Basic Information About Castor Oil

Castor alone makes a mushy not hard or brittle bar, though if used in higher percentages, it can make a nice shampoo bar. It’ll never reach the fluffy lather of a coconut oil shampoo bar, though. Castor oil added to a soap recipe results in a stable lather that is low, dense, and creamy. What it does do is add moisturizing qualities to soap. Though it’s thick and sticky straight out of the bottle, it is easily absorbed by the skin. Because of its unique fatty acid make-up, there’s truly no other oil quite like it. You only need to use about 4-6 percent in your recipe to see a difference. Be warned, castor oil will speed up your trace. You may want to leave it out of recipes where you want extended time to swirl like a column swirl or even just a multi-layered soap.

Basic 4 Oil Soap Recipe

A reliable and wonderful basic soap recipe. 

6.5 oz. palm oil6.5 oz. coconut oil7.5 oz. olive oil1.3 oz. castor oil8 oz. water3.1 oz. lye1 oz. of fragrance oil or essential oil blend

Grocery Store Soap Recipe

You should be able to find all of these ingredients in your supermarket. The lard is sometimes in the Hispanic foods section and the castor oil is often near the pharmacy.

30 percent olive oil30 percent lard25 percent coconut oil10 percent sunflower oil5 percent castor oil

Old-Fashioned Hard White Soap

Another great, basic recipe. As long as your olive oil is on the light side (use light or extra virgin olive oil if you can), it will give you a nice white bar of soap.

35 percent olive oil30 percent palm oil30 percent coconut oil5 percent castor oil

Basic, Mild, Shampoo Bar Recipe

Most bar soap recipes only use about 4-5 percent castor oil in them, but shampoo bars take advantage of castor oil’s properties and use a much higher percentage. It helps create a bar that’s more gentle on your hair.

25 percent coconut oil25 percent olive oil20 percent castor oil15 percent canola oil15 percent palm oil

Luxury Shampoo Recipe

25 percent coconut oil20 percent olive oil20 percent castor oil10 percent canola oil10 percent avocado oil10 percent palm oil5 percent jojoba