DIY Liquid Castile Soap

author: erica

Ingredients
24 oz weight (680 grams) olive oil
16 oz weight (454 grams) coconut oil
9.35 oz weight (265 grams) Potassium hydroxide
lye flakes
32 oz (4 cups | 907 grams) distilled water, for lye-
solution
10 to 12 cups distilled water, to dilute, plus extra
as needed

Instructions
Make The Soap Paste

1. Add the olive oil and coconut oil to a large, (6 quart minimum) crock pot. Turn the crock-pot on
high.
2. While the oils are warming, put on your safety gloves and goggles, and carefully measure the
potassium hydroxide lye into a stainless steel or pyrex bowl.
3. Measure the water into a medium stainless bowl or pyrex pitcher. Set the container with the
water into your sink, then very carefully tip the lye flakes into the water. Stir to dissolve.
4. When the oils in the crockpot are warm, carefully tip the lye solution into the oils. Leave the
crockpot on high.
5. Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and lye solution together. Immediately after adding
the lye solution to the oils, blend for about 5 minutes, until the mixture looks uniformly opaque
and begins to slightly thicken. For the next 30 minutes, come back and blend the soap paste
about every 5 minutes. The mixture will get thicker and thicker, progressing through an icing
texture to something like Elmer's glue.

Cook Soap Paste

1. When the soap mixture becomes too thick to blend with an immersion blender, lid the crock pot
and cook the soap mixture for 3 hours on high.
2. Every 30 minutes or so, come back and fold and stir the soap paste with a heat-resistant silicone
spatula or heavy wood spoon to ensure the soap paste cooks evenly.
3. As the soap cooks, it will become increasingly translucent, moving from a runny white liquid to a
puffy taffy texture to, eventually, a yellowy-clear, thick, translucent gel.

Test Soap Clarity

1. After 3 hours, or once the paste looks fully translucent and gelled throughout, check the soap
with a clarity test.
2. Measure out an ounce of soap paste (about a golf-ball sized blob will do it). Add 4 oz (1/2 cup)
of boiling or very hot water to the soap paste. Stir gently until the soap paste is totally dissolved.
3. Allow the dilute soap to cool. If the soap is opaque, or if a scum of oils floats to the surface,
continue cooking your soap paste for another hour before re-testing.
4. If the dilute soap is clear (it needn't be colorless, just translucent), proceed with dilution.

Dilute the Soap Paste

1. Add 10 cups water to the soap paste in the crockpot. Break up the soap paste into the water as
best you can but don't worry about the paste dissolving fully.
2. Lid the crock pot and turn the heat to warm for 8 hours or overnight. If you happen to walk by,
give the soap a stir to help it along but don't worry if you can't.
3. After 8 hours, if you notice chunks of remaining soap or thick skin of soap forming even after
the chunks of soap dissolve, add another cup or two of water to further dilute the paste.

Bottle Soap

1. When your soap is fully dissolved with no chunks of soap paste remaining, ladle your dilute
soap into a perfectly clean and dry 1-gallon glass or plastic jug.

Recipe by Northwest Edible Life at https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-diy-liquid-castile-soap/