thesoapbox Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Hi all!I have a potential customer who is wanting soap but has a severe coconut allergy. Now, she said she is not sure if that includes coconut oil but she wants to take no chances using products with it.My question is, I have seen that pretty much all soap recipes include coconut oil in them. Is there any other oil that you can substitute for the coconut oil that would work well in soap?I would like to make her a good bar of soap without the coconut oil but have no clue what to replace it with.A pre-thanks for all your responses and help !Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Ok, I’m new to CP, but palm kernel oil has almost identical properties as coconut oil. It seems to me you should be able to substitute PKO with adjustments to lye, of course, and get a very similar product. Am I wrong in my assumption here you experenced soapers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If she's allergic to coconut, wouldn't she be allergic to others in the family? I thought PKO and palm and babassu were in the same family (scientifically speaking), so what about making her castille soap instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I don't use coconut oil in any of my soaps.........just palm kernel and babassu combo for a great, bubbly bar of soap!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If she's allergic to coconut, wouldn't she be allergic to others in the family? I thought PKO and palm and babassu were in the same family (scientifically speaking), so what about making her castille soap instead?That is a good point Scented!! If it was me I think I would go the castille way.. And I sub palm kernel oil for coconut oil all the time. I just run it threw the lye calculator just to make sure I don't make some lye heavy soaps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If she's allergic to coconut, wouldn't she be allergic to others in the family? I thought PKO and palm and babassu were in the same family (scientifically speaking), so what about making her castille soap instead?Yep, I never thought of that either. A good castile is probably your safest bet!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Despite limited experience I'd like to take a crack at this one. There are enough experts around to correct me.You're right are far as the PKO substitution goes. But as Scented says, unless tested otherwise it would be best to assume that other oils derived from palm fruits and seeds could pose the same problem. That includes babassu.I'm not sure there are any direct substitutes for coconut, babassu and palm kernel oils. Those contribute exceptionally to cleansing and bubbly lather. However, alot of fairly saturated fats are more or less similar to palm oil and are supposed to make good mild soap.You could use a large percentage of animal fats like lard or tallow. I suspect that would be best, but you could also try hydrogenated soybean oil. Partially hydrogenated (125-130 MP) flaked shortening is sold by Columbus Foods Soaper's Choice and Majestic Mountain Sage, as well as most candle suppliers. You can also use more hydrogenated (higher MP) flakes.If you want to use liquid oils as well, you'd probably be best off with olive oil and/or maybe oils from the soaping suppliers that are sold as "high oleic" in the description. Castile soap is made with very high proportions of this kind of stuff, but the soapmaking should be easier if you lean more towards the hard fats I mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesoapbox Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 I do have lard . I bought it at WalMart the other day so maybe I could try a recipe with that instead of the coconut oil for her. Thanks for all your help!I do have to say, when my 11 yo son (who, by the way, thinks he is 30) saw the lard bucket he yelled.. "mom! You are not going to use that are you? It will KILL us!" He emphasized the kill in that sentence rofl! So I explained to him that I bought it to make soap along with the jars of coconut oil. He then crinkled his nose up and said "well, there is no way I am taking a bath with soap full of fat and oil!" I about died lol!Angi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 You might want to avoid the soybean oil for someone allergic to coconut, and walnut oil. As I remember studies done in the late 90s indicate an immunological cross reactivity with proteins from both of these. Though it is probable that concern for all of this is moot, as one would assume the lye would desiccate any proteins in the oil, provided the soap is not supper fatted with the offending oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesoapbox Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 Allergies are so different in everyone that it is hard to gauge them. She knows she is allergic to consuming coconut but not sure about it being on her skin. My aunt is the same way with food allergies. She has tons of them and they are all consumption vs on the skin. She has nut allergies but her allergies only happen if she eats the nut. She can use soaps, lotions and so forth that have nut oils and it does not affect her, but let her put them in her mouth and it is awful.But then you can have some that have the allergy when consuming them and when putting them on the body and vice versa.So, the customer is being cautious even though she is not 100% sure that by putting it on her body she will have an allergic reaction.So, needless to say, this is going to be a fun experimenting time for me and who knows, maybe I will come up with a good bar of soap...Oh on the castille .. I have read different things on castille soap but the common denominator is that most complain it is a slimy soap. I myself have never used castille and was wondering if any of you have found castille soap to be slimy.ANgi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 As regards topical vs. consumed, you'd better play it safe. If she's prone to swearing she might be forced to wash her mouth out with a bar of soap. (One of my more lame jokes, sorry.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Allergies are a wild card as it is. For instance, I'm allergic to almost everything in the pencillin family, at least the first three less expensive medicines. Other allergies deal with air, cotton trees in bloom, animal waste (bulls and steers) and it's neverending. So why not remove as much of the liklihood as possible? You can make a pretty good bar with lard. You can add in some castor oil for some bubbly too and olive oil. There's other stuff you can put in a bar also. Usually people with strong allergic reactions don't want to take the chance of trying anything that can trigger it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I can't stand castille soaps because they do slime. Then again, I hear Eugenia makes a mean castille soap too. You might check with her for some leads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Blonde Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Yeah, 100% oo soap is slimy, but personally, it's the only type I really like. My skin likes to develop random rashes (like now!) and castile is the only soap I can use consistantly without any problems and no itching. I'm getting to the point where I'm considering making only castile soaps. So, my vote is to make her a castile bar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 When it comes to allergies I don't give advice (about my stuff anyway). I list the ingredients clearly and let people make their own decisions.Here on the other hand, I'll spout...In theory, nut oils are refined to remove all traces of nut protein (the allergens). But sometimes some get past, especially in more "earthy" type products that are less refined. So while my peanut allergic kids SHOULD be able to use peanut oil, we don't on the strict advice of their doctors. Skin isn't a perfect barrier - so why would someone allergic use such a product on their skin? Seems to me an unreasonable risk.BUT I let allergic adults make their own choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOAPFREAK Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I hot process a soap that is 92% olive oil and 8% castor. It is probably my most favorite soap of all. It lathers to no end and it isn't slimy at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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