A quick update on the coconut milk soap which had turned green inside after I unwrapped and cut it.. it has been curing now for over a week and the green colour has disappeared and the soap is completely white. The smell has also gone and smells unfragranced (if that is possible!)! I have been doing a little reading a think the problem with the discolouration in this soap was caused by insulating the mould after pouring. Soaps that include milks or yogurts do not need to be insulated as this can cause the milk proteins to discolour and change colour.
Castile Soap
Castile soap, traditionally made using only olive oil, is a hard whiteish vegetable soap. Although there are many variations on recipes, I decided to use a recipe using only olive oil and lye:
- olive (pomace) oil - 907g
- lye - 114.82g
- distilled water - 284g
The method involved added the lye to the water, mixed to dissolve and setting aside to cool down to 110F. The oil was heated and when both the lye solution and the oil were at 110F, the lye solution was poured into the oil and blended until trace was reached. The soap block was insulated and left for around 48 hours before cutting.
When I removed soap from the mould, the colour was not uniformly white (see pics). Again, after doing a little further reading, because of the high olive oil content, the soap may need 3-4 days and may not need insulated (although I am not 100% sure about that yet!). After cutting I also noticed a thin light white layer on the top of the soap. I am not sure yet whether this is 'ashing' or simply this part has dried more - I have cut this off half the soap bars and left on the other half and will see what happens as it cures.
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