Castile: Gel or No?

[MoonBath]

What's your preference? Why?

 

[seven]

Gel. Becoz it is a PITA if i had to ungel and forced my wooden mold into my already cramped freezer.
I also like the feel of gelled soaps better. They harden up quickly and nicely.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I left mine ungelled, so it looks super white and soft

 

[tryanything]

I gel all my soaps. Just preference to how it looks.

 

[shunt2011]

I too gel all my soaps.

 

[Derpina Bubbles]

I get slightly (I mean very slightly) whiter results if I don't gel them. I almost always gel but not my castile. That's not to say I don't mind a creamier or buttery colour, I'm just trying for stark white. This pic shows a batch where the thicker soap gelled accidently and the olive mould one didn't. You can just see the tiny difference.

 

[seven]

Forgot to add, another thing i dislike with ungelled soaps, it always came wet out of the freezer. Gotta leave it at least a day to harden up, otherwise my wire cutter is a mess.

 

[MirandaH]

Ungelled, but only because my very first batch was a partial gel and I am a big pansy. I am afraid that if I try to get something to gel I will either get partial or a volcano.

 

[MoonBath]

Ungelled, but only because my very first batch was a partial gel and I am a big pansy. I am afraid that if I try to get something to gel I will either get partial or a volcano.

Miranda, you might like CPOP. I haven't had any luck just insulating; I always get partial gel. CPOP takes the uncertainty away. I freeze if I don't want gel and CPOP if I do.

 

[judymoody]

That's funny - I haven't gotten much joy from CPOP and insulating works better for me.

 

[coffeetime]

I CPOP too. I was worried Castile would take forever to harden, and might melt too easily in the soap dish. So I use a 10% water discount and CPOP. Works great.

 

[Tienne]

I've only ever made one batch of Castile (ungelled) and it's about 9 months old now and I can't stand the lather of it. Will it get less icky when it's fully matured? Would gelling have made a difference in helping to reduce the sliminess of it? Does long term curing help any with that? If so, how many centuries should I leave it to cure before it becomes somewhat appealing to use? LOL

 

[MirandaH]

Miranda, you might like CPOP. I haven't had any luck just insulating; I always get partial gel. CPOP takes the uncertainty away. I freeze if I don't want gel and CPOP if I do.

I think I am going to get brave and try it once we get my new oils here. We have decided to start buying in bulk, so I am not running to the grocery store every five minutes and paying so much more. Once I do that I will see what happens. :shifty: