First batch!
- Thread starter kaylamiya
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Congratulations on your first batch of soap!
boyago
Well-Known Member
That was my first too! Do yourself a favor and loose half of it in the back of a closet. I used and gave away all but one of my bars by the time they were ripe. They are a different animal after 6+ months of curing.
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As Christmas is only 8 weeks away and its all olive it won't be ready. You need to cure for 6 months.
If it's 100% Olive Oil it needs a lot longer. Some say 6 months, others say a year.
Tienne
Well-Known Member
Castile soap is probably the soap that takes the longest time to cure before it's at its peak. As Skatergirl and Relle9 say, it won't be at its best until it has cured for at least six months. It will be safe to use after 6-8 weeks, but it will be very soft and get really mushy and icky when it gets wet. It needs time to harden. BUT, don't fret! There's still 2 months until it's Christmas and you still have plenty of time to make a simple Hunter's soap or a Bastile soap that WILL have time to be ready for Christmas. So just grab your stick blender and get-a-going on your second batch! 
Yeah! a GREAT reason to make more soap LOL Kaylamiya your family and friends are going to like your soap but will love it even more if you give it the full cure time a castile needs. Make some more soap such as a bastille (not 100% olive oil) which will be ready to give for Christmas and have fun experimenting :smile:
Thanks everyone! So new to this whole making soap. Where can I find a good hunter or Bastille soap recipe. I don't always trust the ones I find online. That's why I look at a few of the same recipe to compare them.
Sent from my iPad using Soap Making
Sent from my iPad using Soap Making
Tienne
Well-Known Member
Soaping 101 has a tried and true Bastile recipe. (It's the first recipe on the page.) It's with Castor oil, Coconut Oil and Olive Oil;
http://www.soaping101.com/soap-recipes.html
Soaping 101 also has a youtube channel and you can learn a LOT via those videos and get loads of inspiration too. She's a really good teacher. I have learnt a lot from her videos.
Nature's Garden has a video and recipe on Hunter's soap. It's made with Lard or Tallow, Coconut Oil and Castor Oil.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc340QqWiMo[/ame]
Lard gives a really nice soap and it's cheap. Coconut Oil will give you cleansing properties and bubbles and Castor Oil will also give bubbles and it's moisturizing. Olive Oil you already know.
Here are a few oil properties charts you can look at to get to know the properties of different oils. These pages are good to bookmark for when you one day start to compose your own recipes.
http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
Be sure to run every recipe through a Soap Calculator. You don't want to get caught out by typos or the likes, so make it a routine to run each and every recipe you want to make through a calculator, just to be sure. Even the "tried and true". Typos do happen.
Here's the one I use, but there are others. (Just google "Soap calculator" or "Lye Calculator" to find others.)
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
I can't wait to hear how it turns out for you. Be sure to give us updates!
http://www.soaping101.com/soap-recipes.html
Soaping 101 also has a youtube channel and you can learn a LOT via those videos and get loads of inspiration too. She's a really good teacher. I have learnt a lot from her videos.
Nature's Garden has a video and recipe on Hunter's soap. It's made with Lard or Tallow, Coconut Oil and Castor Oil.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc340QqWiMo[/ame]
Lard gives a really nice soap and it's cheap. Coconut Oil will give you cleansing properties and bubbles and Castor Oil will also give bubbles and it's moisturizing. Olive Oil you already know.
Here are a few oil properties charts you can look at to get to know the properties of different oils. These pages are good to bookmark for when you one day start to compose your own recipes.
http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
Be sure to run every recipe through a Soap Calculator. You don't want to get caught out by typos or the likes, so make it a routine to run each and every recipe you want to make through a calculator, just to be sure. Even the "tried and true". Typos do happen.
Here's the one I use, but there are others. (Just google "Soap calculator" or "Lye Calculator" to find others.)
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
I can't wait to hear how it turns out for you. Be sure to give us updates!
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Castile soap is probably the soap that takes the longest time to cure before it's at its peak. As Skatergirl and Relle9 say, it won't be at its best until it has cured for at least six months. It will be safe to use after 6-8 weeks, but it will be very soft and get really mushy and icky when it gets wet. It needs time to harden. BUT, don't fret! There's still 2 months until it's Christmas and you still have plenty of time to make a simple Hunter's soap or a Bastile soap that WILL have time to be ready for Christmas. So just grab your stick blender and get-a-going on your second batch!
I make pure castile soap regularly. Mine is never soft and squishy and I cure for 1-2 months. Granted soap does mellow with age but there is absolutely nothing wrong with my castile soap after 1-2 months. I soap with a water discount water:lye 2:1 and bring the batter to a medium trace. I do find a good trace makes a difference with OO soap, and mine with the discount traces quickly using pomace
Tonight I used a piece of Bastile that I made just a couple of weeks ago. It's not ready yet but I wanted to try the little end piece that I cut off of the loaf. I didn't find it unpleasant at all. I'm all about conditioning and gentle cleansing this time of year. It was creamy and made a nice lather with a bath puff. My skin is unbelievably soft right now. I can't wait until this one is fully cured. I made it for gifts but I might have to rethink that idea. :wink:
