Has anyone opened their NY Eve Castile?

[MzMolly65]

With New Year's Eve creeping up I was curious about mine and opened them up

I made two batches .. a 30% water/ 5% SF batch poured into 2" pvc pipes, and then because they took so long to dry enough to cut I tried a 20% water/ 2% SF poured into round cavity silicone.

The 20% water batch all have DOS

Boooooo!

I let them all cure for about 8 weeks or more before wrapping them in paper towel and placing them in a shoe box with air holes. Then I put them away on a shelf for the year.

I just tried the batch of 30% on my hands and absolutely HATE them. They feel good as a bar; smooth and hard to the touch, they lather nice with lots and lots of small silky bubbles but my hands are red and dry after. I have extremely sensitive skin so I thought Castile would be a great soap but I'll stick to my oatmilk, they always feel nice and don't take a whole year to cure.

*is disappointed*

 

[boyago]

That sucks. I'm sorry.

I cheated and used mine last month. They are pretty nice. When I first use a new bar they do get that tick clear jelly (much like the pictures from the super lye castile thread) when they are wet but it seems to go away after the first few of uses. I will be doing it again this year.

Did you wrap both of your versions in paper towels before storage or just the one with DOS?

 

[Saponista]

Did you make plain Castille or scent it? I am interested to know if scent holds for a year.

 

[Obsidian]

My first batch of castile got terrible DOS and it dries me out terrible, I'll never make it again.

 

[MzMolly65]

Interesting to read the various responses. I wrapped all of mine in paper towel. Basically I treated them identical, the only difference was the recipe and the molds.

Disappointing is the best description, especially after such a long wait.

 

[IrishLass]

So, is this an annual tradition, or just a one-time experiment? I take it the Castile's were made on New Year's Eve, or thereabouts? Sounds like fun! I'll have to get in on this tradition!

I myself recently used up my very last bar of Castile. It was a vintage bar that I made back around 2010 or 11 or so. I need to get on the ball and make some more!

The bar was awesome, by the way. Of course, it still formed the typical colloidal gel (i.e., slimy snot) on the surface when wet and that disappears when dry, but otherwise, it was rock-hard and it lathered up uber luxuriantly with my nylon pouf (I make it a point to never use my Castile's without one).

The scent had faded to practically nothing, though (Pink Jasmine from Southern Soapers). This time, I'll make it with something more long-lasting.

I'm the only one that uses them around here, so I just make up a large batch that lasts me through a few years' time.

I store mine unwrapped in a cardboard, baseball-card storage box. So far, I've never gotten any DOS on them. I live in a very dry climate, though, which helps.

MzMolly- by 20% water, do you mean a 20% lye solution (lye as per water), or 20% water as per oils?


IrishLass

 

[boyago]

So, is this an annual tradition, or just a one-time experiment? I take it the Castile's were made on New Year's Eve, or thereabouts? Sounds like fun! I'll have to get in on this tradition!

Last year around this time castile was going around the board. I was thinking about making it a tradition for myself and was about to post a challenge when Roseb beat me to it. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=41098

I'm doing it again but it seems there were some DOS gremlins about for a few of the others and some "meh" worthy reactions from others. I like mine and will go again.

 

[MzMolly65]

MzMolly- by 20% water, do you mean a 20% lye solution (lye as per water), or 20% water as per oils?

Water as percent of oil weight

 

[boyago]

Water as percent of oil weight

Same oil in both batches?

 

[seven]

i've used mine a long time ago i just used it again this afternoon coz i saw this thread, and it felt really nice, good lather and all. no DOS, fortunately. mine is just plain water castile, no scent. i just left it on one of the shelves on the curing rack.

 

[Obsidian]

I was inspired so I made a small batch today. Only one pound, no scent or color, made with pomace. I did use 10% SF though, lets see if these do better then my first castile attempt.

 

[GrantLee63]

The batch I made 12/31/13 was with 38% water and SF'd 10%. I thought it came out fantastic with no DOS, extremely mild, and LOTS of fine dense bubbles (early bars used were over-the-top slime but that all went away after about 9 months). I did have a LOT of bar shrinkage however. The batch I made yesterday was with 30% water and SF'd 1%. We'll see how this year's batch compares ...

 

[snappyllama]

I am planning on making mine this week. I'd like to fragrance it. Any ideas which of the following would hold up for the year?

WSP (haven't smelled any of these yet - still waiting on order - did I mention I went on a FO bender yesterday):
Apple Jack N' Peel Type
Cucumber Melon
Drakkar Noir Type
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
Relaxation
Wild Honeysuckle
Sandalwood
Lemon Verbena Mint
Spa Tonic
Coconut Lime Verbena
Cedarwood Sage - EO & FO Blend
Black Raspberry Vanilla
Beach Type
Burmese Wood Type
Oakmoss Sandalwood
Monkey Farts
Karma
Bamboo Lotus
Lime EO

NG:
Litsea Cubeba EO
Agave Lime
Vanilla Bean
Sweet Grass
Pumpkin Apple Butter
Indian Sandalwood
Hummingbird

BB:
Champagne
Lavender 40/42 EO
Clove EO
Orange 10 EO

Daystar:
Emperor's Love
Goldilocks
Shelter
Toffee Sugar Crunch
Ginger Lime
Sweet pumpkin
Ultimate Vanilla

 

[boyago]

Dratts! I forgot to make mine. I guess new years day will have to do this year. Was also thinking about making a stamp to stamp them 2014. Most of mine from last year went into stockings and gifts.

 

[CaraBou]

I made two batches a year ago with the group. One was 100% OO & uncolored, and one had 5% castor & green clay. Both had a small amount of lavender EO. I could have sworn I found a few dos on one or more of the 100% bars several months back, but tonight I found only one spot on one bar -- and it scraped right off. I must have been paranoid! Either that or I used them/gave them away. To date I've only used one bar of each batch, and gave away 1 or 2. I liked the ones I used (must have been about 6 months in) but I didn't leave notes to look back on today. Anyway, it's perfect timing now to restock my shower so I'll report back again soon.

 

[boyago]

I made two batches a year ago with the group. One was 100% OO & uncolored, and one had 5% castor & green clay. Both had a small amount of lavender EO. I could have sworn I found a few dos on one or more of the 100% bars several months back, but tonight I found only one spot on one bar -- and it scraped right off. I must have been paranoid! Either that or I used them/gave them away. To date I've only used one bar of each batch, and gave away 1 or 2. I liked the ones I used (must have been about 6 months in) but I didn't leave notes to look back on today. Anyway, it's perfect timing now to restock my shower so I'll report back again soon.

Did the lavender stick at all?

 

[IrishLass]

Oh happy day! I found 2 vintage bars of 100% Castile that I made back in May of 2010. I thought for sure that I had used up the last bar a few months ago, but apparently not! WooHoo! :grin:

I used it in the shower today and it had such lovely 'oomphy' lather with nice bubblage when using my facial cloth to work up the lather, but lathering it up in my hand was a whole 'nuther story (which is always typical for me with 100% Castile) -it was goopy, slimy, snotty, egg-white city. When I went to put the soap back into the dish after lathering it in my hands, several strings of snotty goop followed my hand as I pulled it away from the soap, and the 'strings' of goo hung down in the same way that saliva hangs down from the mouth of a drooling dog.

It was superfatted at 5% and scented with Fresh Picked Strawberries from Southern Soapers, which had totally disappeared to nothing in the soap, but that didn't matter to me because it felt so good when lathered with my cloth.

IrishLass

 

[CaraBou]

^^I couldn't have said it better, Lass, even for only a one year old soap! It's actually kind of disappointing knowing it doesn't get much better at 4 1/2 years. That's a long time to hang on to a soap!

boyago, the lavender is there but it's pretty faint. I actually didn't use much to begin with because I thought I might use these as facial soap (which I have since entirely given up on, for all soap). Plus it was an EO that I just wasn't too crazy about. Bottom line, the bars don't smell particularly good, and in fact, smell a little like, well, old soap. If I were to make it make it again, I'd use a better lavender and more of it (7% maybe?). Or just leave it out entirely. Sorry this isn't real helpful!

I also want to follow up on what I said about dos. I got my magnifier out last night and inspected under good light every bar from both batches. I found only one bar with two tiny spots. They are so faint they wouldn't photograph well, but they are orangish so I assume that's what they are. I still think my memory is correct though and that I did use &/or give away the the other bars that had it (and it was more pronounced, but still not horrifying). I stored them all together so I am confident it wasn't "contagious." I'm grateful for that -- I'd hate to store this for so long and end up with spots in the end!

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Yep, what Irish Lass and CaraBou said! Snot Slimy! Made mine with Goatmilk! 5% super fat and Lavendar EO, pour in a wooden mold, sculptured the top alittle and sprinkled with silver and Lavendar Glitter, covered with plastic but did not insulate.
I got a some ash but I think it adds to the beauty.
Boyago I only put 2 oz of EO in 52 oz of oil my sniffer is not so good but I don't think I smell anything.

 

[GrantLee63]

Although I experienced slime in various degrees when using samples throughout the course of the year (younger = more slime), any sliminess was completely gone after nine months. Last years' batch was my very first Castile (not 'bastile'), and I liked it so much that I doubled the amount I made this year.