HP Castile soap

[Dawni]

Since I first made a CP pomace Castile, I just had to try it in HP to see what it's like. I must say, it's one of the easiest soaps I ever made lol maybe coz I didn't have to worry about any additives or colors

WARNING: this post is pic heavy

I wanted to show you guys the progression of textures and colors from trace to cut. And just coz I had time to take pics I have to show em lol

Trace:

Half cooked

Mashed potatoes, almost done

Fully gelled and just poured into the mold

Right before unmolding

Loaf on its side before cutting

Finally, the cut bars

And an extra pic of one end piece, just coz lol and because I like how even the ends and bottoms are smooth

Soaped this at 1.7:1 to compensate for water loss during the cook. No additives except salt. Actually what I used was 80% water and 20% saturated brine. 28mins from trace to full gel, and 4hrs between molding and cutting. Now to wait a year.....

Thanks for looking!

 

[KiwiSoap]

Thanks for sharing the journey of your soap, interesting seeing the progression of HP soap! Beautiful white bars!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Soaped this at 1.7:1 to compensate for water loss during the cook. No additives except salt. Actually what I used was 80% water and 20% saturated brine. 28mins from trace to full gel, and 4hrs between molding and cutting. Now to wait a year.....

Excellent job on the pics, Dawni. So helpful for those of us who don't HP, me included.

Um, wherever you got the idea that this castile will take a year to cure, fahgeddaboutit. The water discount plus the brine in the lye solution plus HP vs CP should have this soap ready to share in 2-6 weeks, IMO and IME, 12 weeks tops.

If t'were me, I would cut one bar in half and start using it daily at 2 weeks -- I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The other half I would start using at 6 weeks for comparison. Maybe one in the AM when you first get up; the other in the PM before bed.

You might also like to track "Cure Time" by selecting one bar, weigh it, write down the date & weight in your trusty Notebook (you do have one of those, don'tcha?) and weigh it once a week from that point forward. When it stops losing weight, it's good to go. It might be interesting to continue to weigh that bar once a month or so -- up to the 1-year mark -- to see what difference it makes, if any.

 

[Dawni]

@Zany_in_CO I actually made Castile both CP and HP for several reasons..

First is I've never used Castile before, so I wanted to experience the (initial) lack of lather, the (possible) snot stuff, the transition to white, etc. and note the differences between CP and HP

Already, quite obvious, the HP one hardened first (4hrs instead of 4days) and isn't as white. As time goes by I'm sure there will be other differences to note.

And yes, I do have my poor notebook that's got oil, butters, cat hair, dog hair, baby drool, palm sweat on it for writing all this down lol

Second is I wanted to be able to test this one year thing coz yknow, seeing is believing for some things (and I hope I don't step on anyone's toes but if I do don't worry, I'm really tiny lol), and so I plan on cutting up one of the chunkier bars.... Eh, I should have done that already coz these ones are already hard.. Into smaller pieces and test them at 2mos, which is how long I cure my other soaps before asking anyone to shower with them, and then 3, 4 and so forth til 12. I'm sure I'll get impatient and will probably "test" in between too lol

I will be taking good notes because I really want to see for myself how things progress, and work out for myself when I think they're good enough to gift (or sell, if it comes to that in the future). I believe there are other factors at play - climate, water, what and how much salt, the oil itself, humidity, etc. and I want to know what works for me here.

Third reason is I wanted to soap but I was lazy to do any fiddling around on the calc and multiple measuring hahaha

And I'm glad you found the pics helpful

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Excellent! I look forward to following your progress. Sounds like you have quite a colorful Notebook there... of course, mine is pristine and totally legible.

First is I've never used Castile before, so I wanted to experience the (initial) lack of lather, the (possible) snot stuff,

For snottiness, you want an SF of 5 or higher. I used to soap 100 % olive oil castile at 2:1 (water:NaOH ratio) and 8% SF and got a lovely batch of snotty soap that reduced a bit over time but never did go away. Some people love it. Creeped me out!

Eh, I should have done that already coz these ones are already hard..

Yeah, with that amount of salt in the lye solution, I was afraid that might be the case. Hard is good, tho, right? The only problem I have with it is that it makes castile's meager lather even harder to make bubbles, but still nice, I think.

 

[earlene]

My first Castile was HP, but I was so new I had no idea I could change the water amount, do used the default setting, so no water discount. I believe my soap was a lot more fluid than yours pictured and more fluid when poured into the mold. I also waited longer to cut. But I can tell you for sure that soap is SO much nicer with a longer cure than it was when it was young. But I did not use any additives, like salt, brine, SL or anything.

However, I absolutely can attest to the fact that this soap (my totally plain Castile) only improves with age. I still have some of that orginal Castile and each time I use it, it feels nicer and nicer. It is now about 3 of age.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

... It is now about 3 of age.

LOL Reminds me of me, Earlene! I have a bar of 100% castile made in 2005 that I take out every year and lather up. I can't attest that it's any better each year. For me, it's kinda "meh". I did it CP tho, and the rest of the procedure was the same as yours ... took longer to unmold (2 days); sat longer before I could cut (3 days or longer) no additives.

One thing I did do differently that might be worth mentioning, I washed that batch in salt water in the sink after cutting and before setting it up to cure. (A little trick I picked up from Martha Stewart -- "It's a good thing".)

Of course, I've come a long way since then... my current formula eliminates snottines and reduces cure time and I love it! It's my favorite facial soap.

 

[earlene]

Interesting about washing soap in salt water. Did MS suggest that for all soap or only Castiles, and why? ETA: I found this link but reason why is given: https://www.marthastewart.com/269933/savon-de-marseille

 

[Dawni]

My first Castile was HP, but I was so new I had no idea I could change the water amount, do used the default setting, so no water discount. I believe my soap was a lot more fluid than yours pictured and more fluid when poured into the mold. I also waited longer to cut. But I can tell you for sure that soap is SO much nicer with a longer cure than it was when it was young. But I did not use any additives, like salt, brine, SL or anything.

However, I absolutely can attest to the fact that this soap (my totally plain Castile) only improves with age. I still have some of that orginal Castile and each time I use it, it feels nicer and nicer. It is now about 3 of age.

I should have taken a pic of vaseline stage, it thinned out a bit, enough to be able to pour.

I can never get good tops no matter what I do. Even with my first soaps with sodium lactate, my other soaps with yogurt... Inside they're nice n smooth but never the tops lol

Maybe I'm slow. Or maybe it's because the driest bits (scooped out last) end up on top, obviously lol

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Interesting about washing soap in salt water. Did MS suggest that for all soap or only Castiles, and why?

No, not for all soap, earlene, just castile. Her guest that day was a soaper who demo-ed the process. Castile really is pretty easy to make, compared to other soaps, IMO. I believe the salt-water wash was to create a harder surface ... because that's what resulted once washed -- smooth and shiny too, somewhat harder on the outside than my castiles at that time...

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Or maybe it's because the driest bits (scooped out last) end up on top, obviously lol

The person (some members may remember "Bunny") that taught me to make HP told me to leave the dry bits in the pot.

 

[earlene]

I should have taken a pic of vaseline stage, it thinned out a bit, enough to be able to pour.

I can never get good tops no matter what I do. Even with my first soaps with sodium lactate, my other soaps with yogurt... Inside they're nice n smooth but never the tops lol

Maybe I'm slow. Or maybe it's because the driest bits (scooped out last) end up on top, obviously lol

I always tried to get the smoothest top possible when I was new. Of course I later learned I could trim away the roughness and no one would know. And I wasn't into swirls until I started doing CP. Only once do I recall making an intentional color design on top of an HP soap. It turned out nice, but it wasn't something I was interested in doing for the most part. With CP, it's a lot easier, though, as you will find when you give it a go. I think you said somewhere you are going to be give CP a try soon.

 

[Dawni]

Yeah, with that amount of salt in the lye solution, I was afraid that might be the case. Hard is good, tho, right? The only problem I have with it is that it makes castile's meager lather even harder to make bubbles, but still nice, I think.

Actually, I have high hopes for this soap. I tried a piece and look at the lather! I had to rinse off my other hand to take a pic though so some has dissipated. Is that the right word? Lol

Very different from the CP one's lather..

The person (some members may remember "Bunny") that taught me to make HP told me to leave the dry bits in the pot.

Yes I've been told the same but I keep forgetting. The good thing is the dried bits more or less fall off when it's time to unmold so I usually test with those. I try my best to not get them inside though..

Only once do I recall making an intentional color design on top of an HP soap. It turned out nice, but it wasn't something I was interested in doing for the most part. With CP, it's a lot easier, though, as you will find when you give it a go. I think you said somewhere you are going to be give CP a try soon.

I haven't intentionally done any designs on top of HP. I have tried CP since I said that.. Twice in a makeshift slab mold, twice soleseife in a loaf mold and the CP Castile in individual molds. Both slabs ended up not looking what they were meant to be and the soleseifes got too thick before I could do any swirls lol

 

[earlene]

So, how do you feel about CP now? Do you think you'll being branching out into more CP designs?

 

[Dawni]

So, how do you feel about CP now? Do you think you'll being branching out into more CP designs?

I have some planned.. There are several swirl techniques I want to try that will impossible to do in HP. And soleseifes, because I love em. But for single color soaps, ITP swirls, embeds n confetti and simple layers I'm sticking to HP

 

[Dawni]

Just wanted to show how this lathers up at 3wks, because I was in the kitchen cleaning up and happened upon the test slice I kept there lol

Slightly denser lather than the CP version currently but I'm betting that one's gonna catch up soon.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Interesting!

for the update. Keep up the good work!

 

[Dawni]

Lather update at 10ish months

Light, fluffy lather.. Reminded me of beaten egg whites when they're not fully done yet lol (before the fan blew on my hands haha). No snot on this HP one I'm happy to say.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Wow! What a difference in lather compared to the first picture.

 

[Kiti Williams]

This type of soap likes a LONG cure time. Mine makes meringue like suds, just so nice to rub onto your skin!