castor oil recipe...

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nickbar

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Hi to all!

I tried a 6% castor oil on a recipe and it works really great giving some awesome bubbles but....

After 4 weeks the soap is really sticky when it comes to contact with water... Do you think its too high on castor oil???
I suppose that i could use some lard or tallow but they are really difficult to found on my region...

Here is my recipe..

I also used some dry levander flowers but i dont think it matters on the stickiness of the soap...

cast.jpg
 
Last edited:
It's going to be sticky/stringy. You've used mostly Olive oil and it will take a good long cure. Your measurements are very difficulty to read the way it was posted.
 
So in order to reduce a bit the curing time do i have to use hard oils??? Such as palm oil?

for example 60% olive, 20 % coconut and 20% palm oil? I forgot to mention that i used an amount of 2% Sodium Lactate on the total recipe
 
I can always tell a bar high in olive oil, to me any bar over 40% OO is sticky. The 6% castor is really not high but most people keep it around 5%. As far as I know castor add solubility to the soap so it can bubble it does not lend direct bubbles. The low hardness number is just the OO, but OO does result in a hard bar in actuality. Even with 1 yr cure time I still find OO soap stick and stringy so it is one of my least favorite oils
 
So in order to reduce a bit the curing time do i have to use hard oils??? Such as palm oil?

for example 60% olive, 20 % coconut and 20% palm oil? I forgot to mention that i used an amount of 2% Sodium Lactate on the total recipe
Still too much olive, IMO. I don't go much above 30% for a general-purpose bar.
 
I love castiles and bastilles, but they are better after a longer cure. Put it away and check it after 3 months, 6 months, 9 months... My year old 100% OO is my favorite facial soap, but some people really dislike that thin lather.

Yes you can use soaps with palm and lard and tallow closer to the 4-6 week cure mark.
 
I agree with Seawolfe- that looks like a very nice Bastile/Castile-type formula. It's going to be very nice after a 3-month or longer cure. This is just me, but I personally find nothing wrong with your 6% amount of castor. I have a similar formula that uses with 80% olive, 10% castor and 10% coconut and it cures out lovely for me, but it takes some months to really be its best. That's the way it is with high % olive oil soaps- you just have to get used to hunkering down and waiting it out for a bit longer.


IrishLass :)
 
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