Whats so good about castille?

[squeakycleanuk]

I have read a little about Castille soap and liked the sound of it, as the idea of pureness and mildness appeals greatly, so I decided to go ahead and give it a try. However, after putting it through a soap calc I'm confused! It doesn't have any desirable qualities from what I can see, none of the figures are within the suggested range. If this is the case, why do people make it. It seems to be popular but how can that be if these figures are true. This is my soap calc, its 100% OO

SoapCalc © Recipe Name: Print Recipe Total oil weight500 Water as percent of oil weight38 % Super Fat/Discount5 % Lye Concentration25.3 %Water : Lye Ratio2.953:1 Sat : Unsat Ratio17 : 83 Iodine 85 INS 105 Fragrance Ratio0 Fragrance Weight 0 Gm IngredientPoundsOuncesGrams Water0.4196.702190Lye - NaOH0.1422.2764.349 #√Oil/Fat%PoundsOuncesGrams 1Olive Oil1001.10217.637500 Totals1001.10217.637500 Soap Bar Quality Suggested Range Your Recipe Hardness 29 - 54 17 Cleansing 12 - 22 0 Conditioning 44 - 69 82 Bubbly 14 - 46 0 Creamy 16 - 48 17 Iodine 41 - 70 85 INS 136 - 165 105 Lauric 0 Myristic 0 Palmitic 14 Stearic 3 Ricinoleic 0 Oleic 69 Linoleic 12 Linolenic 1 AdditivesNotes

 

[VanessaP]

This is why you will see the more experienced soapers say that you need to take the numbers from the lye calculators with a grain of salt. The calcs are programmed to think about it a specific way, they can't just realize "oh, well, its okay". Its just a number cruncher

Castile is a nice soap, good for those who like the most gentle soap they can get, like my mother and her psoriasis. However, for it to reach an optimal cure point, its 6 months, minimum, with many people not releasing until its been 1 year or more. Personally, I HATE Castile's lather. However, I HAVE used Castile with a nylon bath pouf and it is bubbles galore. Even making it as HP, you really should still let it cure a couple of months, I'd say 3 minimum IMO.

 

[squeakycleanuk]

Thank you Vanessa. I do keep seeing people on the forum say to take it with a grain of salt, so I'll keep that in mind. I think I'll still give it a go, just out of curiosity.

 

[bodhi]

Castile is a wonderful soap. If you really want to see what it is like, make a small batch and use a bar in a couple weeks. Then ...put the same bar away and dont touch it for at least a year! When you use it again, you might just be amazed. I cure mine for at least a year before i sell them.

 

[squeakycleanuk]

A year? I don't know if I'll be able to hold off that long, 6 months seemed long enough as it was maybe if I do a bigger batch, that way I'd be able to test some every month

 

[kazmi]

A year? I don't know if I'll be able to hold off that long, 6 months seemed long enough as it was maybe if I do a bigger batch, that way I'd be able to test some every month

I like your thinking! I have a hard time waiting 5-6 weeks.

 

[bodhi]

With a castile it really is worth the wait. If you use it too soon (IMO) its pretty much a waste of the olive oil.

 

[Ianto]

I have a batch that is almost 3 months old. I eye it every time I walk by, wondering if I should try it again. The last time I tried it I thought it was very conditioning but kinda slimy.

 

[bodhi]

I have a batch that is almost 3 months old. I eye it every time I walk by, wondering if I should try it again. The last time I tried it I thought it was very conditioning but kinda slimy.

give it a few more months

 

[dagmar88]

With a castile it really is worth the wait. If you use it too soon (IMO) its pretty much a waste of the olive oil.

Absolutely!
I've got some test bars lying around that are over 3 years old and better than ever

 

[lemontongue]

I think the lather is the castille blessing. It is silky and dense with softening oils from my own personal batches. This soap doesn't leave you feeling oily but it doesn't feel like the skin has been stripped at all either. It's like a light moisturizer even. It does take a long time to trace, cure, and the lather is a bit weak at best but it smells so creamy and earthy and it has a great history behind it.

 

[bodhi]

Absolutely!
I've got some test bars lying around that are over 3 years old and better than ever

Bars of gold those soaps are! Arent they stunning? There should really be a law against using/selling castiles that are less than at least a year old

added: with a punishment of being drawn and quartered...Right along side those who call anything other than 100% oo a castile!

 

[three_little_fishes]

I'm going to try a castile in the next few days. The 6 months will be a long wait. I'll just have to make other soap to pass the time!

 

[newlycrunchy]

For me- I made it as my first batch- just to see if I could do it. I found a recipe online that worked very well. The reason to do it was two fold for me. One: I have friends that pay money to buy Castile soap from the store- due to insentivities to additves, so this helps them out. Two- I can easily rebatch into what I would like it to be without a big pour. I just made a batch of liquid Castile soap from the plain castile soap I made. Turned out well! As for the curing- well- yeah, there's that aspect, but one can still use it before it's fully cured. I will save some of the bars from this batch and let sit for over the 6 months and note the difference. But I'm with you on the "I can't wait that long" train.

marie

 

[squeakycleanuk]

Well I went for it and made a batch today and yes it did take a long time to trace which I wasn't expecting because every other batch I've done so far traced really quick. Anyway, it looks and smells lovely, so I'm going to make more in a few weeks, so that even if i have to wait 6 months for this batch, there will be plenty to replenish and hopefully enough so that I can leave some for a year too

 

[mel z]

Make a batch just for waiting. Hide it in the back of a nice dry, room temperature closet. In a year, try it then. If you made enough, try again in 18 months, and so on. Once you get a good bit of soap rolling as cured, you will forget all about the hiding in waiting batch, or at least be okay with it waiting while you are using some of your more complex tried recipes, and believe me, the playing with recipes/ingredients happens very fast!