New to the forum, but excited. I now have a good base Castile Soap that I am using for milling. Here is my problem. I have a recipe that calls for Everclear or Vodka, or other clear grain alcohol. I have tried it twice now and I am having a problem getting the grated soap to melt in the alcohol and become runny per the recipe. I have followed the instructions precisely.
Has anyone else seen this problem?
Hope you don't leave too fast ... I want to know what Lavender Ice on chapter 4 is actually about! It's such a cool name!!
Anyways, here's my great big plonking guess ...
Your castile base might not be pure soap.
When you milled it (ground it/grated it/whatevered it), maybe it had some impurities that you don't know about, that caused it not to dissolve so well.
A simple test, to see if it really is soap made just from olive oil, pure water and some soaping hydroxide ...
Let the soap sit in a dish with a little warm water in it (as if you are using a soap dish without any way to drain the water) for way too long (or just for one sleep, if you are the impatient type).
A true, unmodified, olive oil soap will form an almost transparent gel, that clings to your fingers when you try and pick the soap up. Those sticky strands are easy to see when you let enough of the original soap dissolve.
People sometimes have rude ways of describing this effect, and make attempts to stop it from happening ... which might have lead you to having a "good base Castile soap" that can no longer make ... strands :think:.
I would put more money on additives in the (good base) olive oil soap being the problem, rather than the ethanol purity (which needs considering nonetheless).
So there is my plonking great guess ... it's not the alcohol at all :mrgreen: