Olive Oil Soap

Feb 15, 2013 by pearsonsprogress    3 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, saving money, Spain

What a blessing this week to have a neighbor bring me a bag of homemade olive oil soap. It’s luscious! I’ve been using it to wash the dishes and boy it really cuts the grease. Then, yesterday, while extolling the virtues of this soap to the owner of a little shop here in the village, her husband ran to the back of their store to give me another bag of soap.

Here in the village, this soup is used for dishes, bathing, shampooing, laundry and cleaning. It’s all natural and here in the land of olive oil, it’s the perfect fit!

My dishes are super clean and my hands are soft after washing.

Here is a recipe I found though I haven’t tried it, but according to my friends here in the village, these are the ingredients and instructions. Be careful with the lye… always doing this outside with protection to eyes and hands and never adding water to lye, but rather lye to water.

Quality Olive Oil Soap Recipe

1.  5 cups water. (I use 3 cups goat milk and 2 cups water)

2. 20 cups of olive oil.

3. Carefully measure Lye, not to exceed 18 ounces.

Heat olive oil to at least 100 degrees and set aside. Dissolve lye into water slowly, adding only a tablespoon or so at a time. Stir constantly until dissolved before adding more.  When lye is completely dissolved let  sit until room temperature. Pour lye mixture to the olive oil a bit at a time and blend with mixer. Mixing times may vary, but olive oil soap generally takes at least 45 minutes to trace.  Trace is the point when the soap mixture has thickened so that when you dribble a stream over surface, it sits on the surface briefly before melting into the mixture.  This is the time to add scent or color.  Mix quickly to incorporate and immediately pour into prepared mold.  Leave for 24-36 hours. Cut soap into bars, trim, and cure for a month on wire or plastic mesh to allow for ventilation.  Cover with a towel to protect soap bars during the cure.  Let cure for 1 month before using.

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