How to Make Natural Homemade Soap With Olive Oil
Soap making has become a hobby over the years. Olive oil soap, also known as castile soap, is a variation on the classic recipe using animal fats as its basis. Those adhering to a vegan lifestyle may find castile soap particularly appealing for this reason. Olive oil, by itself, yields a high-quality soap with a soft, somewhat slimy feeling. Adding a few ounces of coconut oil improves the soap's quality and speeds up the stirring and drying phases of soap production.
Things You'll Need
- 3 sturdy rectangular cardboard boxes, two slightly larger than the first
- Plastic trash bag
- Wooden spoon
- Latex gloves
- 74 ozs. 100 percent pure olive oil
- 14 ozs. coconut oil
- 24 ozs. cold water
- 12 ozs. lye crystals
- Postal scale
- Enamelware, graniteware, or stainless steel pot
- Electric stick blender
- 32-oz. glass measuring cup
- Dairy thermometer
- Long-bladed knife
- Wooden ruler
Instructions
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1
Assemble all your items before you begin because some reactions can happen very quickly. Line the small cardboard box with the trash bag. This is will be the soap mold. Set the slightly larger box in a cool room where it won't be disturbed.
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2
Turn on your stove's exhaust fan or open a window for ventilation. Put on the latex gloves to protect your hands from the highly caustic lye. Weigh the measuring cup and note its weight. Put the lye crystals in the cup. Total weigh on the scale should be 12 ozs. plus the weight of the cup.
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3
Dissolve the lye crystals in 24 ozs. of water, averting your face to avoid inhaling the fumes being released in the first couple of minutes. Stir the lye and water with the wooden spoon until the solution turns from a milky white to a clear color. This solution will become very hot in a short amount of time. Set aside to cool while you prepare the fats.
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4
Weigh the pot you will be using to cook the soap and note the weight. Add 74 ozs. of 100 percent olive oil and 14 ozs. of coconut oil. Put the pan on the stove, insert the thermometer, and slowly heat the oils to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. When it's close to this point, measure the temperature of the lye solution. It should be about 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
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5
Turn on the stick blender and pour the lye solution quickly into the oils in the pot. Blend the oils and lye together for about one minute until the mixture turns smooth and starts to glisten. When it thickens to a consistency somewhat thinner than pudding, turn off the stick blender and pour it into the trash bag-lined mold. Use the wooden spoon to remove any soap clinging to the blender and pot.
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6
Place the mold inside the box in the cool room. Cover the boxes with a larger one that fits over both of them. After about 30 minutes, remove the cover to make sure the soap is starting to gel and to allow some heat to escape. When opaque areas appear around the edges, enough heat has been released. Replace the cover.
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7
When the soap has cooled overnight, use the ruler and a knife to score the soap into blocks. Cut the soap into blocks of the desired size.
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Tips & Warnings
Use the cheapest olive oil available. Read the label on the bottle to make sure it is 100 percent olive oil. Some producers mix other oils with olive oil.
Clean your utensils as soon as possible when you're finished. Don't reuse the wooden spoon for food preparation at any time.
Wear latex gloves to protect your hands. Lye and its solution are highly caustic and can cause severe burns. Never leave a pot of lye solution unattended. Keep children and pets out of the area while you're making soap.
References
- Photo Credit olive oil image by Peter Baxter from Fotolia.com
