Castile Soap Recipe
Castile soap is good for sensitive skin. It is used on infants, children, and the elderly. Castile soap is very mild with a rubbery feel that creates low suds that disappear right away. This soap is the to-go-to soap for people who suffer from eczema. Today I will show you how I make my Castile soap using only olive oil. You can also add some coconut oil if you would like to create a harder bar, more suds, and less curing time. Castile soap made of only olive oil will have to cure for at least 4-6 weeks. You can use it at 6 weeks or before then but the bar will not last as long. If you are making this soap for a baby please allow 6 weeks before using it to make sure all the lye has successfully saponified. I used a Castile bar that I cured for about 3 to 4 weeks and the fumes from the lye burned my eyes :-/ it felt like I rubbed sandpaper on them. I would hate for anybody to experience that. Some soapers will allow their castile soap to cure for 6 months to a year before use! The lather is said to improve the longer it cures. Please read lye safety before continuing!
Lye Safety
Lye is DANGEROUS. You can be seriously injured if you are not careful.
DO NOT handle lye around children or animals
DO NOT pour water into lye because it can cause the lye to explode out of the container
DO NOT handle lye without wearing gloves and a protective apron and goggles
DO NOT mix lye in an un-vented room. If you are working in a kitchen, turn on your kitchen vent or mix lye outside
If you get lye solution on your skin, rinse with cold water and pour white vinegar on it.
Always use a tall pitcher when mixing to prevent splatter
Lye will get very hot and will emit fumes that will make you cough. If you want, you can wear a mask if you are working indoors.
Store lye in a dry place and away from children. I store my lye in my office on the top shelf. I can only reach my lye if I get on a small ladder. Keeps everyone safe :-)
Supplies
Goggles
Gloves
Apron
Mouth and nose mask
Stick blender
Soap mold
Lye container
Water pitcher
Tall plastic spoons
Scale
Large pour-able bowl
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil (if you don't want this then you can omit it)
Purified water
Lye
Step 1
I like to weigh my stuff out first before I do anything. Weigh out the following
30 oz Olive Oil
9.90 oz purified water
3.95 oz lye
If you would like to add Coconut oil then you would weigh out the following
20 oz Olive Oil
10 oz Coconut Oil
9.90 oz purified water
3.95 oz lye
Melt your coconut oil on the stove or the microwave. If using the microwave, heat it at 30 seconds intervals. It doesn't have to be completely melted but soft enough that you can pour it into the olive oil. Mix the 2 oils and set aside
Step 2
Very SLOWLY pour your lye into the water and mix until lye solution is clear. Set aside in a safe place where you will not knock it over.
What I like to do with the container that i measured my lye in is putting it in a larger bowl of water to prevent any little lye particles to expand and explode. Many people just run it under water but i'm way too scared of it so i make sure i submerge the container in a container bigger than it filled with water.
Slowly pour your lye solution into your oil. Using your stick blender on low begin blending them. I do not recommend moving the stick blender around while its on to prevent splatters. If you don't have a stick blender then you can use a tall plastic spoon but it will take about an hour of stirring to get the fluids to saponify. The stick blender acts as a catalyst which makes the saponification process quicker. You cannot get soap if you haven't reached the chemical reaction which is called saponification. You will see that your liquids will go from clear to a milky yellow color when it is starting to saponify.
(this soap has jojoba beads in it that's why you are seeing little blue things in it)
When you can pull the stick blender out of your solution and you can see the indentation of the stick blender on top, then you are ready to pour your soap into the molds. It will look kind of like pudding. You want it to be a in between water and pudding consistency so that your soap pours better.
Step 3
Pour your soap in the mold and set your soap "to sleep"
to sleep??? huh???
When I set my soap to sleep I put it in box and throw a bunch of towels over it. The objective is to keep the heat inside the box. With Castile soap I recommend letting the soap sleep for 48 hours before un-molding and cutting it because the inside of the soap will remain wet causing it to stick to your mold and can damage the appearance of your soap. If you are using coconut oil in your Castile soap then you should be able to un-mold in 24 hours.
(this is not castile soap but see how it is wet on the inside? sometimes it might be harder to un-mold and even cut it if its still wet. You can cut it when its in this state but wear gloves)
Happy Soaping!
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