Pure Castille Soap
True Castille Soap is made with 100% Olive Oil, but very often you will find soap that is accepted as Castille because it has a very high proportion of Olive Oil (this is often called "Bastile or Bastille" - which is nothing to do with the French Revolution!). Castille soap originated in the Castilla region of Spain where Castille Soap has been handmade for hundreds of years. This recipe uses 100% Olive as the based (fixed) oil. Although very easy to make you will find it a little different to making mixed oil batches. Castille takes a little longer to trace that mixed oil blends and is also slower to gel. You may also notice that it can be a little crumbly at the edges until you "get your hand in".
Castille Benefits from a LONG cure/drying time, as the longer it cures, the nicer the lather becomes. The lather from well aged Castille Soap is small and not particularly dense, but using this soap leaves your skin soft and moisturised. We like to use a lower water percentage, and still age our Castille for several months. This batch will fill our Wooden Log Mould comfortably. If your soap is too immature to use you will see the lather is stringy or slimy.
- 1250g Olive Oil
- 160g Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide)
- Between 320g and 450g water (use the higher amount of water if using touchy fragrances or you are a beginner as it will give you more time to play with)
- 25g/ml (5 teaspoons) Essential Oils or Fragrant Oil (2.5%)
For your own safety PLEASE WEAR GLOVES AND GOGGLES. This recipe calls for a TOTAL of 450 mls of Liquid - but when you are a little more experienced, you may wish to use the lower amount of water.
For how to make soap from Scratch, please see our Cold Process Soapmaking Instructions Page
This recipe suits our Wooden Log Moulds or a Nizzy 12 bar Mould
