My first Castile Soap, second quessing myself.

[kimberlyk202100]

This is my first olive oil soap, no other oils will be added. I'm getting a great deal of knowledge from Scientific Soapmaking book by Kevin Dunn.

I tweaked my ingredients from internet videos of soapmakers. Since this soap will cure for many months to come; I don't want to mess this up too badly.

The items I'm not sure about:

Reducing the water ratio to 1.7:1
No superfat
3 percent of sodium lactate
No color, no fragrance (this book suggests getting a feel for 4 main oil types with plainness.)
(Don't even ask how unsure I am of next batch of Castor oil soap. I'm having fun but I don't like sloppy work.)

 

[Yooper]

I read someone’s blog years ago when they did 100% of about 10 different oils and the results. I’m sure someone has done 100% castor oil, so that may be worth looking for before spending the money on the 100% castor.

I’ve done lots of 100% olive oil though. I made a very gentle soap for a friend who had sensitive skin and for my grandkids when they were toddlers. It’s a great soap, and it gets very hard with aging, hard enough to pound nails. It should be cured for a long time, like 6 months or more, if possible but it’s great. I wouldn’t even add sodium lactate, as it’s unnecessary and may give a very hard even crumbly bar.

Why no superfat though? Do you not plan to use it as a body/hand soap? With 0 superfat, the tiniest miscalculation or using an olive oil that has some pomace vs virgin olive oil would make a lye-heavy soap. Since castile soap is so nice, and you’re making it, why not make it to use?

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Thanks for answering @Yooper
I've been thinking on what you wrote. I read that it can take up to 2 weeks before unmolding the olive oil soap. I only have 1 mold and have 3 weeks before summer college begins. I want to get the other two soaps curing before that. (Olive and Castor oil.)
I think I will change the superfat to 2 percent.
Thanks again.

 

[Yooper]

I’ve never waited 2 weeks, or even 2 days, to unmold castile soap. Especially if you gel, it’ll be ready to cut as soon as it’s as firm as cheddar cheese. 2% superfat is barely adequate for anything other than laundry soap- can I ask why you want to have such a little superfat in your soaps? Even though olive oil soaps are gentle, the superfat helps keep your skin from feeling tight and dry and stripping.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Okay I see what you are saying, it's not going to take more than a day or two. I'm glad we talked, I will change it.

 

[Yooper]

No need to change on what I say; it’s just that if you go to the trouble and expense, you might as well have a usable soap.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Yooper
I know I don't have to, but I came to the website for your thoughts. You know more on this subject than I do. I'm glad you helped me understand.
I would rather you help so I don't waste ingredients.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

@Yooper

I changed the soap, I will eventually make a Castile soap(just not today)
Most of the recipe I used had olive oil in it, but I wanted to add a harder oil. I used tallow and coconut, but there was so much olive oil that I didn't receive trace until over 5 hours later.

Thanks for your help again!

 

[Yooper]

5 hours to reach trace?!?! I’ve never heard of that. How do you mix your oils? I use an immersion blender (called a ‘stick blender’ too) and it takes a few minutes to reach trace.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

I know I know, I thought I didn't need it. Regular blender, stick blender...same thing. This is what I'm telling myself.

What does the stick blender have that my very old mixing blender doesn't? I had one in the 1990s and I wasnt impressed. So I guess I need this, I will get one before my next soap batch.

 

[Yooper]

You don’t want to beat air into the soap- although the first time I made goat’s milk soap about 15 years ago, I did use a regular mixer. Luckily, it was a large batch and the beaters remained under the batter’s top so it didn’t pick up that much air.

Just like with whipped cream- you WANT to beat air into the cream to make it puffy and light. It’s the opposite for soap- you want to thoroughly mix until trace, but not incorporate any air into it.

A blender would incorporate too much air, while an immersion blender is at the bottom and there is little air to be beat into the batter.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

So there possibly will be pockets of bubbles? Okay, I believe this is true. I noticed bubbles while mixing. Will I need to rebatch this?

 

[Yooper]

Probably not- if you don’t mind dealing with the air pockets. They really won’t harm the soap.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Okay thanks

 

[brujacoden]

I know I know, I thought I didn't need it. Regular blender, stick blender...same thing. This is what I'm telling myself.

What does the stick blender have that my very old mixing blender doesn't? I had one in the 1990s and I wasnt impressed. So I guess I need this, I will get one before my next soap batch.

The thing is that a stick mixer's primary function - soup making - is all about emusifying oils such as stock with a water base, and suspending fine particles of meat and vegetables in that emulsion. A stand blender (or food processor) is generally used to combine cocktails with ice, make smoothies (notably large particles despite the name) and cut dry goods into powder or slurry for later addition to other cooking.

A stand blender's output is always going to be much chunkier, and as Yooper has said, it'll have a lot more air dissolved in the final product. If you want to see this for yourself, pulse your blender when first combining the waters and oils and you'll see much larger oil "bubbles" and a lot more effervescence than you'll see in a video utilising a stick mixer even for a moment.

There are two big things to watch out for with stick mixers though - you'll probably want one with a stainless head rather than a plastic one as it'll hold up to the heat, yet-to-react lyes, other additives and general abuse for longer - and the duty cycle i.e. percentage of time it can operate vs. needing to rest to avoid overheating. As stick mixers are usually sealed units, all but the high-end commercial grade ones will come with instructions to use for a certain length of time then leave to rest.

I suspect (but this is NOT a recommendation! Seriously, it's all fun and games until someone electrocutes themselves, and I've had my fair share of jolts at ~240V) that punching some holes in the case around the commutator to allow for airflow would help, but it also comes with a high risk of damaging the unit while modifying, getting liquids inside the motor, and an ongoing risk of electric shock. And you really won't need to operate the mixer for very long anyway in any case, I had a batch of salt-water castile just about soap-on-a-stick for me the other day after a minute or so of stick mixing.

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Thanks for making suggestions on the stick blender, I probably wouldn't have known the plastic VS stainless steel blender until after buying a cheap plastic one.
I say this before even looking up the pricing, that could change things. I've wanted to make soap for 3 or 4 years now, and it's purely chemistry experience and hobby fun right now.
@brujacoden , thank you for your info and sharing your experience. I really appreciate.

 

[brujacoden]

...or you stick blender sucks!...

There was no stick mixer, just a regular freestanding blender

 

[kimberlyk202100]

Yes,, I didn't have a stick blender. After making very small batches I'm able to unmold same day. I bought a stick blender last week, love it.