Are all castile soaps slimy?

[adoptapitbull]

I made two castile batches back in April. I did an 80% OO, 10% CO, 10% canola/soybean blend recipe. Finally gave them a try in the last few days. Made one with water instead of GM, and the other with GM and coffee with coffee grounds. The one with water is pretty decent. The one with coffee is super slimy...like, hard to wash off slimy. Leaves a lot of goop behind on the tub when you set the bar down.

I can't imagine that it's the coffee making it slimier than usual. What gives??

 

[MissMori]

Yep, castile is slimy. You can reduce the slime a bit by doing one of the hot process. I always put mine in the oven at 150F for about 4 hours after pouring into the mold. It will darken if you used milk or a sugar in it.

 

[IrishLass]

I can't imagine that it's the coffee making it slimier than usual. What gives??

The 'slime' is typical of Castile soaps. It comes from the high oleic acid content of olive oil. It's one of the most soluble of the fatty acids, which in high OO bar soaps tends to transform into a colloidal suspension in the presence of water. You'll see the suspension as a coating of gel on the surface of your olive oil soaps when wet from bathing. If you touch your finger to the gel and then slowly pull your finger away, you'll see strands of goo connecting your finger to the soap. When dry, though, it reverts back to a non-gel state. A well-draining soapdish is an absolute must for Castiles.


IrishLass

 

[krissy]

I can't imagine that it's the coffee making it slimier than usual. What gives??

The 'slime' is typical of Castile soaps. It comes from the high oleic acid content of olive oil. It's one of the most soluble of the fatty acids, which in high OO bar soaps tends to transform into a colloidal suspension in the presence of water. You'll see the suspension as a coating of gel on the surface of your olive oil soaps when wet from bathing. If you touch your finger to the gel and then slowly pull your finger away, you'll see strands of goo connecting your finger to the soap. When dry, though, it reverts back to a non-gel state. A well-draining soapdish is an absolute must for Castiles.
i KNEW i had read that before but couldn't remember who had explained it so well. i was looking for it before and am so glad you said it again.

IrishLass

 

[carebear]

CP or HP, olive oil soap gets slimy. Loooooooooong cure, good draining dishes, soaping with less water to start with all help both. But overall, oleic acid soaps just are what they are regardless of the method.

IME. IMO.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

there was a poster here once who said that he had been having problems with coffee soap (not sure if castile) and he thought it was due to the acidity of the coffee.

Could the acid levels affect the slimyness?