Andalusian Soap

[BattleGnome]

I had a 6.5 hour sidetrack reading this thread about Andalusian soap. It's a 69 page, 3 year old thread and I figure I'll start a new one to hopefully not confuse things.

Main summary: a member found a recipe that combats "castille slime" by using an extremely low super fat, -40%. It looks like several posts were removed at some point because some of the post numbers mentioned in the thread don't quite match up.

I haven't made soap all month and if I can get myself together to clean my mold I'd like to try this superlye recipe but need to "think out loud" to make sure I absorbed everything right (I have 9 pages of notes, even if they were on a mini legal pad)

I plan to use DeeAnna's first recipe from post 40:
1000g OO
195g NaOH
1195g water, split

Confirming method:
Make a 50% lye solution then mix it with oils after it clears but before it cools.
Hand stir to bring to trace.
Slowly mix in the remainder of the water until everything looks like pudding.
Pour.
(Cut after 24 hours, except I want to use an individual cavity mold)



Random advice:
Use a short, wide bowl
No embeds
Expect the lye concentration to mess with colorants (at least those that morph)
Don't use technology (per post 461)
There is a possibility that I'll see some sort of riding before everything comes together


Some highlights from the thread if you are interested but don't have 6 hours to spare:
Some pics of the process - post 78
We had a member from Andulasia who doesn't seem to be active any more - post 301
A summary to date from DeeAnna - post 405
Some musings about superlye combating DOS - post 406
The technology comment - post 461
Another explanation of trace stages - post 468
An analysis of use as a laundry soap - post 473
DeeAnna discussing the experiment with Kevin Dunn - post 481
Comparison of other negative superfats - posts 596, 611
Analysis after cure - posts 612, 643


Does all of this seem right/make sense? I kind of want to jump in but that -40 is a very scary number.

 

[DeeAnna]

It's an interesting technique, but it does NOT make a slime-free OO or other high-oleic soap. The remaining bars I have on hand still make slime.

I made it several times, as you know from the older thread, but I don't see it as providing any great benefits to high-oleic soap. And it's time consuming and somewhat tricky to make.

If your goal is to reduce the slime factor, you'd be better off to experiment with adding some KOH to your high-oleic recipes. If your goal is to have the experience of making a curious recipe, by all means -- enjoy!

 

[Dahila]

I started to add KOH to all my soaps and my high oleic soaps behave very nice, I use a bit of 5% of koh in every soap

 

[Obsidian]

I didn't like this recipe at all, even less than regular castile. Still slimey but so dang hard it was like washing with a rock.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yeah, a person could really hurt someone with a cured bar of that soap! Maybe if the lady in the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho had been using that soap, the bad guy wouldn't have gotten her?

 

[jcandleattic]

Yeah, a person could really hurt someone with a cured bar of that soap! Maybe if the lady in the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho had been using that soap, the bad guy wouldn't have gotten her?

hehehe

 

[psfred]

I plan to try this when I get some time. Next rainy weekend day perhaps (although around here that could be December, fall keeps getting warmer and dryer).

I will follow the initial instructions on the Spanish Journey blog post -- dissolve the lye in the water, let it cool, then add the olive oil and stir in one direction until thick trace. No stick blender, no adding the lye in extra water, just as written.

And we shall see how it works. I suspect the extra lye is because the solution will absorb quite a bit of CO2 from the air as it's stirred. Also why the directions are to stir gently and in on one direction, this will incorporate less air and hence less CO2.

Definitely a rainy day project though if it's gonna take three hours....

 

[DeeAnna]

"... I suspect the extra lye is because the solution will absorb quite a bit of CO2 from the air as it's stirred...."

While that may be true, I guarantee the soap will still be plenty "hot" with excess NaOH after saponification is done. Have fun!

IMO, stirring in one direction may not have anything to do with the soap itself. It would reduce the chance of splatters and is an easy-to-follow instruction to give to a novice soap maker or child.