Just tried my Castile..wow!

[saltydog]

Aleppo soap is 100% OO soap. It's originally from Syria and its Very popular there. The older the soap, the more expensive because it lasts forever.

That's interesting, I've never heard of that before.
Ha ha, jcandleattic would be rich with her 7 yr. old soap! (I bet its unbelievable, I understand why you're hoarding, lol)

I made some OO with Oatmeal this morning. It was a Pomace grade so it came out olive green at the pour. I'll have to wait to see what color it ends up, but I've read Pomace makes a nice soap so I'm giving it a shot. The trick now is to be patient and give it a nice long cure, *sigh* ..always so difficult for me!

 

[jcandleattic]

Aleppo soap is 100% OO soap. It's originally from Syria and its Very popular there. The older the soap, the more expensive because it lasts forever.

I've always called 100% OO soaps Castille. Never heard them referred to as Aleppo before.
Different regions I guess.

Ha ha, jcandleattic would be rich with her 7 yr. old soap! (I bet its unbelievable, I understand why you're hoarding, lol)

LOL I only have 2 bars left! I don't know what I'm gonna do once they are gone. I know I can always make more, but - well, you know. These ones are my babies...

 

[pure&simple]

I'm not an expert, but as far as I know, here in France one form of 100% OO soap is called Savon d'Alep (soap from Alep) . Savon d'Alep has bay oil in it as well, up to 40%. The French have their own version called Savon de Marseilles (not always 100% OO) and the Spanish have Castile soap.

I have no idea why we're more familiar with Castile soaps but they're all the same; they're all made from OO oil.

 

[saltydog]

I'm not a historian, but as far as I know, here in France one form of 100% OO soap is called Savon d'Alep (soap from Alep) . Savon d'Alep has bay oil in it as well, up to 40%. The French have their own version called Savon de Marseilles (not always 100% OO) and the Spanish have Castile soap.

I have no idea why we're more familiar with Castile soaps but they're all the same; they're all made from OO oil.

Gracias & Merci!

 

[simplymcghie]

That's exciting. I just might have to give that a try now.

 

[IrishLass]

Yep, Spain has their Castile soap, France has their Savon de Marseilles (72% OO), and the Middle Eastern regions have their Aleppo and Nabulsi soaps- each of them olive oil-based soaps (I love reading about soap, can you tell? I'm such a soap nerd).

I also love my 100% olive oil soap, but only with a pouf or a terrycloth wash cloth. It's the only way I can get them to lather in my hard water. If I use just my hands or the skin-on-skin method of washing, the lather is just not happening. I only get thin, stringy slime that way. But with a pouf or a good wash cloth to provide some friction....wow!.... it becomes a totally different soap.


IrishLass

 

[Hazel]

Congratulations on your 100% OO soap!

I tried mine at about 6 months and I still don't like it.

 

[pure&simple]

Well stated. Thanks Irishlass.
Hmmm, Nabulsi soap. First time I've heard of that one. Gotta look that up.

 

[Mouse]

I love LOVE Castile bars, too. I also like a 100% OO base with castor at trace, and a recipe with a third or so CO. I wanted to go all OO, trace castor for my soaps, just for simplicity's sake, but at this point I don't know that it's feasible..last night it took two hours for my castile to get to a very thin trace! I'll burn out my stick blender if that continues.

 

[saltydog]

I love LOVE Castile bars, too. I also like a 100% OO base with castor at trace, and a recipe with a third or so CO. I wanted to go all OO, trace castor for my soaps, just for simplicity's sake, but at this point I don't know that it's feasible..last night it took two hours for my castile to get to a very thin trace! I'll burn out my stick blender if that continues.

Hi Mouse and welcome!
I had never tried water discounting until I made pure OO soaps. Being impatient as I am, I found this tutorial to work like a charm! You might want to check it out before you burn out your SB :wink:
http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/03/castille/

 

[JackiK]

I made a batch a few weeks ago and your post made me oh so anxious to try it. Still needs a few more weeks, though. Somewhere I got the impression it needed 4-6 months to cure. Maybe I'll cut a bar into thirds and try it in monthly intervals. It sure made a beautiful bar. Hope it feels as good as it looks.

Glad yours turned out so well!

 

[saltydog]

I made a batch a few weeks ago and your post made me oh so anxious to try it. Still needs a few more weeks, though. Somewhere I got the impression it needed 4-6 months to cure. Maybe I'll cut a bar into thirds and try it in monthly intervals. It sure made a beautiful bar. Hope it feels as good as it looks.

Glad yours turned out so well!

I'm sorry, I was a little excited at how nice I thought it felt. Mine was just 8 weeks old, but I'm saving the rest because I'm sure it's true that it will get better and better

I didn't find it slimy/stringy but to me it felt more creamy with a kind of soft/gentle feeling that I liked. I'm letting it dry between uses and so far so good.
By Christmas mine will be 5 months old, so it should be nice for giving.
That's a good idea with cutting a bar in thirds, that's what I do too, or I keep the pieces that aren't' perfect for myself. Hope you enjoy yours too!

 

[Maythorn]

I don;t think I've ever done a total Castile soap. I've done ones with lots of olive oil and I was the only one that liked them among my family and other testers. THere was the slime factor no one failed to notice and mention. Maybe the bars needed to cure longer or something. Anyway, yours sound delightful.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I have been wanting to make a soap higher in OO, 70% or so. With these high OO soaps, do they stay hard and dry out well? I find that in draining soap dishes handmade soap gets soft since I use it so often. It took me many recipes to balance mine so it didn't get sticky or mushy after 15 hand washes in a day. This thread has me really excited though!

 

[Cirafly24]

I have a batch of Castile that's about 3.5 months old...I love it! It leaves my hands feeling moisturized, and it seems to be super gentle. The lather is a little difficult to work up due to my hard water, but overall it's great.

I made a new batch of Castile over the weekend. I had olive oil that had been infused for about 12 weeks with chamomile and calendula. It was a beautiful dark orange, and smelled very strongly of the flowers. I added some lemongrass EO this time around (last time it was unscented), and it smells AMAZING. I just love it. Even though I used a 50% lye concentration, it took a long time to trace and I had to wait an extra day to unmold it...but I can't wait to see how it cures out!

 

[Mouse]

That was exactly my experience last night...I almost always do a 50% water discount now....and my castile took almost two hours to trace! I would mix and mix with my stick blender, let it rest, mix mix mix, let it rest. Two hours! It did really well in the oven though, and the soap is curing on the rack now. I love sneaking in there and just looking at it! LOL

 

[Dragonkaz]

I was planning to leave mine at least six months, but when I saw this thread I couldn't help but try one of my castilles and I'm loving it!

Mouse ... from what I've read, there's no value in adding an oil at trace, as the lye doesn't differentiate between one oil or another, but 'eats' whatever is there while it's working.

Soapy Gurl ... if you're making healthy non chemical soap, it will 'melt' if left in water. A great way to prevent this is to have a string of beads (preferably on fishing line) in your soap dish. This allows the soap to have air around it and allows it to dry between uses.

What is the definition of castille soap? Is true castille a soap that's 100% OO or EVOO or 100% of a single oil? Or can other things be added and this soap still be called castille?