All Olive-Oil Soap (Castile)

This is one of the most simple soap making recipes, but not always the most simple to make, however don't let that put you off. It is worth having a go since this is a very gentle soap that I recommend using on your face.

The Castile soap making recipe is considered one of the most inoffensive soaps and is often recommended for use by people with sensitive skin conditions or problems such as acne, psoriasis and excema. To make it very special you could use an extra virgin olive oil, however, be aware that extra virgin olive oil can take quite a while to trace.

Ingredients:

Olive oil = 950grams

Water = 300grams

Sodium Hydroxide = 122grams

Don't forget the basic safety instructions.

Full soapmaking instructions can be found here. Stuck as to what fragrance to use? Would you like some suggested blends of essential oils to use? Check out the Essential Oil posts for some ideas to get you started.

"I haven't the time to read through all that!"

OK... in brief...the amount of fragrance you use will vary depending upon which essential oil or fragrance you choose, but on average I would add 2% of the total of the base oils as fragrance or essential oil.

For this recipe that means 19grams - although not entirely accurate I would use a 20ml bottle of essential oil or blend to a total of 20ml in a small measuring container. Be guided by your nose though, if the essential oil you choose is very strong then you may wish to add less.

If you would like to adjust the amount of superfat in the soap then please go to the post on formulating and tailoring your own recipes and read about the benefits of this and exactly how to do it. It is not advised to simply adjust the sodium hydroxide arbitrarily.

Happy soap making!