Castile Bars & curing

[hariskar]

I started reading about making soaps because I wanted to make a 100% olive oil soap. But the fact that I can not use it before several months or 1 year makes me change my plans..
What options do I have to use my soap after I made it without waiting? Is there any solution to use a 100% olive oil soap immediately?
Thank you.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The answer is "yes" and "no".

You can use it as soon as it has finished saponifying (in CP that is between 24 to 48 hours, generally). But if you use it then it will be really slimy and unpleasant. Even after 1 year of curing, you need to let the bars dry out between uses (a good practice with all hand-made soap).

Why do you want to make Castile (100% olive oil) soaps? Why not other recipes, too? A recipe with 50% lard/palm/tallow (only 1 of them), 30% olive and 20% Coconut oil would be a fine soap after 4 weeks cure.

 

[hariskar]

Thank you for reply and sorry for posting in wrong topic.
I would like to make 100% olive oil soap because I like the smell of olives. Of course I don't like that it makes almost no foam.
So, 4 weeks cure is the minimum? I can't wait so much!

 

[Susie]

Olive oil soap does not smell like olives.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It doesn't really smell like olives, to be honest, and 3 months is the minumum for a Castile, 4 weeks for a 'normal' soap. If you really can't wait that long, I think that CP/HP soap isn't for you. Have you considered melt and pour.

 

[hariskar]

OK I did not describe the smell correctly, but I know how it smells. So I think I will start with a "normal" soap.

 

[Seawolfe]

You can hot process it and it will be safe to use when you cut it, but you just have to realize it will improve immensely with a good cure.

You can use liquid soap almost immediately if you have KOH and want liquid soap, but it also is better with a week of sequestering.

Honestly, I think you would be hard pressed to smellthe difference between unscented olive oil and something like coconut oil soap or just about any other unscented soap.

 

[hariskar]

Thank you for replies. I will first make the recipe The Efficacious Gentleman said and then Castile,

And about the Castile smell, I think it smells like an old abandoned oil press factory I had visited here in Greece.

 

[Dorymae]

How about, make some Castile then make something to use in the interim. The Castile will cure over time, you can set it in the linen closet and forget about it while you use another soap. Then around Xmas you can try out your Castile. You could even make some liquid Castile to have as well.

 

[snappyllama]

Agree with everything folks mentioned. When I was just getting started, a month seemed like such a long time. Now that I've got a bunch of bars curing, waiting the 5 weeks I normally cure isn't a big deal. Even my birthday castille, patiently hanging out until next May, is no problem.

I do notice a slightly more olive-ish scent to my naked castille bar than the faint tea-ish smell my naked bar with hemp has. My naked bar with pumpkin puree and pumpkin oil actually smells nothing at all like pumpkin - but it does smell the best (it is one of mommy's favorite kids though - so I'm probably just partial to it). Mainly they just smell like soap...

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

^^^^^^ What Dorymae said - make the Castile now, leave it to one side and then make other soaps. There are enough types of soaps that you can make a batch every week and have something coming to cure most of the time.

 

[hariskar]

Yesterday I made my 2 first efforts, both 100% olive oil! One had 38% water and the 2nd 33% water. Both 5% super fat. I made the 2nd batch because I thought the 1st was too liquid but then I realized that with 100% olive oil it should be that way. I believe the final results of both will be identical, or will they not?

The soap I made was totally different form the 100% olive oil soap I buy from the super market till now. The color and the smell have nothing common. I wonder why they differ so much, since the stated ingredients are the same with mine.

The smell I was trying to describe was of that soap I had bought, mine smells only like olive oil.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Those will be interesting to compare - did you notice a difference in trace time? One should also be able to be unmoulded before the other, but the differences diminish over time - it's a good chance for you to observe it first hand

 

[hariskar]

I can't compare trace time because the 38% was my 1st effort and I did not recognize the trace and continue mixing. At the 33% everything seemed very easy and quick.
I ordered more oils to make the receipt you advised me.

 

[ngian]

Καλωσήρθες Χάρη - Welcome to this great soap community!

Pictures are usually a must while we describe our creations so as to brighten our talking. What type of olive oil did you use? Extra Virgin Olive Oil or residual of Olive Oil -dregs (Μούργα)?

Friendly Nikos

 

[hariskar]

Hi Nikos, thank you!
I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the same we use in our kitchen. OK, I will upload a picture, although I put it in a round plastic 1lt yogurt pot which I don't think is a good solution and I don't know if it will be easy to take the soap out of there.

 

[hariskar]

Here is it, I wonder how will I take it out of there. And when.

 

[shunt2011]

Oh my.....you may have a bit of trouble getting it out of there for sure. You may want to make yourself a mold out of a cardboard box or something and line it with plastic coated baking paper or parchment paper or even a plastic garbage bag. This will certainly make it interesting unmolding. It may take several days to a week or so before you should try to unmold it.

 

[galaxyMLP]

If you do have trouble, place it in the freezer for a few hours and that will help a lot!

 

[kchaystack]

Or if you don't mind not using the container again you can cut the plastic off.