Best Castille Soap Ever !!

[cmzaha]

I was packaging some unfragranced uncolored castille soap last night and decided to try a bar. Normally I HATE castille soap. This bar is 27 months old with a 1% superfat. Believe it or not I could not make snot, just a thick creamy lather with some rather big bubble action when more water was added to my hands.

 

[Arimara]

I was packaging some unfragranced uncolored castille soap last night and decided to try a bar. Normally I HATE castille soap. This bar is 27 months old with a 1% superfat. Believe it or not I could not make snot, just a thick creamy lather with some rather big bubble action when more water was added to my hands.

I hate the prospect of such a long cure but if it's worth it, I might try it. As it stands, I'm still not singing castile praises

 

[madison]

I have a batch of castile I made in May 2015 with 50% lye solution, I learned the tip of 50% lye solution from the soap dish forum, I used one last week, I favor it over all the castile I have made with less lye concentration so far, but I noticed a very tiny short strings of gel when I let it soaked with water for some time, they are much less and unnoticeable if I kept the soap in a dry drained area. As for using 50% lye solution it was not easy to have it dissolved. In my next batch I am planning on using the KOH method with over 45% lye solution, by the way I read this tip about Aleppo soap in another place before reading it here on this forum.

 

[Spunky]

The first castile I made was HP and had a short cure time because I was so excited to use it. I put it in a soap sack and loved it! Not super bubbly, but it did not seem slimy. I did not have a lot to compare it to at the time since it was my first soap and the only other bars I have used hotel pieces of junk, so I'll see if I change my mind on later bars. Recently I made a small batch with the intent of a long cure, but I forgot it in the mold for so long that when I cut it, it crumbled. I guess 3% salt left for a week is too long! Anyway, so now I'm going to put them in the use pile and make another batch. If I'm going to be looking at them for a year or two, they need to be pretty!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I was packaging some unfragranced uncolored castille soap last night and decided to try a bar. Normally I HATE castille soap. This bar is 27 months old with a 1% superfat. Believe it or not I could not make snot, just a thick creamy lather with some rather big bubble action when more water was added to my hands.

WOO HOO Way ta go, Carolyn! :clap:

Thank you SO much for sharing! I have a couple of quick questions:

1) I luv that you posted the print out from SoapCalc ... makes it SO easy to see exactly how you formulated your soap. If it isn't too much trouble, could you please share how you attached it to your post?

2) From your notes at the bottom of the sheet, I gather you used 50/50 water and coconut milk for your lye solution. Do you think the coconut milk made a difference? i.e., contributed to no snotiness and "big bubble action"?

3) From your notes at the bottom of the sheet, you wrote "citric acid 12 grams" and "24 grams 50/50 citric" -- I'm guessing you made a solution of 50/50 citric acid and water then added 12 grams of the solution to the soap batch. Yes?

 

[Saponomancer]

Fantastic! I might give this a go at some point;

 

[kchaystack]

1) I luv that you posted the print out from SoapCalc ... makes it SO easy to see exactly how you formulated your soap. If it isn't too much trouble, could you please share how you attached it to your post?

Windows machines have a program called Snipping Tool. You start it up, and click the New button, and then draw a box around whatever you want to make a screen print of. You can then save it as a jpeg and upload it like you would a pic from your phone or camera.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Windows machines have a program called Snipping Tool. You start it up, and click the New button, and then draw a box around whatever you want to make a screen print of. You can then save it as a jpeg and upload it like you would a pic from your phone or camera.

Thanks for your help, haystack. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I don't have Windows, and, even if I did have a cell phone or camera, I don't know how to do that either. Electronically challenged here. LOL However, I know how to save a SoapCalc printout to my desktop as a pdf file. Is there a way to attach it from there?

 

[Scooter]

Thanks for your help, haystack. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I don't have Windows...

Shift+Command+4 provides the same function on a Mac.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Shift+Command+4 provides the same function on a Mac.

Okay. Took the screenshot; saved as jpeg. How do I upload? Tried dragging it. Too big. Will it automatically resize or do I have to figure out how to do that first? (Feeling pretty dumb here... )

ETA: Apologies to Carolyn for the hijack.

 

[Scooter]

Okay. Took the screenshot; saved as jpeg. How do I upload? Tried dragging it. Too big. Will it automatically resize or do I have to figure out how to do that first? (Feeling pretty dumb here... )

ETA: Apologies to Carolyn for the hijack.

Howdy Zany!

So when you go to reply you will see a tool bar right above where you type in the text. Next to the smiley is a paperclip. Click on that, and it will give you the option to choose a file. Choose your file and then click on upload.

HTH

Scooter

 

[Scooter]

Here is a pic of the paperclip in the "Quick Reply" toolbar mode, which is a little different.

 

[cmzaha]

Okay. Took the screenshot; saved as jpeg. How do I upload? Tried dragging it. Too big. Will it automatically resize or do I have to figure out how to do that first? (Feeling pretty dumb here... )

ETA: Apologies to Carolyn for the hijack.

No problem Cee. I used the snipping tool saved the file then used the Attach Files Manage attachments below to attach the file

Yes, I used a 50/50 master batch lye solution with the remaining liquid amount with coconut milk. I just use the Coconut milk from the milk department in the quart containers, not canned coconut cream since I do not want the extra fat. Not sure if it helps but it is a really nice soap. I also 50/50 my citric so also have to account for the water in the citric solution

 

[Seawolfe]

Congrats!! You know whats funny too? My old castile soaps like that last a looooooong time. I've had one by the bathroom sink for over a year and it just keeps going.

 

[CTAnton]

I made a batch following Carolyn's recipe at the end of last month. So it's basically at the 3 week mark and there was this sliver calling my name....
Off we went to the shower. No sliminess, snottiness or any other negative. A nice soap that I'm sure will only get better over time. Thank you, Carolyn!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

So when you go to reply you will see a tool bar right above where you type in the text. Next to the smiley is a paperclip. Click on that, and it will give you the option to choose a file. Choose your file and then click on upload.

I'll give it a try... here goes...

WOO HOO! It worked! Thanks Scooter, and Carolyn too, because "manage attachment" popped up too. And thanks to CT for posting -- I forgot where this information was hiding from me. LOL

 

[SunRiseArts]

I made a castile soap last week. I did not use that recipe, but it looks lovely! I plan to use it in 6 months to a year. Hopefully I will be patient ..... not my forte ....

I was going to leave in the mold for the 6 months. Should I cut it earlier?

 

[BattleGnome]

I was going to leave in the mold for the 6 months. Should I cut it earlier?

Cut it like any soap, when it's firm. If I remember right I cut mine 3-5 days after I made it, but that's my usual time frame for cutting. (I last made a castille over a year ago and don't have my notes with me)