Hard castille

[fatfacedcharlie]

I've mainly been making shaving soaps, but since I now have enough to last me for about 32 years I decided to have a go at bath soaps. One of my favourites is 70% olive oil and 30% which has a 10% lye discount. This one stays soft for ages, even after 6 weeks curing I can still put a thumbprint in it without much effort. Today I made a 100% olive oil soap with a 5% lye discount and it was hard enough to unmould after a couple of hours, and now it's cooled down it's rock hard. I hp'd them both, and used a similar amount of water. Does anyone know why the castile is harder than the one with coconut oil in? I can't figure it out :eh:

 

[Obsidian]

I don't know why this happens but from what I've seen and read, its normal. Castile is a very hard soap, my first batch of it also hardend quickly, I barely got it cut in time.
I'd love to see pics of yours once its been cut. I've not seen it HP before.

 

[sistrum]

The amount of super fat will make a difference. But six weeks is a long time. Did you use exactly the same amount of water? Are you sure your olive oil is real olive oil? Did you cook one longer than the other? Very strange!

 

[Obsidian]

Any idea how high you can go with superfat and still have a hard bar? Mine is 5%

 

[bodhi]

It has to do with the properties of the oils. Hydrogen bonds and such. Castile does harden up pretty quick though. Mine are usually rock hard in a couple hours too. Im wondering about your 70/30 though. Seems to me 6 weeks is a little long for it to still be that soft. Was it an oils and lye only batch, and only one batch?

 

[bodhi]

Afterthought... and only because youre a shaving soap guru.. did you accidentally use koh?

 

[fatfacedcharlie]

The amount of super fat will make a difference. But six weeks is a long time. Did you use exactly the same amount of water? Are you sure your olive oil is real olive oil? Did you cook one longer than the other? Very strange!

I've just checked my notes, and I used 10mls less water in the castile, 190g vs 200g for 650g of oils. It was EVOO (only because it was on offer in the shop, and cost less than pomace or regular olive oil). They were cooked at the same temp (I don't have a crock pot so I do them in the oven) for a similar time. I must admit I don't tend to time them, just cook them until they've gelled. I'll post a photo tomorrow when I've found my camera.

 

[fatfacedcharlie]

Afterthought... and only because youre a shaving soap guru.. did you accidentally use koh?

Shaving soap guru? I wish! I will admit that I do find it hard to resist adding a dash of KOH to any soap I make. Just using NaOH is like having a gin and tonic without a slice of lemon :wink:

 

[savonierre]

In my experience that is the nature of castile sometimes. It can be rock hard or soft, I use the same recipe and ingredients every time..

 

[bodhi]

Shaving soap guru? I wish! I will admit that I do find it hard to resist adding a dash of KOH to any soap I make. Just using NaOH is like having a gin and tonic without a slice of lemon :wink:

Yeah well sorry, If you have enough self made shaving soap to last you 32 years (assumption that because you calculated the 32 years it is also good enough to keep), you qualify as a shaving soap guru in my book.

There you go, you added koh, problem solved. Aren't i good at this :clap: LOL

 

[fatfacedcharlie]

I don't know why this happens but from what I've seen and read, its normal. Castile is a very hard soap, my first batch of it also hardend quickly, I barely got it cut in time.
I'd love to see pics of yours once its been cut. I've not seen it HP before.

Here is a pic of my HP castile:

 

[Obsidian]

That looks nice, not lumpy at all. Thanks for posting