo" Soap -- halfway through cure



## topofmurrayhill (Jun 13, 2016)

My first shot at it. Now 6 months old, 6 more to go. It sure has that unique laurel oil aroma.

This is hot process except the laurel berry oil was added at the end and it finished saponifying in the mold. I used a slight excess of lye.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jun 13, 2016)

Looks great - is it green inside?


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## lsg (Jun 13, 2016)

My Aleppo soap was not green either.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 13, 2016)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> Looks great - is it green inside?



I doubt it.


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## earlene (Jun 13, 2016)

Beautiful looking Allepo Soap, TOMH.  The stamps is a nice touch.


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## Lion Of Judah (Jun 13, 2016)

what is the measurement of the cubes ? they look inviting , nice job.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 13, 2016)

Lion Of Judah said:


> what is the measurement of the cubes ? they look inviting , nice job.



I forget, but will check next time I'm there. They are pretty chunky. Figured I could at least emulate that.


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## snappyllama (Jun 13, 2016)

Really nice looking soap - the stamp and natural color really complement it. I haven't smelled laurel oil. Does it smell like good quality olive+hemp? That's how I'm imagining it.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 13, 2016)

snappyllama said:


> Really nice looking soap - the stamp and natural color really complement it. I haven't smelled laurel oil. Does it smell like good quality olive+hemp? That's how I'm imagining it.



It smells -- unique. It's herbal in a peculiar way. I've heard people who don't like the smell describe it as a dirty ashtray or something like that. With a little imagination I can see how they're interpreting it that way, but I don't have that problem with it. We'll see when I actually use the soap. It's been out of sight and out of mind to cure properly apart from taking this pic.

Will be glad to send you one towards the end of the year if you're curious. Unless it sucks.


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## snappyllama (Jun 13, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> It smells -- unique. It's herbal in a peculiar way. I've heard people who don't like the smell describe it as a dirty ashtray or something like that. With a little imagination I can see how they're interpreting it that way, but I don't have that problem with it. We'll see when I actually use the soap. It's been out of sight and out of mind to cure properly apart from taking this pic.
> 
> Will be glad to send you one towards the end of the year if you're curious. Unless it sucks.



I'd love that! 

I have a funny nose. Pt smells nice to me, but neem is the most horrid thing ever.


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## Steve85569 (Jun 13, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> It smells -- unique. It's herbal in a peculiar way. I've heard people who don't like the smell describe it as a dirty ashtray or something like that. With a little imagination I can see how they're interpreting it that way, but I don't have that problem with it. We'll see when I actually use the soap. It's been out of sight and out of mind to cure properly apart from taking this pic.
> 
> Will be glad to send you one towards the end of the year if you're curious. Unless it sucks.



Now I'm jealous!

Please do keep us posted.


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## Arimara (Jun 13, 2016)

I can't say I have much of an opinion. Where did you get the laurel oil, if you don't mind my asking? I've been reading a little about these soaps and it looks like I could try my hand at them.


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 14, 2016)

Arimara said:


> I can't say I have much of an opinion. Where did you get the laurel oil, if you don't mind my asking? I've been reading a little about these soaps and it looks like I could try my hand at them.



http://sinfullywholesome.com/laurel-berry-oil-canada-usa.html


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## penelopejane (Jun 14, 2016)

TOMH 
Beautiful soap! I love everything about it. [emoji2]


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## Arimara (Jun 14, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> http://sinfullywholesome.com/laurel-berry-oil-canada-usa.html



Wow, I'm sure it's would be worth it but this mama don't have any cows to sell at the market. Later in life, perhaps I will try it if I can.


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## SimpleSoaper (Jun 20, 2016)

Looks nice!  I've been wondering what a slightly lye heavy Aleppo style soap would be like.  What % laurel berry oil did you use?


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 20, 2016)

SimpleSoaper said:


> Looks nice!  I've been wondering what a slightly lye heavy Aleppo style soap would be like.  What % laurel berry oil did you use?



20% laurel berry oil. It was going to be more, but I gave away some of the oil and then made a largish batch of this, so I had to scale it back. Still plenty of laurel oil fragrance.


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## shunt2011 (Jun 20, 2016)

My Aleppo style soap came out an olive green. It's 13 months old.  I used 30% with 70% OO. I'll get a photo.  It's an okay soap. Gets really slick.  I like your soap stamp. Nice looking soapy.


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## SimpleSoaper (Jun 20, 2016)

I posted some update photos on my Aleppo style soaps if anyone cares to look at the color differences.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=602028#post602028

I'm wondering what causes the color difference with your's, topofmurrayhill?  Is it the lye excess?  My soaps don't seem to be oxidizing like the real thing, and I was thinking of trying a lye excess next to see what happens.


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## shunt2011 (Jun 20, 2016)

heres mine. I CPOP it and it got a bit too hot I think.  I have one pound left might make another batch.


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## SimpleSoaper (Jun 21, 2016)

That one looks nice - pretty similar in color to the HP 25% ones that I made.  How old is it?  Did it oxidize?


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## shunt2011 (Jun 21, 2016)

SimpleSoaper said:


> That one looks nice - pretty similar in color to the HP 25% ones that I made. How old is it? Did it oxidize?


 
It's almost 14 months old.  No oxidation.  Have left it on my curing rack the entire time.  It does smell kind of earthy I guess you could call it.  I think it smells like pea soup.  However, it has mellowed out and isn't a bad soap at all.  I've had a bar in the shower for the last 6 months and have been testing it.  Used it last night and it acutally has pretty good lather but is slick.


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## cmzaha (Jun 21, 2016)

Those look great!


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## topofmurrayhill (Jun 21, 2016)

SimpleSoaper said:


> I'm wondering what causes the color difference with your's, topofmurrayhill?  Is it the lye excess?  My soaps don't seem to be oxidizing like the real thing, and I was thinking of trying a lye excess next to see what happens.



I was going to do the opposite and try a generous lye discount with the laurel oil added at the end. Your high laurel soap with superfat seems to be the greenest and if there is one thing for sure in the photos we see it's that this soap begins life green. As for why it isn't oxidized I could speculate that it's too young, since this soap is cured for a year and may be purchased older than that. Also since the green may be chlorophyll it may be subject to photo-oxidation. Maybe your soap hasn't seen much light?


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## SimpleSoaper (Jun 24, 2016)

I had considered putting some bars in the front room window for some sun before, but I thought it would smell up the house.  The whole basement smelled like laurel oil when it was first curing.  But I tried a bar of each in the window a couple of days ago and surprisingly there is no smell.  I'll leave it there for a few weeks to see what happens.

I think the real Aleppo soap must not not need sunlight to cure, because of they way they stack it.  From the pictures I've seen, there is little direct sunlight that makes it into the curing rooms, and the bars on the inside of the piles get no light.  But then again my "Aleppo" soap is almost certainly not made in the same fashion as the real thing.  Whenever I get some time, I'm going to try the salting out method that was mentioned by the Turkish laurel oil supplier a few years ago in a thread here.


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## topofmurrayhill (Sep 26, 2016)

shunt2011 said:


> It's almost 14 months old.  No oxidation.  Have left it on my curing rack the entire time.  It does smell kind of earthy I guess you could call it.  I think it smells like pea soup.  However, it has mellowed out and isn't a bad soap at all.  I've had a bar in the shower for the last 6 months and have been testing it.  Used it last night and it acutally has pretty good lather but is slick.



It's nine months now and I brought a bar home to try out. I didn't have the highest hopes, not really being a big OO soap fan, but it's actually pretty good. The laurel oil gives it a nice lather and tames the sliminess a bit, though not completely. As you say, it gets somewhat slick in use as a thin layer of gel forms on the outside. It doesn't get sticky or ropey until it's been sitting for a little while after use. The skin feel is pretty good. The laurel oil odor has died down and now just contributes a pleasant natural character to the smell of the soap.

I would like to try this again, but not until I can get my hands on some real raw pomace. And next time I'll use a mixed lye.


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## cherrycoke216 (Jul 19, 2017)

topofmurrayhill said:


> It's nine months now and I brought a bar home to try out. I didn't have the highest hopes, not really being a big OO soap fan, but it's actually pretty good. The laurel oil gives it a nice lather and tames the sliminess a bit, though not completely. As you say, it gets somewhat slick in use as a thin layer of gel forms on the outside. It doesn't get sticky or ropey until it's been sitting for a little while after use. The skin feel is pretty good. The laurel oil odor has died down and now just contributes a pleasant natural character to the smell of the soap.
> 
> 
> 
> I would like to try this again, but not until I can get my hands on some real raw pomace. And next time I'll use a mixed lye.




Dear sir, we need your one year Aleppo soap full report!!!  

Thanks in advance!


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## biarine (Jul 19, 2017)

shunt2011 said:


> View attachment 21568
> heres mine. I CPOP it and it got a bit too hot I think.  I have one pound left might make another batch.




Beautiful I remembered the Savon de  Marseille, My aunt was given me about 9 years ago.


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