Basic Olive Oil Soap

[azareel scents]

Soap #1: Basic Olive Oil Soap

Bars made using just olive oil should be left in the mold for at least 48 hours. They will need at least 4 to 6 weeks to cure. You can add fragrance to this soap if you wish. Using an online fragrance calculator, select your fragrance and calculate for cold process soap at 20 ounces to determine how much to use.

Ingredients:


Oil

567 grams olive oil
Lye mixture

73 grams sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
215 grams distilled water
Directions:

1. Measure the olive oil into your plastic container. Place the container in a larger pot and pour in enough hot tap water that the container begins to float. Set the pot on the stove and turn the heat to warm. Insert a thermometer into the oil.

2. Goggles and gloves on!

3. Measure the water into a heat-safe glass container. Measure the lye crystals into a separate small glass container. Slowly add the lye crystals to the water, stirring with your spatula as you do so. Do not inhale above this container—there will be fumes that can take your breath away! This mixture will heat up quickly. Insert a thermometer into the mixture.

4. Monitor the temperatures of the two containers. Basically, you are heating up the oil while the lye cools down. You want both to reach 110°F. As needed, refresh the hot water bath or turn the stove burner higher to raise the temperature, or use a cold water or ice bath to bring the temperature down.

5. When both the oil and the lye mixture are at 110°F, pour the lye mixture into the plastic container with the oil. Blend until the mixture reaches medium trace (it will be like thick gravy, and drizzled trails will stay on the top).

6. Pour into your chilled mold (or a clean, dry, quart size milk carton with the top cut off) and refrigerate, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator; spray the top with isopropyl alcohol, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

7. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature.

8. Unmold 48 hours after pouring into the mold. Cut into bars and place in your curing area.

Makes 8 3½-oz bar

 

[Hazel]

For people unfamiliar with making high olive percentage or 100% OO soap -

A full water amount as is posted in the above recipe is generally not recommended. It will take longer to come to trace (even with a stickblender) and will take longer to unmold because of the initial softness. It will also take longer since the batch won't be gelled. Don't worry! Olive will eventually become quite hard over the curing period. Castile soaps require a longer than usual curing period especially if a full water amount is used. It's personal preference for curing time. I personally prefer at least a year for curing but that's because I don't care for the lather. It really does get better over time. (BTW, I discount the water but I'm not extreme about it. I use a 33% lye solution because I like to add buttermilk.) Other people have stated 4 to 6 months and some of these people do discount water. It's possible to be able to have a shorter cure period by using a water discount. I don't recommend a water discount for people who haven't already gotten comfortable with the soapmaking process. A water discount means the lye solution is going to be more caustic. The pro side of a water discount is the soap will reach trace more quickly and harden sooner since there is less water to evaporate. This will help to reduce the curing time for castile fans.

My above comment is a bit simplified so I'd recommend doing research on discounting water before attempting it and only do it if familiar with the soapmaking process.

Some helpful links:

Discounted Water Cold Process Method (DWCP)

How to Discount Water

DWCP - Some Important Warnings

 

[jenneelk]

Glad to see this.. I was going to discount like I did with my batch last night that was 55% OO and turned out great.
You also don't fridge do you? Think u said u like to gel which is what I planed to do with CPOP.

 

[Hazel]

I usually don't gel (or at least try to prevent it) when I use dairy products but this is just my preference. The reason for this is because normally I want the soap to stay as light in color as possible. However, I don't worry about color if I'm going to be using a FO which has vanilla in it. It's going to turn brown anyway. The only concern I might have about gelling soap which has dairy in it is the possibility of it overheating because of the sugar content. Other members have mentioned they always gel their soap while some have said they never gel. I prefer to gel batches in which I use liquids other than dairy. I like both looks. I even like partial gel...sometimes.

 

[Sapwn]

I have made some batches with 100% olive oil with no water discount because I didn’t know I had to. (Thank you Hazer for the above post. If only I knew it before!)

I would like to ask which is the best curing time for my 100% OO soaps?

Should I wait a year? Maybe two?

 

[pamielynn]

If you can wait a year - on purpose - before using your soap, you might just win the Soaper's Ultimate Patience Award, LOL!

 

[Hazel]

I have made some batches with 100% olive oil with no water discount because I didn’t know I had to.

I didn't know, either. I didn't find out until after I did my first high percentage OO soap. But I did know about it when I did the 100% OO batch.

You don't have to wait a year or longer. I do but that's because I don't care for the lather. It depends on what you like. You can start using the soap after 4 weeks if you want. I've seen different comments about how long people cure 100% OO soap. Some people use it after 4 weeks, some after 3 months, some have said they wait for 6 months, etc. I know I sound repetitive but it really is personal preference. You'll just have to try a bar at different times to see how long you want to cure the soap.

 

[Sapwn]

If you can wait a year - on purpose - before using your soap, you might just win the Soaper's Ultimate Patience Award, LOL!

I read a thread about aged soaps and I was fascinated.



I really plan to let some of my soaps mature for at least one year.

Especially the Aleppo soaps that I made to honor Syria.

 

[savonierre]

Please disregard the bit about using a glass container for your lye water, glass can and has shattered with the hot lye water. An HDPE plastic jug works very well.

 

[jenneelk]

Even thick Pyrex? I've only done a few (6) but even concentrated water discount lye did fine and was hot!!
Just want clarification for future.
I prefer the cleanability and see through for undesolved lye with Pyrex.

 

[DeeAnna]

Jenneelk -- Although Pyrex glassware is durable and break resistant, the thinking is that a hot lye solution can etch any type of glass. Any scratch or etching, even if invisible to the naked eye, makes glass, including Pyrex, more prone to breaking from thermal stress or mild shock.

That is why the home canning guides say to never use a metal utensil to scrape down the sides of a canning jar, because the metal will leave tiny scratches on the glass. I have had the bottom of a canning jar simply snap and break when I gently lowered it into a hot water bath. The break was caused by a scratch in the glass that I didn't see.

The consequences from a broken glass container filled with hot lye are far more serious than a broken glass container filled with peaches and sugar syrup!

Most folks err on the side of using a non breakable container to mix their lye just to be super safe. I second Kellie's recommendation for a translucent HDPE container. You can see the NaOH granules through the plastic, it is just as easy to clean as glass, and the plastic is unbreakable and impervious to NaOH.

 

[jenneelk]

I appreciate the great info. I will look into containers like that!

 

[Hazel]

I will look into containers like that!

I use a Rubbermaid pitcher which my sister gave me. You could ask family and friends if anyone has an old pitcher. Also, you might look at Goodwill or yard sales.