Very young castile, no snot yet

[IrishLass]

Here's my own snotty Castile. This picture was taken when the bar was 4-years old and just after I lathered it with my hands- very sparse and stringy/snotty lather. When lathered with a nylon pouf, though, the lather is quite copious and luscious- and I dare say even luxuriant. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of the pouf lather:

IrishLass

 

[TeresaT]

I finally made my first Castile in anticipation of soap snot. I poured at light trace. However, I noticed on another thread, y'all said you SB to thick trace before pouring. My mold is in the oven. Should I get it out and dump it back into the bowl and SB some more or should I just leave it alone? I soaped at 33% lye concentration with only 3% SF. (I have no idea why, so don't ask. Maybe that was my "everything is in 3s today" day.)

Edit: I also added 2oz FO and 1 (heaping) TBS bentonite clay as FO stabilizer. I don't have kaoline clay yet.

 

[shunt2011]

I finally made my first Castile in anticipation of soap snot. I poured at light trace. However, I noticed on another thread, y'all said you SB to thick trace before pouring. My mold is in the oven. Should I get it out and dump it back into the bowl and SB some more or should I just leave it alone? I soaped at 33% lye concentration with only 3% SF. (I have no idea why, so don't ask. Maybe that was my "everything is in 3s today" day.)

Edit: I also added 2oz FO and 1 (heaping) TBS bentonite clay as FO stabilizer. I don't have kaoline clay yet.

You should be fine as long as you are sure you reached trace. I would watch it carefully though to be sure it doesn't separate. Now comes the wait.....

 

[TeresaT]

Thanks! Yeah. Definitely reached trace. Thought I'd never get there! I was leaving designs on the batter in the bowl before I decided it was good enough to pour. They disappeared quickly, but they were there.

 

[Arthur Dent]

At just about 2 months old, my castile is a very nice soap. I have been using a bar in the shower every day this week, and can report nice, plentiful, foamy lather, and still no snot. I really like it at this stage of cure. My skin seems to really like it, this might just be my favorite for the dry winter, though it is a tough choice between this and the 80% lard which I also really like.

 

[Arthur Dent]

5 month update:
Lots of nice bubbly lather, very nice soap. No snot.

 

[Seawolfe]

I have a small bar of 1+ year old castile that is super hard and I have been using at the sink for about 6 months I bet. The same one mentioned earlier in the thread actually....
Maybe because I only use it once a day, it's not near the shower, and it has a soap holder that drains super well - but I wash face and hands with it at least once a day, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I look for snot and there's no snot. I think it needs to soak up a bunch of water to get snotty.

 

[penelopejane]

I have a small bar of 1+ year old castile that is super hard and I have been using at the sink for about 6 months I bet. The same one mentioned earlier in the thread actually....
Maybe because I only use it once a day, it's not near the shower, and it has a soap holder that drains super well - but I wash face and hands with it at least once a day, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I look for snot and there's no snot. I think it needs to soak up a bunch of water to get snotty.

Hi Arthur and Seawolfe,
I am testing a theory. I am wondering if "snot" is related to the type of OO used.
I don't get snot on my Castile soap and I use EVOO, no fragrance but 1/2 tbs ppo of Manila honey.

Do you use EVOO?

 

[Seawolfe]

Do you use EVOO?

Never, I save that for cooking I use regular OO or pomace.

 

[penelopejane]

Never, I save that for cooking I use regular OO or pomace.

Oh well, there goes that theory!

Do you notice a difference between pomace and OO?

 

[Seawolfe]

Oh well, there goes that theory!

Do you notice a difference between pomace and OO?

Pomace seems to trace a little faster, and makes a whiter bar.

 

[penelopejane]

Pomace seems to trace a little faster, and makes a whiter bar.

But no "snot" difference?

I can't work out why I don't get "snot" and others (including a lot of experienced soapers) do. I guess I should just be happy I don't!

 

[Seawolfe]

No, I have yet to see snot I my castiles, regardless of the OO. I think it's just cause I keep the bars in use really dry. Or the water in Long Beach has anti snot properties? :-?

 

[cmzaha]

Here's my own snotty Castile. This picture was taken when the bar was 4-years old and just after I lathered it with my hands- very sparse and stringy/snotty lather. When lathered with a nylon pouf, though, the lather is quite copious and luscious- and I dare say even luxuriant. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of the pouf lather:

IrishLass

This looks very much like my 1 year old castile

 

[penelopejane]

No, I have yet to see snot I my castiles, regardless of the OO. I think it's just cause I keep the bars in use really dry. Or the water in Long Beach has anti snot properties? :-?

Yes, maybe it is the water!

 

[galaxyMLP]

I think it has to do with how long it sits in water... I have a 9 month old Castile that started with no snot but it was in a poorly draining dish. It turned to a pile of goop and now all I can use is the snot itself... It's pretty gross and the snot feeling doesn't usually bother me. I think that's why younger Castiles have more snot. When they are dry, they are really wonderful soaps and have no snottiness to them but they lather easily. I do love my Castiles.

 

[Obsidian]

Mine snots as soon as water touches it, even a nice hard dry bar gets snotty within a minute or so. Left a bar in a dish that didn't drain once, it turned into a giant blob of slime.

 

[IrishLass]

Like Obsidian's, mine turns to slime as soon as water touches it, too, whether they be 4-years old or 4 weeks old. They're not sitting in water either. In the soap pic of the snot from my 4-year old Castile above, the soap was 100% completely dry right before I lathered it in my hands for the pic.


IrishLass

 

[Arthur Dent]

All very interesting. This batch was made with tap water and "Daily Chef 100% Pure Olive Oil" from Sam's Club. I think I gave more details of the recipe earlier on in the thread. I have no idea why it doesn't snot like other folks' castiles do, guess I'll just be happy that it doesn't and use it, as it is very nice soap. Hopefully the next batch will be as good... I plan to make a bigger batch on or around New Year's Day to put back and let cure for several months like some of the other folks here do.

 

[Arthur Dent]

I think the moral of this story is to not avoid trying castile just because many say it is slimy and doesn't lather. Some of us don't get the slime, and do get nice lather, for reasons so far unknown. So make a small batch and let it age 4 months, try it, let it age another 4 months then try it again, etc. You might like it.


ETA:

Never mind that naive optimism, the REAL moral to this story is that olive oil from the grocery store probably isn't really olive oil. Dang it.