Soap with Mostly Olive Oil, but not castile soap

[Dollyk8]

Hi,

I am looking for a recipe with primarily extra-virgin olive oil in it that will cure quickly, or be ready to use within 3-5 days.

In the past I have used the following recipe, which took a very long time to cure. I need to turn this around fast. Any ideas are welcome.

I started out with the following oils and quantities:

3 oz Palm Oil

15.75 oz Olive Oil - All Grades

5.25 oz Apricot Kernel Oil

2.80 oz Ricinus Oil (Castor Oil)

2.45 oz Cocoa Butter

8.75 oz Coconut Oil - All Grades except Virgin

14.41 ozs water

5.45 ozs pure Kaoh

1 tbsp sodium lactate

Because it took a while for the above recipe (minus palm oil, tamanu oil and yogurt) to trace, I added Palm Oil, Tamanu Oil and yogurt to remedy that.
The result was a very conditioning soap but it took a month to cure. I hope I got the details down right, given that I'm typing this up in a hurry.

I'm willing to use a simpler recipe with fewer oils, but one that will be ready to use almost immediately.



Gratefully Yours,
Dolly

 

[GemstonePony]

Dolly, I notice you put down KaOH as your alkali, what are you using?
Are you trying to make liquid soap or bar soap?

 

[Dollyk8]

I'm sorry I made an error above. I'm mean NAOH. I'm making a bar of soap. Thanks.

 

[GemstonePony]

I'm sorry I made an error above. I'm mean NAOH. I'm making a bar of soap. Thanks.

I'm afraid you're out of luck then. All new, less than a week old soap will be drying and cause tight skin due to the solubility of new soap and it's recent saponification. No oil recipe will change that.

 

[Dollyk8]

Thanks for your quick response.

Dear Gemstone Pony,

I was looking for suggestions to my recipe above with input that would speed up cure time. I do appreciate your comment on the drying nature of the soap initially. However, did you look at all the conditioning oils and butters in my recipe?

Dolly

 

[DeeAnna]

You can use any soap as long as it's fully saponified. You'll get that in the 3-5 day window you're specifying.

There is no way you can get a fully cured soap in that short of a time, however. It doesn't matter what recipe you use, nor how the soap is made. Handcrafted soap is not going to be at its best until it cures for at least a month, sometimes longer. Young soap won't be as hard, won't lather as well, won't last as long, and won't be as mild to the skin as cured soap.

 

[Megan]

You can't speed cure...actually, a month seems like a quick turnaround to me.

If you want soap to sell that you can turn around in a day or two (which is why I'm assuming you are asking this), you're going to want to get a nice melt and pour base.

 

[GemstonePony]

Dear Gemstone Pony,

I was looking for suggestions to my recipe above with input that would speed up cure time. I do appreciate your comment on the drying nature of the soap initially. However, did you look at all the conditioning oils and butters in my recipe?

Dolly

Yes, but you're not washing with oils and butters. You're turning them into cleansers, and it takes time for them to cure into the gentlest versions of themselves.
I'm curious, so I lather a tiny scrap of each of batch of my soaps weekly starting at the first week. I can tell you from experience that they will all be tight and drying within the first week. I've never seen any bar outgrow that stage in within 4 weeks, and even fastest ones require a few more weeks beyond that to start to lather well because conditioning kills lather and vice versa, particularly for young soap.
And before putting less soap in your soap sounds like a good idea, I have tried super fatting by 5% (normal safety net),10%(bad idea),15%(oops, never doing this on purpose), and 50% (not really soap, just science). It shockingly does almost nothing to change the tightening/drying effect new soap has on skin. It does cut lather over the life of the bar, though, and makes it more likely to go rancid.
DeeAnna is correct, you can absolutely use any soap that has saponified. It'll get you clean. Just know that you'll need more lotion if you're using it within the first 4 weeks at least.

 

[Obsidian]

If you need usable soap in a hurry, look at melt and pour bases. You can order it from most online soap supply companies.

 

[shunt2011]

As others have stated there is no home made soap that doesn’t require at least 4-6 weeks cure. High OO requires longer. You’ll need to look into M&P if you need something faster.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I am looking for a recipe with primarily extra-virgin olive oil in it that will cure quickly, or be ready to use within 3-5 days.

You might want to try making Zany's No Slime Castile.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/

Just in case you're not already aware of it, EVOO purchased off the shelf at the grocery store is more likely to be adulterated. Google "Fake Olive Oil" for more information. It's best to use "Pure Olive Oil" from Costco or "Grade A" olive oil from a reputable supplier like Soapers Choice.

ETA: Just in. This testimonial from a member who just tried ZNSC.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-soapy-thing-have-you-done-today.42556/page-882#post-853368