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I heard the stories about 100% olive oil soap, that it was so gentle and mild, yet “slippery” and “low suds.” I made up a batch and have been very pleased with it. Here’s the deal on the “low suds” issue–it’s true to some extent UNLESS you use one of those scrubby plastic bath puffs. With the puff, it is unbelievably sudsy. Also very sudsy as a shampoo bar. I love it. It’s a little bit of a water discount and it sets up very fast and gets hard as a rock in record time. Don’t wait too long to unmold and slice into bars–8 hours or so is all mine needed, but check your batch and make the call depending on your best judgment.
Olive Oil/Castile Soap
100 oz. olive oil
12.6 oz. lye
30 oz. water
Makes about 24 big, chunky, creamy-white, 4-plus oz. bars. Yum.
Follow safe soapmaking procedures.
This site has excellent instructions on how to make soap.
I added no essential oils to this batch, but a general guide for most essential oils is to add .5 oz. eo’s per pound of soaping oils. For this recipe you would need approximately 3.125 oz. of your favorite essential oil(s). Round up and use 4 oz. for extra oomph.
I bring mine to a fairly thick trace so I can make some swirls reminiscent of the hot process ones.
Let your soap cure for about 6 weeks for the hardest, mildest bars.
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Do you have any recipes for soap without lye? and what is a stick blender?
carol–Unfortunately you can’t make soap without lye. The only alternative to sort of make soap is to use melt and pour premade soap and customize it with your own additives. A stick blender is a kitchen appliance used to “bring the blender to the pot.” You can do a search on them and find options and sometimes find them at thrift stores/goodwill.
Unstead of using a stick blender I used my dewalt cordless drill and a wire wisk. It worked great for me. I have only made 1 batch but it truned out great. I used olive oil coconut oil and veg. shorting with some beeswax.
I’ve never made soap before but with the price of the Olive Oil Soaps I may be interested in making some for gifts. I have a large Cuisinart planetary-type kitchen mixer with stainless steel bowl. Can that be used instead of a stick blender with either the paddle, dough hook, or whisk attachment or would the lye cause problems or ruin my mixer?
Doug–While most people prefer to dedicate certain equipment for soaping, technically the lye is reacted and then washed away when you clean your tools after soap is made. The thing I would worry about most with a mixer is the splash factor. Immersion blenders, when used properly, keep splatters at a minimum or eliminate them completely. Too, the lye/soap could possibly splash into the motor area of the mixer through the vents. My recommendation is to be on the lookout at yard sales and thrift or overstock stores for used immersion blenders to be on the safe side.
A Google shopping search will find you stick or “immersion” blenders starting at $8.00 – They are WELL worth the investment and you sure don’t want raw soap flying our of your mixer. Plus, even if it doesn’t splash – it will fill your soap with bubbles. The immersion blender will probably cost less then the olive oil in your first batch. Trust me – it’s the tool you want.
Having a hard tome getting my castille soap to trace. I have been stirring 2 1/2 hours already, am ready to quit. Help!!
Nova–Aaah! Are you using an immersion blender or stirring by hand?
I heard that soap made with all olive oil can feel “slimely”. ? Also, make sure you test for pH as I also heard that this soap can take a long time to cure, if that’s the word. I don’t know as I haven’t made soap but was making enquiries about it as I want to have a go.
Robin–I don’t find it slimy. For me, this recipe hardens quickly, but then I also always prefer to let it cure for six weeks or longer to dry up nicely so it doesn’t soften overly much in the soap dish when it gets wet. All homemade soaps (all soaps, really) should be put in a soap dish where it won’t sit in a puddle of water–something with slats.
That’s good news then. I’m glad I asked, thanks. I’ve been using a bar of coconut oil soap I was given and quite liked it. A friend just started making her own soap – with the olive oil – and I thought I’d like to give it a go. The information above was what I was given by the person who sells all the ingredients for soaps and cosmetics. Maybe it depends on the individual experience of what slimy is so I might make a half batch to try.
Thanks again, Daisy.
Great post. I’ve yet to try my hand at making Castille soap but after reading your article, I’m definitely going to try it. Can you tell me about how much of a water discount you used?? Also, I sometimes “cheat” when making my soaps by either adding a little bit of sugar (for bubbles) or salt (to make a harder bar of soap), so I may try adding some salt to bring it to trace quicker. Anyway, any info you can give would be great! Thanks a bunch
Renee–The recipe as stated is on the dry side of the recommendations–I use the amount of water in the recipe. For a trace with an immersion blender, this really doesn’t take ever so long so I’ve not tried sugar or salt, but I’ve heard others like that. I love pure olive oil soap, def give it a try!
Daisy, thanks for the info
I’m wanting to cut the recipe down a bit for a smaller batch, that’s why I was asking. I’ll just play around with the measurements in a soap calc. until I can come up with something a bit smaller for me. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Love this recipe too……. seems so easy to make. My wife ‘suffers’ a dry skin so I make all her creams for her, most of which need refrigeration to last.
I, however live in an area with summer temps that average between 93F and 112F with February months reaching 122F. Hot barely describes 2 or 3 consecutive days of this.
My question is what temps would be ideal for drying, and would these high temps not cause a problem with the soap.
Tony–High temperatures won’t make much of a difference, except perhaps to make it cure faster. Humidity is more of an issue (will cure faster in low humidity) but it will do fine in any atmosphere.
Thanks Daisy. That helps. Oh and ggreat site. Can see y you have a big following. Time, care and a love for what you do, got you there. Keep it up. Thanks again.
Appreciate it, Tony. Good luck with your soap. I know your wife enjoy it.
I am very interested in making this soap but as I need metric measurements as I am in Australia. I found a converter for the oil and lye but am having trouble converting the water. RU talking fluid ounces or are you weighing the water. once I know which it should be easier to convert, I hope…….
Thanks in advance
Gail
GailC–Water is equal in weight and volume, so that should make it easier! Good luck!
I just made this batch of soap and it is saponifying now, but I have noticed a layer on top of olive oil that doesnt seem to be saponifying. I checked with a ph strip and it is ONLY olive oil that is on the top that doesnt seem to be saponifying. I was wondering if you knew why this is happening ? or maybe if I need to just give it more time. its been 3 hours since I put it in the mold, but it still just doesnt look right. If it isnt supposed to happen like this, do you think I could fix it ? or just remove the extra olive oil ?
Angela–It’s possible it will disappear as it cures, and if it doesn’t you may be able to remove it. Have you cut it yet? What does it look like on the inside and did it firm up?
I havent cut it yet it is still not yet solid. I mixed thw extra olive oil into it woth a spatula last night. And this morning not as much olive oil stayed at the top this time. So I guess I just need to wait ? I was scared maybe the olive oil didnt mix with.the lye and my soap would be wasted !
Angela–I don’t think it saponified. It should be hard by now. Did it seem to trace? Did you use an immersion blender?
I used a hand blender. And I think it did trace but maybe I was wrong. Do you have any suggestions of what I should do ? Thankyou for helping me out it means alot. This is only my second batch of soap
But my batch was warm the whole day because I figured it was going through sapomification. And the majority of the mixture is coming together
Angela–Warming is a good sign. I still wish it were harder. When I make this recipe, it usually hardens superfast–I don’t wait until overnight because it will have gotten brittle by then. Still, it may just be taking its own sweet time and you may end up with hard soap eventually.
Great site! I’m glad I’m not the only one lost and confused. I want to make an olive oil soap, but if I don’t have a hand mixer/immersion blender, will I be stirring for days? What is the average amount of time for mixing by hand?
Aimee–I think I did it once, and it took over an hour. It wasn’t much fun.
I used to make pure olive oil soap all the time. To answer a couple of questions I see here, I have always mixed by hand and it should never take longer than an hour. You have probably missed the signs of trailing and should continue to pour into the mold as you can mix too long. Once you have poured you should check the mold every 12 hours and if you see puddles of oil on top stir in with wooden spoon. Continue this every 12 hours until you don’t have any oil on top then let dry. I never added any essential oils until I would French Mill the soap, which is letting it dry, grating it and remeltting it.
if i want to make a olive oil soap with a coconut smell could you give me a recipe
michelle–I don’t have one like that. Thing is, coconut oil doesn’t smell like coconuts (in my experience) and the only thing I’ve seen with a strong coconut smell is coconut fragrance oil, and I don’t use fragrance oils. If anyone out there knows how to do this, feel free to chime in.
Hi. I make 100% extra virgin oo soaps and I’m happy with all of them -( Rooibos tea, goat’s milk and plain). I was wondering if anyone here perhaps uses, or has used Lampante olive oil. It’s a 100% olive oil, but not fit for human consumption, but apparently been used for soap. This is the lowest of all grades. I would like to find out how the soap comes out, is it any different to the better grades of olive oil? Is there any benifit to using EVOO?
@Ziks I’ve made Pure Castile soap for about 12 years with EVOO. Personally I find it better for sensitive skin, and my customers swear by it. As far as the Lampante? I’ve never heard of it. Sorry. You can perhaps pick up a small bit, for a sample batch and check it out.
On a side note, I’ve never had a ‘slime’ feel to my Castile, and as Daisy says, if you want tons of bubbles just use a scrubby. Cheapo ones or make one yourself by crocheting with some really nice organic wool. In fact if you choose that route, make a few and sell them. Folks love em’.
I also use a Dehumidifier that I picked up at the Goodwill for 5 bucks. It works great when the weather is crappy. Goodwill is a gem to get non reactive stock pots, stick blenders, etc. If you’re going with large batches, hit Home Depot for the big gun blender and some 10 gal buckets.
Hope that helps!
Love your site Daisy!
Forgot to add I do long cures of 3-6 months.
I’ve enjoyed reading all of these posts, I’ve been nervous about using lye, but I’m going to try making soap this weekend. My question, I’ve seen some lye calculators that use the size of the mold in the calculations, is this necessary? I have an old wooden box that I was planning to use that measues 12.5 x 14.5 x 4.5 (inches). I’m really excited about trying this recipe, I’ve heard pure olive oil soap is the best and these bars look positively luxurious! Thanks!
Carolyn–Your box size sounds good. I warn you though that I have the anti-math gene and could be leading you down the garden path. Have an extra milk carton or Pringles can at the ready in case I am as clueless as I think I am.
I’m sure it will go well. Good luck!
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