liquid castille question

[Christina]

I'm looking to make a liquid castille soap with neem oil in it. I read somewhere that you can use any cp recipe to make liquid soap, you just use KOH instead and the process is different. Is this true? I've been looking all over the internet for a liquid castille to see if that can be done, and the only thing that comes up are recipes with castille soap shavings. I'm also looking at getting that book that is always recommended. Does she have any castille recipes in there?

Christina

[BLSoaps]

I definitely recommend the book by Failor on Liquid Soapmaking. I actually found my copy several years ago on clearance at Michaels. I have seen it in other craft stores since then, so you might be able to get it locally.

The process is VERY different. I don't see a "Castile" recipe in there, but I actually don't use her recipes exactly as they're written. Hers are lye heavy which you then need to neutralize. She does this to keep them crystal clear. That's not quite a crucial to me, so I "superfat" at 1%, and weigh very accurately. Some come out clearer than others, but none are crystal clear. But I don't have to worry about neutralizing, and I've found it's also more gentle on my skin.

However, I also have switched to the Cold Process for it. There was a thread in here previously in which I gave a quick rundown of the process. It's easier for my time demands. But the book really helped me understand the whole process. I still read through it frequently, even though I don't use the two methods that she uses.

I use the soap calc on MMS. It has an option to click for liquid soap. The process instructions that they list are always for CP Bar soap, not liquid. Just an FYI if you see them and wonder.

Good luck! It's fun, very different, but fun!

[Christina]

Thanks for replying.

I'm trying to get ahold of that book (definitly not local), but I'm really interested in the cp liquid method, and the only thing I managed to find was people who sold it and one site that said they'd explain it later in the year. Can you please tell me some basic differences between the 2 methods?

TIA

Christina

[thecandlespastore]

Hi Christina,

Take a look at this tutorial:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/liquidsoap/ss/basicliquidsoap.htm

I supposed to make a castille liquid soap you would just replace the oils suggested with olive oil, and maybe add 10% castor oil to it. You can calculate your recipe with soapcalc.com, just make sure you tick the KOH option and not the NaOH option. If this is your first time making liquid soap though I would follow the recipe given first and then work on creating your own once you get the hang of it:)