Saponified olive oil soap

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Does anyone have any information on how to make saponified olive oil soap. I bought some from the local organics store and would like to make some myself. Can you help?

-- Debbie Jaeger (debbie@cyplace.net), November 22, 2000

Answers

Debbie, if you are brand new to soapmaking, I would suggest the first thing you do is go to the archives and take a look at the "soap" category. There are websites mentioned that you could visit, and they tell you in great detail exactly how to get started. I started out with Miller's Homemade Soap Page, she explains things very well. That's how I made my first few batches. When you combine an "acid", in this case olive oil, with a "base", lye, it goes through a process called saponification, the acid and base neutrilize, and after curing, you have soap! Please feel free to e-mail me personnally if you'd like. I love making soap! If you planned on making any for Christmas gifts, note that the soap needs to "cure" for about three weeks.

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), November 22, 2000.

Hello Debbie,

A great place to go for all kinds of information and recipeis is http://www.soapnuts.com/ I can not say enough good things about these guys.

Suzanne

-- suzanne wilson (mtsuz@hotmail.com), November 25, 2000.


Debbie, once you get your basic olive oil soap recipe, and there are lots, you can drastically shorten the tracing time with the addition of a half ounce (more or less based on total weight of batch) of beeswax to the oil mixture. Olive oil soap, or castile soap, is the mildest, although most expensive, homemade soap that can be made, and produces a wonderful lather, and an amazing smell that can't be reproduced commercially. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 26, 2000.

Try the book "Soap, Making it and Enjoying It" for under $8 new.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), November 26, 2000.

Another thought....the first few times I made soap, I stirred and stirred and stirred....now I use a cheap stick blender ($10 new). It really cuts the time it takes most recipes to trace down to a few minutes. It cleans up pretty easily, too.

-- Cathy Horn in NY (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), November 26, 2000.


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