First batch of soap question

[kittywings]

Hey there! I just joined the forum tonight because I needed a place to ask this question:
The other day I made some castile soap using only olive oil, water and lye. I didn't have a stick blender so it took FOREVER to trace (I ended up putting it in the oven overnight with the light on to try to keep it at the right temperature... which was already hard because my gas burners even on low make it about 150 degrees- any suggestions there? I had to keep turning the burner on for a few minutes then turning it off for a while to try and keep it at 98 degrees or so)... anyway, the next day it had seperated a teeny bit, but I fiddled some more, did the oven light trick again, did some errands, came home and it looked a lot thicker so I finally poured it in my mold (which I made myself <--- pride). I then started cleaning out my pot and used my hand to scrape the excess soap into the sink and I thought I felt a bit of a sting-y feeling so just in case I doused my hands and arms in vinegar, as well as the pot and everything I used.
My question is: do you think the soap is ok as is... is it always still a teensy bit caustic before it cures? My skin where I touched it looks fine. I read somewhere on her about doing a zap test... wetting your finger, rubbing it on the soap and then touching it to your tongue... I just don't know how I feel about the whole lye/tongue thing.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Shannon

I'm attaching a picture of how it looks now. At about 24 hours of being in the mold it feels kind of like lard... is this right?

 

[Lindy]

Hi Kittywings and welcome! Soap can remain caustic for a couple of days. I would recommend that you leave it for several days and then do the tongue test for zap. What you do is wet your finger, rub it on the soap and then touch your tongue to the finger. If you get a "zap" like a 9 volt battery (it will actually sting) then you still have lye present.

I would strongly recommend that you get a stick blender. I've made Castille & I do love it. It takes a little longer to trace. You can also do what is called Hot Process to speed the gel. To do this after you have reached trace, place your pot into the oven, I put my oven to 200 F, and stir it occassionally until the soap looks like vaseline (this is gel). At this point you would pour it into your mold.

Castille is going to need 4 - 6 weeks to fully harden, but it is so worth the wait and this soap (100% Olive) is the gentlest and perfect for infants.

Please let us know how this turns out.

Cheers
Lindy

 

[kittywings]

Thanks for the quick response... when should I cut it into bars?

 

[Lindy]

Let it firm up until when you push on it you're not denting it. At that point you should be pretty safe to cut. Make sure you zap test first.

 

[kittywings]

I did a zap test earlier today and didn't get zapped, so I was jazzed. About 20 minutes ago I decided to slice up the soap and while I was doing it I decided to see if I could smooth out these few little bumps on the top from when I poured it (I was kind of lazy... thinking I was gonna have to trash it) and when I tried smearing it I saw a bit of liquid and I recalled reading something about lye pockets. So I zap tested that area and got zapped! Does this mean I need to throw it out or could I mill it?

 

[kittywings]

Anybody? Is this thing on?

 

[Lindy]

Sorry Kittywings (love your avatar BTW). Put your gloves back on and either cut your soap into little pieces or grate it down. Then you can remelt it, put it into the oven at 200 F and stir it occassionally. This is going to take quite a while. Once the soap is soft again and all the bits are melted, then put it into your mold again. You're going to need to tap it firmly on your counter to get the air bubbles out and remember this is not going to be creamy or liquid, more like a really, really thick pudding...