My new Castile Soap

[cmzaha]

Poured a new castile soap last night that was 0 superfat, 39% lye concentration (20.966% water to oil in soap calc), with 100% pomace. Was tired last night and went to bed earlier than usual instead of checking on the firmness, well it was like a rock this morning with no zap.I could barely cut it with my wire cutter and I thought for sure I would pop a couple of wires, but thankfully it did not, and did not have to bother the hubby to fix wires. I imagine this is going to be a really nice soap in 6 months to a year. Next time I will cut much sooner!

 

[Pilar]

Poured a new castile soap last night that was 0 superfat, 39% lye concentration (20.966% water to oil in soap calc), with 100% pomace. Was tired last night and went to bed earlier than usual instead of checking on the firmness, well it was like a rock this morning with no zap.I could barely cut it with my wire cutter and I thought for sure I would pop a couple of wires, but thankfully it did not, and did not have to bother the hubby to fix wires. I imagine this is going to be a really nice soap in 6 months to a year. Next time I will cut much sooner!

Congratulations

 

[neeners]

oh wow! pictures?!?!?

 

[cmzaha]

will post some a little later. They got a little chippie on the bottom edge from being so hard

 

[cmzaha]

The swirls are made with Australian Olive Clay from New Directions. No fragrance added. Of course technically this is probably not a pure castile with the addition of the clay

 

[Ellacho]

Wow, they are so pretty~~~

Cmzaha, can I ask you a question? why did you 0 superfat? I know this means you would need a long cure time. I don't think you do, but do you normally 0 superfat your soaps or just castile?

 

[cmzaha]

I usually do 2-3% superfat depending on my recipe. I hate the feel of oil in my soap and my plumbing just cannot tolerate the extra oil in high superfatted soap. I also do not shower with oily scrubs. Most soap I make for use to use at home is 0% superfat. I have a very mild cleansing soap I make and usually superfat at 2%, well I forgot to change the default 5% on my last batch and I hate the feel of the soap. To me it does not feel like it rinses off. I made my blind test soap for the swap and the superfat I was assigned I could feel the oil...yuck! As for my olive oil soap I have always let them cure for at least 6 months and with 0% superfat I do not find them as slimy even in the beginning. I tried one I just cut and it already lathers quite well for OO although I cannot say the feel is great yet, but will be in 5 or 6 months.

 

[Ellacho]

I usually do 2-3% superfat depending on my recipe. I hate the feel of oil in my soap and my plumbing just cannot tolerate the extra oil in high superfatted soap. I also do not shower with oily scrubs. Most soap I make for use to use at home is 0% superfat. I have a very mild cleansing soap I make and usually superfat at 2%, well I forgot to change the default 5% on my last batch and I hate the feel of the soap. To me it does not feel like it rinses off. I made my blind test soap for the swap and the superfat I was assigned I could feel the oil...yuck! As for my olive oil soap I have always let them cure for at least 6 months and with 0% superfat I do not find them as slimy even in the beginning. I tried one I just cut and it already lathers quite well for OO although I cannot say the feel is great yet, but will be in 5 or 6 months.

Thanks for your explanation! I see. It's interesting that you don't want the extra oil in soap. Okay, I should try to make o% superfat castile, too just to compare it with my 5% superfat castile.

 

[engblom]

I am another one not liking extra oil in soap. I have made a few soaps with excess lye and then washed away that excess just to have exactly 0% SF. The whole process of salting out during the washing will make the soap milder because of the salt content. (unless you have used a lot of coconut oil as coconut soap still washes well despite of salt).
Most soaps will not lather well in salty water and when the lather goes down, so goes the cleansing also in my experience.

 

[cmzaha]

I have also salted out soap and it does make a very nice soap. I figure at 0% there will still be a level of superfat since lye is not 100%. I have gone as low as -3% with the lye I use and had no problems. But I think one just has to do testing and use lye from the same supplier. The COA from my local supplier (Gallade Chem) says it averages 98% but it was not a new COA

 

[seven]

nice one, Carolyn.. i'm also a fan of low sf

 

[AnnaMarie]

I keep my superfat low as well.

 

[soapballs]

what does it mean to salt out the soap? I do not like moisturizing soaps that seem to grease me up in the shower myself either. That what lotion is for right lol.

 

[cmzaha]

what does it mean to salt out the soap? I do not like moisturizing soaps that seem to grease me up in the shower myself either. That what lotion is for right lol.

If you do a search in the forum for salting out you will find some threads discussing it. Here is one link to start with. It really makes a nice soap
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32717&highlight=salting

 

[Ellacho]

I keep my superfat low as well.

Hi AnnaMaire, from a scientific point of view, by lowering superfat, would you get less soda ash on soap?

 

[jade-15]

Hi AnnaMaire, from a scientific point of view, by lowering superfat, would you get less soda ash on soap?

Soda ash is unsaponified lye mixing with carbon dioxide (in the air). So by lowering superfat you would be ever so slightly increasing risk of soda ash, by my thinking. But I can't work out how a lower or higher superfat would have a significant effect on soda ash either way.

(Thats just my head trying to do science... if you have experiences that are the opposite please correct me!)

Nice looking soap Carolyn
Do you shower in rain/tank water?

I ask because I have to use a nice, high superfat soap otherwise my skin feels awful and itchy. Same for my partner (a rebatched goats milk soap with colloidal oatmeal and a SF of 8% was too drying - 15% salt bars only for him). When I lived on a farm and got to shower in wonderful rain water my skin was quite different. Guess I am wondering if I will ever adjut to my current water (It's only been about 10 years... Which make the differences even more obvious when I do visit home)

 

[cmzaha]

Nice looking soap Carolyn
Do you shower in rain/tank water?

I ask because I have to use a nice, high superfat soap otherwise my skin feels awful and itchy. Same for my partner (a rebatched goats milk soap with colloidal oatmeal and a SF of 8% was too drying - 15% salt bars only for him). When I lived on a farm and got to shower in wonderful rain water my skin was quite different. Guess I am wondering if I will ever adjut to my current water (It's only been about 10 years... Which make the differences even more obvious when I do visit home)[/QUOTE]

Nope I have city water which is quite hard. I am also no youngster and have fairly dry skin. I adjust the mildness of my soap with my choice of oils and keep the coconut oil lower which of course, does affect the soap a bit as far as big bubbles, but no one complains about the lather. I simply detest washing with oils, I want mild gentle Soap

 

[AnnaMarie]

Hi AnnaMaire, from a scientific point of view, by lowering superfat, would you get less soda ash on soap?

Actually, lowering sf tends to do the opposite. I recently participated in a group experiment on another thread with an Andalusian recipe that has a -38.5 sf! Interestingly enough, the batch where I used my SB has loads of soda ash (I mean loads). On a side note, the excess lye is eaten up by carbon dioxide (as explained by Kevin Dunn on Soap Queen). The batch of -38.5 sf where I hand stirred I still have yet to see any soda ash on any bars except a slight trace of it on one!?!?! I can't explain this phenomena.

I usually sf at 3% because I like a nice hard bar. I use good luxury oils in my soap which leave my skin feeling nice and there has never been a need to go higher on sf. I actually don't have soda ash problems with my 3% sf. My soap stays nice looking. I think part of the reason is that I spray the top of the batter with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I also mix my ingredients thoroughly and insulate well for a full gel. Maybe my answer confused you...I'm finding out that sf can be a mysterious thing
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[AnnaMarie]

Ps- Seven will back me up on the mysterious nature of sf and hand stirring :-D :-D