Coconut And Olive Oil Soap

Recently I was given a couple of bottles of olive oil and a few jars of coconut oil.  I haven't been game to use the coconut oil in cooking so I did a bit of internet research to find a new soap recipe..

We just started using this soap in the shower and so far so good. I've priced a very similar soap selling in an eco store called The Source and it sells for $9.95.  It's marketed as a shampoo bar that comes unwrapped.  It's a slightly larger bar and the only difference I could see in the ingredients list was Castor oil was used in theirs and a few scents and colorings.

• 1 pound (16 ounces or 453.6 grams) coconut oil
• 1 pound (16 ounces or 453.6 grams) olive oil
• 0.303 pounds Caustic Soda (4.844 ounces or 137.339 grams)
• 0.760 pounds water ( 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams)
• Up to 1 ounce of essential oils of choice (optional)
• Stick blender,  spatula,  rubber gloves for hands,  cling wrap,  moulds,  hand towels and trays to put the moulds on.

Before you start,  please put on rubber gloves and protective eyewear.  Make sure you have long sleeves on and enclosed footwear.

Carefully measure out all your ingredients before you start heating the oils.

Into a large icecream container or metal bowl, add the Caustic Soda to the water and stir until the liquid becomes clear and the Caustic Soda dissolves. Let  the mixture sit for 15 - 20 minutes until it feels warm, not hot  PLEASE do not dip your finger in but feel the warmth from the outside of the container

While the Caustic Soda ( Lye ) is cooling,  gently heat up the olive and coconut oils in a saucepan until they reach 48 degrees Celsius.

Gently and slowly add the warmed oils to the lye mixture and stir.

Using a stick blender combine mixture until it reaches trace.  This looks like thickened custard. You may need to rest the blender every few minutes.  Turn it off and use the blender to stir.

Pour into silicon moulds,  place cling wrap and hand towels over the top.  Place in a safe place to cool and harden.

Start using your soap within a few days.

Here are links to the other soap recipes I use -

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com/2015/10/soap-making.html

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com/2017/04/olive-oil-soap.html

Ice Cube Trays - Another 5 Ways To Save Money

Do you have ice cube trays sitting in your cupboard unused ?  Then here's another 5 ways to use them and save a little money -

*  Make your own baby food and portion it into the ice cube trays.  This is great for when you are introducing a new food to your baby.

*  Make chocolate covered strawberries without the mess.  Pour melted chocolate into each cube.  Place a strawberry in each cube pushing down slightly.  Refridgerate until the chocolate hardens.

*  Freeze pureed fruit to make your own smoothies.   This is a much cheaper option than the supermarket bought,  prepackaged frozen fruit cubes.

*  Use ice cube trays as snack trays for your children.  This is a wonderful way to portion control and present healthy food.

*  Novelty shaped ice cube trays make wonderful soap moulds.  The soaps are a perfect size for little hands and make great presents..

Olive Oil Soap

I just love making my own soap.  It's been wonderful on my skin helping to clear up the allergic reaction I was having to shower gel.  Last year Phil from Mr Homemaker blog gave me a recipe for soap that contained olive oil and rice bran oil.  Because I'd been given quite a few bottles of olive oil,  I changed the recipe to omit the rice bran oil. 

I've found this soap to be of better quality than the other soap  I was making.  This olive oil soap seems to set harder and has a more luxurious feel and lather.  The color tends to be whiter,  only changing to a light cream color over time when stored.

Please keep in mind,  this soap comes to trace very quickly so make sure you have all your moulds ready to go before making.

1000 grams of olive oil,

250 grams of Copha (1 x block)

173 grams of Caustic Soda

450 mils of water.

1. Chop up Copha into small chunks and place into a large non-metallic bowl

2. Make your Lye .in a separate non metallic container by adding  Caustic Soda slowly to the water (never the other way around!)  a little at a time stirring continually.  Watch out for the fumes.

3. Slowly and carefully pour the  lye over Copha chunks

4. Stir Copha and Lye manually with a non metallic spoon / spatula till Copha chunks are all dissolved by the heat of the lye.

5. Slowly add the olive oil while stirring.

6. Use a stick blender to reach a good trace (do not over-heat your stick blender - alternate between stirring and power mode.)

7. Pour the mixture into your moulds and smooth off the top.

8. Place glad wrap over moulds

9. Wrap moulds in old toweling (so they cool slowly)

10. Un-mould in 24-48 hours

11. Cure for 6 weeks

NOTES -

*  Make sure you are wearing covered shoes,  rubber gloves,  protective eye wear and a face mask.. The fumes from the lye can be quite strong especially if you make the soap indoors.  Sometimes I make the lye solution outside,  pour in the other ingredients ,  then bring it all inside to mix together. After making it a few times,  I no longer wear a face mask or glasses but I'm extra careful.

*  Care should be taken when making the lye.  Slowly and gently is the key. One granule of Caustic Soda falling on unprotected skin will sting quite badly.

*  Trace is when the mixture looks like custard starting to thicken.  You'll see ripples in the mixture when blending.

*  This recipe can come to trace in as little as 5 minutes.  If you over, mix the ingredients you'll have trouble getting it into the mould.  The first time I made it,  I over mixed it and there were air bubbles in the soaps.

*  Make sure you have all your equipment out before starting.  This includes a spatula to scrape the bowl.

*  Have baking trays under the moulds before pouring.  This makes moving the moulds to a better location ( for curing ) easier and safer.

Made back in July 2016.  It's only just starting to change color.

Make sure it's for soap making

The mixture has come to trace

Pouring into the moulds

Great for presents too.

There the link to the other soap recipe I've used
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/soap-making.html

Soap Making

For a few years now I've been wanting to make soap but was too frightened.  I think I was frightened of the safety aspect and the unknown.

Soap making was one of my goals for this year so I thought it was time to take the plunge. I came across a very simple and cheap recipe from a blog I follow called House of Simple.  Phil is the blog writer and he promised it would be easy.  So one Saturday I followed the instructions ( to the letter ) and the soap turned out beautifully.

Here are the instructions from House of Simple ( used with permission )  


Blended Vegetable Oil Soap
Safety Note: Wear eye protection, mask and gloves, keep kids and pets away, perform in close proximity to running water in case of spills, keep a window open for ventilation.



INGREDIENTS

1.25 litres of cheap blended vegetable oil (no name is perfect)
173 grams of caustic soda
450 mils of water


METHOD(please follow method exactly in this order)


1. Place water into a very large plastic mixing bowl
2. Pour caustic soda very slowly into water whilst stirring continually with a wooden or plastic spoon until dissolved
3. Add in vegetable oil slowly, stirring all the while with a wooden or plastic spoon
4. Mix with stick blender till a firm trace has occurred - must look like thick custard.
5. Place into large plastic flat-bottomed container - cover with an old towel.
6. Leave totally undisturbed for 24 hours7. Remove from plastic container (twist the container slightly - turn upside down to pop out).8. Cut into bars with the sharpest knife you have

9. Put bars away on a wire rack in a cool airy place to cure for 6 weeks

This recipe will make about 12 bars of simple, frugal and lovely-to-use soap. This recipe is a great one to start with if you have not made soap before as there is no oil blending required, no thermometers required, no special molds or perfumes required either. The ingredients are not expensive which is important for a first time soap maker and vegetable oil is very forgiving

Wendy's notes -

*  I used silicon baking moulds as well as small oblong cake tins.  Silicon baking moulds can be found really cheap at op shops.

*  If using metal cake tins,  line them with cling wrap first for easy removal of the soap when it sets.

*  If the soap hasn't set enough within 24 hours, leave it for another 24 hours then you should be able to remove it from the moulds.

*  If you have an Aldi near you,  they have the cheapest blended vegetable oil at under $8 for 4 litres.

*  I bought the Caustic Soda from Bunnings.  I think it was in the paint section.  Make sure the container has the words "  for soap making " on it.

*  Make sure you have all your moulds close by and ready to use straight after the mixture reaches trace.

*  These soaps will make wonderful presents when added to a fancy face washer or hand towel.

*  I did not put a coloring or fragrance in the soap as I have skin allergies.

Some of the soaps I made

Reaching trace.  It looks like thick custard

Rose moulds

Waiting for the soap  to set

This was from Bunnings