So, after a half dozen batches of CP soap, I decided that I was ready for (true) Castile .
I used SoapCalc.net to figure out how much lye to use, with a 40% lye solution and a 3% superfat (I was already feeling impatient with the 4 -6 month cure period, so I thought, less water/superfat, less cure time). All the warnings about too strong a lye solution almost scared me off, but then I calculated the recipe I've been using (out of a book) which is 35%.
So, fine. I went ahead and did it, and it looks beautiful . I tested it after 24 hours and it was pH of 7.5-8.0 (WIN!!). When I cut it, it was quite hard and crumbly. Which I was NOT expecting - this is the hardest (i.e. firmest, not most difficult) soap I've made, even though I've used 60-70% solid fats previously.
That got me to thinking: Can you use too little water? Because I could have used less water than I did. And I'm not really looking safety-wise, I know it's more caustic; I'm looking soap-quality-wise.
If I could make a lye solution of, say, 55-60%, would that make the same quality soap with a faster cure time? Or would it mess up the soap, or just degrade the quality? (This is, of course, considering that I'm using a proper NOT-lye-heavy recipe).
I used SoapCalc.net to figure out how much lye to use, with a 40% lye solution and a 3% superfat (I was already feeling impatient with the 4 -6 month cure period, so I thought, less water/superfat, less cure time). All the warnings about too strong a lye solution almost scared me off, but then I calculated the recipe I've been using (out of a book) which is 35%.
So, fine. I went ahead and did it, and it looks beautiful . I tested it after 24 hours and it was pH of 7.5-8.0 (WIN!!). When I cut it, it was quite hard and crumbly. Which I was NOT expecting - this is the hardest (i.e. firmest, not most difficult) soap I've made, even though I've used 60-70% solid fats previously.
That got me to thinking: Can you use too little water? Because I could have used less water than I did. And I'm not really looking safety-wise, I know it's more caustic; I'm looking soap-quality-wise.
If I could make a lye solution of, say, 55-60%, would that make the same quality soap with a faster cure time? Or would it mess up the soap, or just degrade the quality? (This is, of course, considering that I'm using a proper NOT-lye-heavy recipe).