Soap is ROCK HARD @ 48 hours

[vuladams]

Okay, normally rock hard soap is a good thing... But it was so hard at 24 hours old that I could barely cut it with a heavy duty knife! Some of it chunked off because it got stuck on the edge of the knife. So... It was my first batch of Castile soap (just Olive Oil). I did add a little Lavender Oil and some additives of flower petals and tea leaves; but nothing crazy. Is this just a castile soap thing? I've used Lavender Oil in other soap and never had this problem. Help please because this was just crazy and unexpected. It feels like the soap is 6 months old already. I used some and it's lovely! (7% superfat).

 

[FlybyStardancer]

What was your water percentage? Because that really is weird! Normally castile takes forever to harden up!

 

[vuladams]

@Flybystardancer - I did it based on the lye calculator. I think the water itself was around 14oz, but I'm not near my recipe notes. I was expecting what everyone else says, "that it takes forever"... Maybe I just found the magic formula for castile soap... LOL

 

[Tienne]

Did you use EVOO or pomace? Did you gel it? I've only ever made one Castile (it's not my cup of tea) and I used EVOO, soaped at approx 50C and gelled it and it was really hard and cuttable after less than 12 hours.

ETA: Used full water, too.

 

[CaraBou]

When I soaped my castille at 2 water : 1 lye, it made a really hard bar right off the bat. In fact, it was the hardest bar @ 24 hrs that I've ever made. I wasn't sure my wire cutter would slice it, but it did. I was super happy about it -- you probably should be too!

 

[vuladams]

@Carabou - YEP! I usually do my lye water at 2:1, and love the results. Since I wasn't sure about the castile soap, I did a 7% lye discount then added 2 extra ounces of water "just in case". I think I'll stick with this and then just cut them @ 8 or 12 hours instead of 24. I had to use all my body weight to get the knife through!

 

[vuladams]

@tienne - I used pomace OO and it gelled during saponification nicely. I just lightly insulated it. I think the key to this is cutting it earlier than later... For sure!

 

[Obsidian]

I've made two batches of castile. The first was like yours, rock hard and difficult to cut. The second took 3 or 4 days before I could unmold it.

 

[vuladams]

I've made two batches of castile. The first was like yours, rock hard and difficult to cut. The second took 3 or 4 days before I could unmold it.

Weird. What was different about the second batch?

 

[Obsidian]

First batch was with light OO, second was EVOO.

 

[DeeAnna]

Another issue to keep in mind with olive oil is adulteration. An "olive oil" soap that takes a long time to harden may be olive that has been blended with soft oils that have more linoleic or linolenic acids than olive does. There's really no way for the consumer to tell -- an adulterated oil can look, smell, and tasted just like the real deal.

 

[vuladams]

Another issue to keep in mind with olive oil is adulteration. An "olive oil" soap that takes a long time to harden may be olive that has been blended with soft oils that have more linoleic or linolenic acids than olive does. There's really no way for the consumer to tell -- an adulterated oil can look, smell, and tasted just like the real deal.

My olive oil says, "Pure Olive Oil"... So it's 100% OO then, right?

 

[Obsidian]

My olive oil says, "Pure Olive Oil"... So it's 100% OO then, right?

Not necessarily, OO in America was tested a couple years back and almost all brands tested came back as not pure. As far as I know, only kirkland brand from costco came back as 100% pure.
If you live in Europe, you have a much better chance of getting pure, unadulterated OO.

 

[vuladams]

Not necessarily, OO in America was tested a couple years back and almost all brands tested came back as not pure. As far as I know, only kirkland brand from costco came back as 100% pure.
If you live in Europe, you have a much better chance of getting pure, unadulterated OO.

I used the Kirkland brand from Costco... (Interesting, I didn't know that there are some that are not 100%)...

 

[vuladams]

Here's a look at my soap after a couple of days. You can see the bottom part where it was too hard to cut. I put my full body weight in it to get the knife through. It smells amazing, and I tested it and love it. This batch just has an extreme "rustic" look to it.