Considering Castile

[Guest]

I haven't made a castille soap before and I just ran a recipe of 90% olive oil and 5% shea butter through soapcalc.com. The fact that it has 0 cleansing and bubbly qualities kind of put me off making it. I've only recently started obsessing over soapcalc qualities and I hope it's not a bad thing but realize that I can't live my life by what soapcalc says. I was thinking about adding sugar in the hope of making it bubbly.

Raaamble.

So if soapcalc says it has 0 cleansing, does this mean it won't get rid of dirt?

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[Guest]

All my soap recipes I like are around 5-7 cleansing score on soap calc, and I feel clean

 

[vivcarm]

I make 100%OO soap infused with calendula for my Dad, he loves it, it is very gentle, it will need a long time to cure, and it can get slimy when wet, however it is a lovely bar of soap. I would give it a go, and since I have recently started using water at 33% instead of soap calc's 38%, it traces and hardens a lot quicker. I wouldn't go back to the 38% on this soap. Give it a go and post pics!
HTH

 

[sweetcreekherbs]

Hi

I, too, make an oo soap as a standard in my inventory. It is awesome soap. And, it cleans awesomely. I think it cleans more than most other soaps.

It just doesn't lather like other soaps with coconut and castor oil. I give it 2 extra weeks to cure. But, I have noticed the longer it cures (the more water evaporates out), the more it does lather. It is a very gentle soap.

 

[xraygrl]

Ummm, 90% + 5% i= only 95%.

If you do 90% olive, 5% shea butter, and 5% castor it should be fine on the lather. Never mind the numbers on soapcalc, it will make a very mild gentle soap. And do a 33% lye solution

 

[Guest]

Ummm, 90% + 5% i= only 95%.

If you do 90% olive, 5% shea butter, and 5% castor it should be fine on the lather. Never mind the numbers on soapcalc, it will make a very mild gentle soap. And do a 33% lye solution

oops I meant 95% and 5%.

Thank you for all your replies, I'm now feeling a bit more positive about it. And yeah, I'll probably add some castor oil in now that it's been mentioned.

 

[jarvan]

I wish I could remember who gave me this advice, but I was told that I should shoot to keep my cleansing to under 17 (even though SoapCalc gives a range of 12-22). I guess this advice was so that I end up with a milder bar, less drying to the skin? I don't think I would worry about the "cleansing" factor too much as the act of applying soap to your skin and rinsing it off should count as cleansing in its own way.

 

[heartsong]

x

my suggestion would be to NOT use virgin or extra virgin oil. look for the label that just says "olive oil" or if buying in bulk "A grade". this is NOT pomace, either. i have had better results with less separation.

also, i like to add a little coconut oil, which helps speed us thru the sapponification process, giving the lye something to "sink it's teeth into". it gives the soap a little more lather.

i use anywhere from a 25%-40% coconut oil, with a lye discount of 8-10% and a 2:1 water/lye ratio (33%) but you can even cut the water more if you like to (40%)

olive oil based soaps are lovely!

 

[SoapPoopette]

My cleansing percentage according to SoapCalc is between 0% and 7%. My family and friends love the fact that it cleans so well and still does not leave their skin dry.

SoapPoopette :wink:

 

[Guest]

I made a 100% OO with a 10% superfat of castor and I love it , it has a soft creamy lather that feels great.

Kitn

 

[Guest]

ooo so many ideas 8)

 

[IrishLass]

I have a lovely 100% OO soap that I hated at first. The lather (if you could call it that) was so slimy in my bare hand that it was like washing with goopy egg whites. When I use it with a facial cloth, though, the lather turns into something quite different- it feels so scrumptiously rich and creamy with beautiful, tiny bubbles.

IrishLass

 

[Guest]

What about 80% OO 10% Shea butter and 10% Castor oil? would that still be classed as castille? I really hate the thought of slimy soap.

 

[Val]

I would think it would not........ Castile is 100% OO..... but it is an Olive oil type soap when it is mostly Olive Oil. Not sure if you could call it Castile.

Val

 

[xraygrl]

What about 80% OO 10% Shea butter and 10% Castor oil? would that still be classed as castille? I really hate the thought of slimy soap.

That would be what we soapers call a Bastille (Ba**rdized castille) :wink:
Although it it really isn't a full on castille, it would still be an acceptionally mild soap. I call something like that a castille "type" even though I know it's not 100% olive, it would be mostly olive.
Go ahead and try the 80/10/10, I'm sure it will make a very nice soap.

 

[Emilee]

i have made soap using lots of ingred for over 2 years, and only made my first Olive and Castor bar just not long ago. I love it. Great bubbles, and a nice creaminess. Can't hurt to try it once and see if you like it.

 

[IrishLass]

I would think it would not........ Castile is 100% OO..... but it is an Olive oil type soap when it is mostly Olive Oil. Not sure if you could call it Castile.

Val

Tell that to Dr. Bronner's soaps. I have a bar of their 'Pure Castile Soap'. The first ingredient is saponified coconut oil, followed by organic palm and then organic olive oil. It also has hemp oil and jojoba oil in it.

Then there is Kirk's Castile soap which has no olive oil in it at all.

The FTC actually brought a lawsuit againsts Kirk's in 1924 over the issue of not having olive oil in their 'Castile' soap. Here is a link that talks about the lawsuit that also includes a statement from Kirk's:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/rv97235v215823u9/

Unfortunately, the article in the link doesn't tell of the final outcome of the lawsuit, but based on the fact that Kirk's still sells their famous coconut soap labeled with the word 'Castile' on it all these years later (as well as Dr. Bronner's and others), I'm thinking some kind of a decision in favor of Kirk's must have been reached at some point or something, although I must say that I did notice that Kirk's modern-day label says, 'KIRK'S Original Coco CASTILE". I wonder if Kirk's had to add the term 'coco' to their label as a result of the lawsuit or if it always had 'coco' on it. Does anyone know definitively?

On the Kirk's site there is a FAQ where the question is asked, "What does Castile mean?" The answer they give in response is this: "Today, Castile refers to soaps made without animal fats."

I always label my 'Bastiles' as Castile-types with the % of OO I use, i.e., '55% Olive Oil Castile-type'. It's a mouthfull, but that's what I do until I can come up with something better. I personally don't like the word Bastile on my labels. It's more trouble than its worth to try to explain the term to people, and in the back of my mind the term 'Bastile' always makes me wonder if people would think I'm making French prison soap or something.

IrishLass

 

[topcat]

@ IrishLass!!!

I like the idea of listing the OO % on a label. I have recently made a bastille with 75% OO 20% CO and 5% jojoba. Target market is sensitive skin with a 'first do no harm' approach. My target market will know what is good for them so the OO % will be appreciated methinks. Thanks for the idea!

Tanya

 

[zeoplum]

That would be what we soapers call a Bastille (Ba**rdized castille) :wink:

Seriously? I've been wondering what that word meant. You wouldn't just be pulling this newbie's leg, would ya?

zeo