Someone recently told me they had used my recipe to make loads of soaps as favours for their upcoming wedding, but they would also make great Christmas gifts, so why not give it a go?
It’s a little bit more difficult than some of my usual soaps, but set aside a weekend and you will be rewarded.
The recipe calls for caustic soda, which you can find at the hardware store, labelled as drain cleaner.
Don’t be alarmed: once it saponifies, there are no nasties left.
Castile Soap
470ml water
170g lye (100% caustic soda or drain cleaner)
470ml olive oil
400g solid coconut oil
675g vegetable shortening (Kremelta)
1) Make sure you are wearing protective goggles and gloves, in case anything in this first process splashes.
2) In a large stainless steel or glass container, mix the water and lye together. It will fizz and get hot.
3) Meanwhile, heat the oils and the Kremelta together over a low heat in an enamel or stainless-steel cooking pot. Heat it up to 37°C.
4) Watch the lye mixture and wait for it to come down to the same temperature.
5) When they are both at the same temperature, remove the oil from the heat and mix with the lye, stirring constantly.
6) Eventually it will start to drag when pulling a spoon through – this means saponification has taken place. It is ready when the mixture is thick and the spoon leaves a channel. This usually takes about 10 minutes. You can then add any essential oils, seeds, flowers or clay, and pour into soap moulds.
7) Cover with towels and leave for 24 hours. The soap should be hard and pop out easily. If not, leave for a few more days. Dry out the soap completely before use – I leave it for three weeks on wire baking racks in a dry place to completely set.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
