Marseille style soap

[pellidon]

This is my fourth batch after about a fifteen year break. I used Zany's no slime castille water as a starting point.

Olive oil (EVOO) 80%
Hemp oil 15%
Castor oil 5%
Total oil weight 1,000 g
0% super fat
Water:Lye 1.7:1 (230.3 g H2O, 135.4 g NaOH)
Spirulina 2 tsp, to make it more green.

Oil and Lye mixed at 110° F. It seemed to trace quickly. Bogged down my cheap stick blender.
I went with the Hemp oil and spirulina to keep that green hue I've seen in videos.
And now we wait. And shop for a better blender.

Almost an hour later and it's firm-ish. Hopefully it turns out well.

 

[lsg]

Nice-looking soap. We would love to see pictures of the bars.

 

[AliOop]

Pretty color, and welcome back to soaping!

 

[pellidon]

They were hard to cut after almost 48 hours. A bit soft and sticky at 24.

Cut one in the larger more traditional style. The rest thinner. Smells good and I didn't use any fragrance. These are going to be nice and hard. No slime off the small bit that I could feel.

 

[pellidon]

I think I might change this next time. 1-2% SF instead of 0 and skip the spirulina. If I did the zap test right, it's already zap free. Or my zap tester needs calibration.

 

[AliOop]

It's hard to mess up the zap test, so you should be good to go! May I make a recommendation? Wire cooking racks are not the best option for curing soap, unless you put some parchment paper or other non-reactive barrier between the soap and the rack. That black coating will be quickly eroded by the high alkalinity of fresh soap. That will expose the soaps to the metal underneath, which can cause DOS (a form of rancidity).

Some cooking racks are advertised as stainless steel, which would be a fine choice for curing soap, except that many of them have only a thin coating of stainless, with cheaper metal underneath. As the coating wears down from the alkaline soap, as well as the rigors of washing (esp in the high heat of dishwashers), you again risk exposure to the metals that can cause DOS.

I used to use parchment paper but have switched to inexpensive, washable shelf liner from the $$$ store.

 

[Iluminameluna]

Even better are silpats, the cheap ones you can buy from online stores. You're not going to be baking at high temps w/ them so don't worry about their rating. And you can wash them over & over again. Rinse, dry, repeat. And you're good to go.
I've been so sick over the last few months, repeatedly getting knocked down, that I'm feeling giddy w/ ideas. So please, don't mind me if I'm a bit overly enthusiastic !

 

[lsg]

I like the look of the soap bars. The color is pleasing and so are the dimensions. Wishing for smell-a-vision.