Castille Soap

[pluto1969]

I know, there are a billion threads on castille soap here but I'm not sure the previous threads I saw really answered my questions. Sorry in advance for sounding so newish.

Anyway, the first soap I tried to make awhile ago was a castille with just 100% extra virgin olive oil, lye and water. I forget the ratio because it was awhile ago. The soap took forever to harden, over a month. Even though it was soft it would become sudsy if I rubbed it together between my gloved hands. Since it was still pretty soft though I was afraid it my burn me and so I never tried it out unprotected ^_^

I also noticed when I finally decided to cut into the batch that a thin yellow layer was sitting on top of a much thicker whitish layer. The oily yellow layer had that sort of look like when you leave cheese out and it starts to sweat. The white layer wasn't as sudsy I don't think though, not sure.

I'm pretty sure the fats and lye must have separated.

Anyway I was wondering if there is a simple newbish recipe for vegetarian soaps to make sure I get it right next time. Any tips on how best to deal with a beginner castille would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Lindy]

Hey there and welcome to our addiction....

It sounds like it might have separated on you - so here's what I am going to recommend - keep your superfat at 5% - take your lye concentration to 35% and then take it to a heavy trace (it will look like a thick cake batter). Force gel by putting it in a warm oven and leave it overnight.

Even when soap is soft it is still usable as long as it passes the zap test. The zap test is putting your tongue on the soap - if it feels like a 9 volt battery it is lye heavy - if it just tastes bad - it's okay.

HTH

 

[IrishLass]

Castile soaps can seemingly take forever to harden up if one uses a full water amount, and from your description, it sounds like you used the full water amount recommended by most online lye calculators.

The first Castile I ever did was made using the full water amount and it was so soft that I couldn't even unmold it for something like 2 weeks! It took another 2 weeks or so after that to firm up enough to cut, and then even many more weeks beyond that to feel firm enough for me to use without it melting all away.

I get much better results with all of my soap formulas, especially my Castiles, by using a 33% lye solution instead of the full water amount (full water = a 25% to 27% lye solution, depending on which lye calculator you use).

In other words, a 33% lye solution means using less water in your formula: 1 part lye to 2 parts water, to be exact.

A 25% lye solution, or full water amount, means using 1 part lye to 3 parts water.

33% = less water = a firmer Castile (or any other soap for that matter) that is ready to unmold and cut within 12 hours instead of days or weeks.

There's no way I'd ever make a Castile ever again with less than a 33% lye solution. The difference is that huge. And a 33% lye solution is a very safe solution to use, even for beginners.

So, what I would suggest for your next Castile is to use a good online lye calculator, like SoapCalc for instance, or the one over at Majestic Mountain Sage (MMS), and calculate for a 33% lye solution in order to get the proper water and lye amounts for the size batch you'd like to make. I would go for a 5% superfat, as well. That's a good, all-around general level. Then proceed with the proper soapmaking procedures.

IrishLass

P.S.- I just spied Lindy's post. A 35% lye solution is a good, safe %, too. I've gone as high as 40%, but just so you know- things move much quicker the higher you go, so I would stick to 33% or 35% for your first time out. My batch with a 40% lye solution took all of 5 minutes from soap pot to mold!

 

[krissy]

i did a small batch of castille a couple of days ago and it is hard as a rock. it is the one with the chlorella powder added, that made it green. anyways, i know it says it needs to harden up for a while but this bar of soap is so hard that 2 days out i tried to cut it into smaller sample bars and it wont cut! it is like a rock. so do i still need to wait for it to harden more? i did a zap test and there is no zap. this is my first successful CP batch.

i did the 33% water thing from soap calc btw.

quick question. how do y'all pronounce castille? is it cas-steel or cast-Ile?

 

[Lindy]

Cas-Steel

 

[AshleyR]

I made a castille soap today with my lye concentration at 35% and I was able to cut it in about 5 hours. I wouldn't have wanted to leave it any longer than that because at 5 hours it was already a little harder than my normal recipe soaps that I cut at 12-24 hrs!

So just a word of caution.... If you do the 35% lye, keep an eye on your soap and cut it as soon as it cools or you'll have a big log of cement!

 

[Lindy]

Hey Ashley what lye discount did you use? I find at 8% I have some time before I cut - usually up to 24 hours. But I do love how hard it get fast!

 

[AshleyR]

Hey Ashley what lye discount did you use? I find at 8% I have some time before I cut - usually up to 24 hours. But I do love how hard it get fast!

I did 6%!

 

[Jeremy]

I wonder how long a big log of cement castille soap would last in a shower, say a 5 pound log of castille???? Yes, my mind does wander.

 

[pluto1969]

Hey there and welcome to our addiction....

It sounds like it might have separated on you - so here's what I am going to recommend - keep your superfat at 5% - take your lye concentration to 35% and then take it to a heavy trace (it will look like a thick cake batter). Force gel by putting it in a warm oven and leave it overnight.

Even when soap is soft it is still usable as long as it passes the zap test. The zap test is putting your tongue on the soap - if it feels like a 9 volt battery it is lye heavy - if it just tastes bad - it's okay.

HTH

This is all really great information. Thanks alot guys! Two questions though:

1) How warm should the oven be? Should I preheat and then turn it off and just leave the soap in overnight or what? What temp should it be? Or is the oven, though cool from being off, warm enough by itself?

2) I'm a little unclear about the whole percentages thing. The book I used just had ozs and whatnot. I'm sure it would probably be annoying for you guys to explain it so is there a book or online resource where I could get a better understanding of how the %s work in the recipe?

Thanks, again

 

[pluto1969]

I wonder how long a big log of cement castille soap would last in a shower, say a 5 pound log of castille???? Yes, my mind does wander.

Like forever! Over a year probably ^_^

I did 6%!

:shock: