Castile soap not setting up

[Cirafly24]

Last night, I made my first Castile soap...100% olive pomace, infused with chamomile and calendula. I used full water, and soaped at around 95 degrees (too cool?). I stirred...and stirred...and stirred...I used my stick blender for so long that I was afraid the motor would burn out. No trace.

After about an hour, it was the consistency of thin pudding, but still no discernible trace. I finally poured it into the mold, covered with plastic wrap, and wrapped it all in towels.

I checked on it this morning...no heat (my last two batches felt warm even through the towels), and still liquid. Checked on it when I got home from work, still liquid.

I used 2 oz of lye, 16 oz of oil, and 6 oz of water. No fragrance and no color.

Will it ever set up? What did I do wrong?

 

[IrishLass]

I totally empathize with your anxiety. The first 100% Castile I ever soaped was made with a full water amount and it took forever to set up. I would say that it wasn't until about 2 weeks after pour that it finally set up enough for me to even be able to unmold it. After that, it was another couple of weeks before I felt safe enough to cut it (it was really soft). In the end it turned out fine, but the 'end' did not arrive until many months had passed.

Needless to say I no longer make 100% Castiles with a full water amount. Nowadays I use a 33% lye solution and things happily progress at a more quick and reasonable pace.

Based on my own painfully slow expeience with 100% Castile soaped at a full water amount, I would say that the best you can do is just let time and patience do its thing, and then determine to use less water for your next batch of Castille.

IrishLass

 

[kelleyaynn]

I'd have to go back to my notes to check it out, but I think I may have even gone as low as 1.5:1 or 1:1 on my water:lye ratio when I made a castile soap. It did not take overly long to trace (I use a stick blender), and set-up reasonably well within a day or two. I also made a small (one pound) batch. The bars are still curing, so the jury is still out on how good the soap actually is.

 

[agriffin]

Unfortunately that is alot of water for 2 oz of lye for a castile soap.

I typically do a 50% solution (equal parts lye and water) for castile. Yours will be soft for quite awhile.

I would give it another go and use a stronger lye solution. Even if you do 2 oz lye and 3 oz water you'll get better results.

 

[chibilightangel]

When I made my castille soap 2 months ago, I used reduced water as suggested by members on here (though I can't remember how much at the moment) so it traced within a reasonable period. I put it into the fridge to prevent gel and but it stayed liquid/soft for at least 24h, if not more before hardening up. by 'liquid' for 24h, it was up to heavy trace by then, but if I were to have tipped the mold over, it would have slowly poured our light custard of mayonaise. I think I took it out of the fridge after 48h and then left it room temp for another 2-3 days before cutting.

 

[Cirafly24]

Whew! I feel a lot better now, knowing that it may not be totally ruined. Thank you for the advice! Next time I will definitely use less water. In the meantime, I'll just leave it alone and hope that it will turn out ok eventually. When I checked it this morning, it's still VERY soft, but it's not liquid anymore, so that's something!

Has anyone else made castile infused with chamomile and calendula? It smells kind of like a bakery!

 

[Cirafly24]

I think it separated in the mold I checked on it yesterday, and there was a layer of oil sitting on the top, and the rest of the soap looks very mottled.

I'm going to leave it alone for a few weeks to see what it does, but I may end up having to toss it.

I'll try again in a few weeks with less water!

 

[IrishLass]

I think it separated in the mold I checked on it yesterday, and there was a layer of oil sitting on the top, and the rest of the soap looks very mottled.

I'm going to leave it alone for a few weeks to see what it does, but I may end up having to toss it.

I'll try again in a few weeks with less water!

You'd be surprised- it may end up perfectly fine when all is said and done. I've had a few seeping batches myself, but I left them alone and the oil reaborbed back in. Let us know how it goes!

IrishLass

 

[Lindy]

My first batch was a Castille as well - to this day the smell of that soap as I'm making it brings that magic back for a moment.

I make my Castille with warmed oil and a 40% lye concentration which allows it to cure out faster and be ready to unmold the next day.

How much oil is sitting on top and is the soap below hard or still liquid?

 

[Cirafly24]

It's just a thin layer of oil...the soap below is firm (not liquid), but not hard enough to unmold yet. It looks mottled white and yellow. It smells oddly like banana bread. :?:

 

[Lindy]

Then just let it sit and do it's thing. In the meantime why not try your next batch of soap?