Castile soap is a name utilized in English-speaking countries for soap made with olive oil originating from this heritage region of Spain.

handmade soap

Castile soap is recorded within the Imports Book of the London port in 1567 and 1568. It's thought that this natural soap descends from the preparation of lye or sodium carbonate from water and plant ashes, then boiled with olive oil rather than animal fats. In effect, they would boil the water with the ashes, then add the oils, and soap would float up where they would scrape them back. This process produced hard white soap that harden as we grow older, while staying white. Creating the first of Jabon de Castilla.

going green

So historically, this organic soap was essential olive oil, lye solution, and water. However nowadays I see a lot of mis-labeled soaps which have other oils inside them. I don't know who makes them rules, but one site stated that once they had 80% Essential olive oil, they could label it as being such. There isn't any governmental or regulatory body in soap making.

Granted, I've chose to make this olive oil only soap, and it does not lather the way in which we are used to. It is referred to as having creamy bubbles, that we suppose is true, but those bubbles are extremely small, it could be called a creamy lather instead. Initially when i first used it, I though something was wrong with the soap, because it took some rubbing to get a small amount of lather, but that's how only essential olive oil soaps lather, or lack there of. It is coconut oil in soaps that induce those nice big bubbles. And because of this, some soap makers add the other oils, for example coconut, so that there will be a lather.

handmade soap

So if you are looking for a natural as you possibly can soap, Castile would be a sensible choice, and as a guide, it might also be unscented.

Castile soap is really a name utilized in English-speaking countries for soap created using essential olive oil originating from this heritage region of Spain.

going green

Castile soap is recorded within the Imports Book of the London port in 1567 and 1568. It's believed that this natural soap originated from the preparation of lye or sodium carbonate from water and plant ashes, then boiled with essential olive oil rather than animal fats. Essentially, they would boil the water using the ashes, then add the oils, and soap would float to the top where they'd scrape it off. This process produced hard white soap that harden with age, while staying white. Creating the first of Jabon de Castilla.

going green

So historically, this organic soap was olive oil, lye solution, and water. However nowadays I see lots of mis-labeled soaps that have other oils in them. I'm not sure who makes them rules, only one site stated that as long as they had 80% Olive Oil, they could label it as such. There is no governmental or regulatory body in soap making.

Granted, I have chose to make this olive oil only soap, also it does not lather the way in which we are used to. It is described as having creamy bubbles, that we suppose is true, but those bubbles are extremely small, it could be called a creamy lather instead. When I first tried on the extender, I though something was wrong with the soap, as it took some rubbing to get a little bit of lather, but that is how only olive oil soaps lather, or lack there of. It is coconut oil in soaps that induce those nice big bubbles. And because of this, some soap makers add another oils, for example coconut, so that you will see a lather.

handmade soap

So if you're looking for a natural as possible soap, Castile would be a good choice, and as a guide, it would be also unscented.