Oil Pref

[chuck_35550]

I'm curious about why some of us prefer to mix our olive with soybean, rice bran or canola. I love rbo but never liked canola in any amounts. My go to formulas no longer include castor and I'm the happier for it but when looking at other soapers list of ingredients, I notice soybean or canola is in almost all of their different types offered. Trying to get down to business and have my list of permanent offerings. I realized that this same thing has basically happened with my soap making. One prevalent base recipe with different additives for different purposes. My veggie formula and animal fat formula only vary between palm and beef tallow but not much else. Still, these oils aren't capable of going toe to toe with olive; is there such a thing as an oil that could be mixed on a 50-50 basis as part of the soft oil base? I'm also in a quandary about oils with high non=saponifiable qualities like pomace and avocado. They really speed up my trace and I'm not convinced they make a huge diff in my soap, other than cost.

 

Steve

[TallTayl]

This is not easy to answer, but here's what i have learned from testing oils and from for hours sitting over long endless cups of coffee with other soapmakers around the world on forums, the phone and in person. (Aside-quite a few soapers met through forums have become my best friends in real life. Actually talking with other soapers really opened my eyes to possibilities and myth busting!)

All oils have a unique fatty acid profile that lends "something" to soap. Some fatty acids can only be found in certain oils. Balancing them for performance and COST drove us all to our formulas. Being able to sub one for another with supply market changes keeps us afloat and (hopefully) profitable.

I like castor in very small amounts for the ricinoleic fatty acid not found in any other oil. Less is more. For my formula, castor supports the lather and feels a litle more lotion-like. It also has a humectant effect, possibly making the skin attract more moisture from humidity following use. Too much in soap and the soap gets soft, plus castor in large amounts inhibits lather. Castor alone does not lather at all in soap. It's a supporting player.

Rice bran oil became really popular when olive oil became scarce and the price rose.

Canola and corn, though high in linoleic and linolenic acids that are prone to DOS can be balanced to stabilize the problem, and lend a nice sheen to soap and a different kind of bubbly lather.

I use pomace, and in my formula/technique it does not speed trace, but i have heard how it can. (Adulterated Grocery store pomace is how i learned of the olive oil trickery)

Avocado oil is wonderful in soap as a total replacement for olive. The unsaponifiables create an extra lotiony feel in the lather and the leave-behind is noticeable -at least by me and all of my customers. During a secret ingredient swap i sent in bars of my formula and my formula with the only difference as avocado oil and avocado was unanimously the favorite. It was that noticeable.

[chuck_35550]

I can't imagine the cost of total avocado. The only form of soybean oil has been in a formula using Crisco but otherwise that oil is foreign to me in how it affects soap quality. I don't like canola or lard in my soaps, there's just something about the quality that doesn't feel right. Don't get me wrong, I know there are soapers who really like those oils and if they are like me, that can change for different reasons. Thanks for the response.

 

S

[TallTayl]

The cost per bar can be small, depending on your formula. For instance, my standard soap formula (all veggie) uses only 22% olive oil. So a swap out between olive and avocado is less than a quarter ($0.22 cents) per bar.

I use avocado in other products, so i "could" swap them out to trim my raw materials inventory. My market is fully satisfied with the olive pomace in my formula at the moment, so i am not changing a thing.

The cost difference can be a game changer depending on your marketing. A BFF soaper friend uses avocado and markets to a different crowd getting $8-9 per 4 - 4.5 oz bar.

[Chefmom]

I personally make soaps with vegetable shortening that is soybean oil based and am pleased with the soap.  I do not see DOS issues that many write about.  My daughter requested a vegan base soap that kept GMO based oils out and no castor oil.  So...I did come up with a recipe that ended up being a very good soap.  I honestly was surprised.  I always recommended using castor to keep up a good lather and this soap had amazing lather.

 

My shortening was recently pulled from the shelf, most likely to join the other brands to reformulate with palm oil.  I am currently going to start testing soybean oil mixed with a touch of soy wax to try to simulate hydrogenated soybean from the vegetable shortening.  If not...well....it will be back to the testing pot with those soap bases. 

 

I have also read that some people are combining olive and sunflower oil as well.  I haven't come up with a strong opinion on sunflower, but I do like avocado oil, used with olive, not in place of it tho.  It came out as a fave in my hot process superfat added after the cook tests...but cocoa butter was my big winner. 

[TallTayl]

High oleic sunflower is nice! It makes a slightly more translucent soap with my formula. High oleic safflower is not bad either.

I buy gallons of the HO sunflower for cooking from Soapers Choice.