Good morning all, A few years ago I found a recipe for olive oil soap in a homesteading book at the library. I copied the recipe for future use. The future is here and I can't find it. I also can't find the book or remember its name. Does anyone have the reicpe? The basic soap was olive oil and lye. The soad could be used to make skin lotion, dormant oil and lots of other stuff by adding a few things. Thanks, Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), May 05, 2001

Answers

Olive oil soap is called Castile Soap if it is made with only olive oil. Here is my Castile Soap recipe from the book Soap Recipes by Elaine White.

16 oz olive oil 2.2 oz lye 3/4 cup cold water

Optional: 1/4tsp. Pourette blue soap color

Fragrance: 1tsp. lavender oil

Fat temp. 150 degrees F Lye water temp. 150F Tracing time: 2 days Time in molds: 6 days Age: 8 weeks

Add the lye water to the fat. Stir constantly for the first 10 minutes and often the first hour. Leave the soap in the stirring bowl for 2 days. Stir occasionally. Stir in the fragrant oil,pour into molds and leave it 6 days. Place soap in a freezer for 12 hrs then remove it from the molds; age 8 weeks.

Never made soap before so can't attest to this recipe. If this sounds way off from your recipe, then look under Castile until you find one that suits you.

You know to use stainless steel or glass bowls as lye will react with certain metals?!

Good Luck!!!

-- Mrs G (gunnar@yifan.net), May 05, 2001.

There is a good recipe for olive oil soap back in "archives" under soap, you can really speed up the tracing time with the addition of a 1/2 ounce of beeswax to the recipe, traces in 25 minutes instead of days!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), May 15, 2001.