Olive Castile Soap

[necchi]

The thing I find interesting about this entire thread,,
Is that you guy's are all implying that we should get wet,
On Purpose! On a Regular basis!!

 

[nhmoose]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[BillinOregon]

Bill, good ideas. Thanks. Guess I need to plant some tarweed seed.

 

[pondoro]

Well I now have a 3-quart can of olive oil and 2 pounds of NaOH. Trying to decide if I should buy a silicon loaf mold or make a mold out of period-correct plywood scraps. Also waiting for the rains to end. I'm gonna do this in the driveway, not the kitchen.

 

[Black Hand]

Wear gloves, safety-glasses, long pants & sleeves and closed-toed shoes. If you get the lye on your skin, rinse with copious amounts of water. Use enamel-ware or stainless steel (never aluminum) pots, Pyrex measuring cups (the Lye/water mix gets very hot - exothermic reaction) and many sites recommend using a stick/immersion blender for mixing - the soap gets to trace faster....

 

[NeilMacleod]

Well I now have a 3-quart can of olive oil and 2 pounds of NaOH. Trying to decide if I should buy a silicon loaf mold or make a mold out of period-correct plywood scraps. Also waiting for the rains to end. I'm gonna do this in the driveway, not the kitchen.

Guess I cant recommend using a hand mixer to speed up the process and save on a tired Arm from mixing
The fumes from the mixing will burn your hands if you don't have gloves. Also make sure you add lye to water not the other way around, the water will get very hot and start to steam, so stir gently constantly and add the lye slowly.

 

[Zonie]

For what it's worth, I've found that having a bottle of vinegar handy when I'm working with lye is a good idea.

The mild acidity of the vinegar will quickly neutralize any lye water that might accidentally get on your skin or clothing and being a mild acid there is no chance of it adding to the damage.

Also, as others have mentioned, when being around lye water ALWAYS wear eye protection.

Although the vinegar will neutralize the effects of lye water, it is nearly impossible to use it in an eye before some serious damage is done.
Also, although vinegar is a weak acid, it too can do some damage to an eye.

(Yes, I know the lye water for making soap is much milder than the stuff I use on gunstocks to bring out the grain but still, even the weak solutions can do some real damage.)

 

[pondoro]

Well I bought a plastic loaf mold because I got 60% off of $30 at Michael's Crafts. Made 32 total ounces of soap. No eyes were harmed. 2-3 weeks before I can unmold it, one year before I can use it. Looks like I'll get 6 or 8 bars of soap out of it. Not much production.

I'm probably gonna make a mold using a 1x6 and two 2x3's. Four feet long by 3" wide by 2.5" tall. Fill it with soap (I have enough lye and olive oil to do this) then take it apart when it is time to unmold.

I'll come back in a year and tell you if I like the soap.

I have enough sodium hydroxide to try pretzel making as well, I bought food grade NaOH. But that belongs in the food part of the forum.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Trying to decide if I should buy a silicon loaf mold or make a mold out of period-correct plywood scraps.

Why don't you use quart sized, carboard, milk containers? Let the soap sit in the container for a few days, then remove the block and slice into nice squares to further age. I cut off the top where the spout was, and pour the soap into the container from the end. I tap the container as I slowly pour to keep from trapping air pockets in the soap. Loading from the end, keeps the containers from flexing outward too much as they do if you cut off the side and use the container like a loaf-pan.

LD

 

[NeilMacleod]

2-3 weeks before I can unmold it, one year before I can use it.

1-2 days, once its hardish then unmold and cut or it will be a real PAIN to cut and more likely break if you leave longer.
The point of ageing is for the water to evaporate that was used to mix the lye, so unless your in a very high humidity then it should not take that long. I will wrap them in newspaper to help absorb the moisture.

 

[pondoro]

2-3 weeks before I can unmold it, one year before I can use it.

1-2 days, once its hardish then unmold and cut or it will be a real PAIN to cut and more likely break if you leave longer.
The point of ageing is for the water to evaporate that was used to mix the lye, so unless your in a very high humidity then it should not take that long. I will wrap them in newspaper to help absorb the moisture.

The Soap Queen says 2 weeks!? I believed her! Now I'm not sure.

 

[pondoro]

Trying to decide if I should buy a silicon loaf mold or make a mold out of period-correct plywood scraps.

Why don't you use quart sized, carboard, milk containers? Let the soap sit in the container for a few days, then remove the block and slice into nice squares to further age. I cut off the top where the spout was, and pour the soap into the container from the end. I tap the container as I slowly pour to keep from trapping air pockets in the soap. Loading from the end, keeps the containers from flexing outward too much as they do if you cut off the side and use the container like a loaf-pan.

LD

This is a great idea. I still have enough oil and NaOH to make a bunch more soap.

 

[pondoro]

Hedging my bets I cut the soap in the mold, but I'll wait 2 weeks to disassemble it. It cut fine. I could imagine it being a bear to cut in 13 days.

 

[NeilMacleod]

Milk containers are a good idea, the 1L ones make a perfect size to slice, remember using them to make candles as a kid lol.
Let your fingers do the checking if its soft/hard, as soon as its stiff but not hard then cut it, you will save allot of swearing that way.

 

[Black Hand]

...one year before I can use it.

A year - Why????

 

[Zonie]

With over 3 pages of wisdom about Olive Castile Soap I think it's only fair to add a few links for your enjoyment.

The first is to the 1952 release of Johnny Standly's, It's In The Book .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poCWRJTgMQU

For those who don't like music (of sorts) or who didn't understand what he was saying, here is the text of the record:
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/i/itsinthebook.shtml

For those who don't like to follow links on the computer, the second half of the recording has that old, classic song, GRANDMAW'S LYE SOAP.

AND, for those who like a simple, old time version of the song, follow this link :grin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_XQjBEgzk

 

[pondoro]

...one year before I can use it.

A year - Why????

Again, blaming the Soap Queen, her recipe promises that if I wait one year the soap will have the best lather. She's not the only one, most recipes for Castile soap (the pure olive oil variety, with no added sodium lactate or palm oil or whatever) recommend waiting 9 months to a year.

 

[Black Hand]

Thank you.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Milk containers are a good idea, the 1L ones make a perfect size to slice, remember using them to make candles as a kid lol.

I confess that's where I got the idea..., candle making. :haha:

I accidentally left some in a quart container for a year, as I forgot about it. I had made several and simply got interrupted when it came time to cut the loaves into bars, so had one loaf in a mold, leftover... I ended up using an unconventional tool to cut the bars. This was lard & lye, so perhaps it's harder than Olive Oil Castile ???


LD

 

[NeilMacleod]

lol
My bars are rock hard, don't want them to fall on a toe, will crack if hit on a hard surface.