I usually don't take requests...

[DirtyKnuckles]

...and with my singing voice I NEVER get requests. But someone heard me talking about making tallow soap and asked if I would like to try making a castile soap. At first I was hesitant, but after reading some stuff about how castile soaps were valued in colonial times, I am interested.

I have two requests, fellow Saponiphiles:
1) Best recommendations for castile bar soap, simplest are best.
2) Is Lira Olive Pomace Oil from Websaurant ($14.99/gallon) as good as the soapmaking reviewers say? I mean this is CHEAP. Same product shows up on Amazon for $35.

What say you?

 

[Misschief]

...and with my singing voice I NEVER get requests. But someone heard me talking about making tallow soap and asked if I would like to try making a castile soap. At first I was hesitant, but after reading some stuff about how castile soaps were valued in colonial times, I am interested.

I have two requests, fellow Saponiphiles:
1) Best recommendations for castile bar soap, simplest are best.
2) Is Lira Olive Pomace Oil from Websaurant ($14.99/gallon) as good as the soapmaking reviewers say? I mean this is CHEAP. Same product shows up on Amazon for $35.

What say you?

Try Zany's recipe. You can find it here: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zanys-no-slime-castile.72620/

 

[shunt2011]

Castile is 100% Olive oil. Pomace will work. It needs a really long cure. 1 year at least to be okay soap.

 

[DirtyKnuckles]

Thanks Misschief. Skimmed the whole 12 pages of conversation and am suitably inundated with information. And kinda loving the look of KiwiMoose's soda ashy molded bars, love the aged denim look.

 

[Clarice]

@Zany_in_CO recipie is great. Very happy with results. I looked at Webrestaurant and shipping was shocking. Have you checked?

 

[penelopejane]

I make a lot of pure castile soap. I use EVOO. Some people in the US use Kirklands EVOO at costco which is good apparently. Not all olive oils are the same.
I use 1 tsp sea salt ppo and citric acid.
I wouldn't use pomace but some people do.

 

[earlene]

I have not tried Zany's recipe as yet. But I usually just use OO any kind at all will do nicely, IMO. Some prefer to avoid pomace due to the chemicals used in processing, though, so that's up to you.

For me, I often mix 50% pomace with 50% regular OO (I don't use EVOO because it that's expensive here and I use it for cooking). My SF is usually in the 3-5% range and my lye calculator tells me how much lye solution I need. My lye concentration has been anywhere from 28% to 40%. For your first Castile, I'd suggest a lye concentration of around 33%, but that's up to you. Warping did occur with only one of my high water Castiles, but that's because I cut those bars thinner than I normally like. When I cut the bars thicker, I don't get warping during cure, no matter what lye concentration I use.

I have not purchased anything from WebRestaurant, so cannot comment on their products, but I'd say give it a try and see what you think. I'd start with a smaller batch first to get a feel for it. My test batches tend to be one pound soaps (enough for about 3 or 4 bars of soap depending on how I cut them.