oil or butter?

[Mitch23]

Stupid question time... Does it matter if you use an oil or a butter? Is one better than the other? Hubs gave me the go ahead and get a few oils to make a better batch of soap, so I'm trying to find some that I can use to make some that will hopefully help him with dry skin (which docs told him it was a mild case of eczema). I've been reading everything for the last three days or so, and found a few I'd like to try.

I'm basically asking about Sweet Almond oil vs. the butter, Avocado, shea (which is low on my list, I think ). I know with the butters you can only use 5%, but if I could get half and half oils/betters I could pack more goodies in, right?

Also, could I put a little EO to sorta help mask the smell of one of the oils (neem) I'm using? If so, how much?

Thanks for any advice or a point in the right direction of more reading...

Mitch

[eugenia]

You really have to just run the numbers through a calculator. You want your batch to be 50% or more hard oils, 50% soft. Play around with the % and watch the properties change. I like to use 5% butter in ALL my batches. I agree that excess of 5% is a waste. This is my favorite calc:

http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.asphttp://www.soapcalc.com/calc/SoapCalc.asp

e

[Rebecca_IA]

I would get the sweet almond OIL, avocado OIL and shea butter.

Skin problems led me to making soap. Best soap for my skin problems was one high in olive oil and with finely ground oats. I'd let it sit in water for 10 minutes and then wipe off the slime and put it right on my bad skin spots, cleared up in a VERY short time.

[ignitethesenses]

I don't have a ton of experience at making soap...but I've heard a lot of people say that cocoa butter soaps nicely, so if shea is low on your list, you might like cocoa.

Although, shea is great for eczema - if you get some, you could also make a body butter/balm for your hubby's dry skin.

[Sarah]

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3164

that post might help you, it's bunny's post on how to build a soap recipe.

i use butters and oils. i've gone up to 10% on my butters (shea and cocoa). and there are a ton of good oils you could use, but you really only need the basic ones for a good bar of soap. if you're talking vs. dial, then anything you make will be better

for me, a typical recipe includes palm, coconut, palm kernel, rice bran oil, olive oil, castor, and either hemp or avocado oil, or a butter.

you can make a perfectly good bar using only olive (rice bran if you prefer), palm, and coconut, in my opinion. or there's always castille for an even more simple recipe.