Palm Kernal Vs Palm Oil

[Chappyk]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference between Palm kernel oil and Palm oil in what it does in your soap recipes? Or is it just the same thing?

 

[ocean_soul]

Well, Palm Kernel oil is a good replacement for Coconut oil in soap recipes. It's very cleansing, so not too much of it should be used in an individual recipe. It also makes for lots of bubbles and adds hardness to soap bars. Palm oil adds creamy, moderately conditioning lather that is pretty stable. I would not replace one with the other in a recipe/formula.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

^^^ This!

I would use either PKO or CO in a soap with Palm and other oils - PKO should be used as CO to all intents and purposes, it's ideal when people have a coconut allergy.

 

[DeeAnna]

Palm kernel oil (PKO) and palm are not remotely the same.

PKO and coconut oil provide lauric and myristic acids. These make a soap that lathers well in cold, hard, or salty water. The soap is hard but fairly soluble in water, so the bars will not last a particularly long time. The lather is fluffy and bubbly. Soap that is high in lauric and myristic acids can be drying and harsh for many people's skin.

Palm oil, lard, tallow, cocoa butter, etc. provide stearic and palmitic acids. These make a soap that is hard but fairly in-soluble in water so the bars last longer. The lather is dense, more like whipped cream.

A blend of fats that supplies lauric/myristic acids and stearic/palmitic acids will give a nicely balanced, mild bar that lathers reasonably well while lasting a reasonably long time.

Add some oleic and linoleic acids from olive, safflower, sunflower, avocado, etc, and the bar will be even milder and more conditioning to the skin.

 

[LunaSkye]

Not to be nonsecutor, but has anyone used red palm oil? I just bought some from Whole Foods thinking that it will help me get a harder soap.

 

[seven]

Not to be nonsecutor, but has anyone used red palm oil? I just bought some from Whole Foods thinking that it will help me get a harder soap.

do you have the pure red palm or one mixed with another oil? afaik, red palm will behave the same way as palm. i don't have soapcalc in front of me, but you might wanna check the sap values for both (i think red palm in soapcalc comes under red palm butter). as far as memory serves, both have same sap values.

cmiiw.

 

[CrafterAl]

Probably all soap makers at one point wondered if palm oil and palm kernel oil were similar. I know I did...

As has been suggested, oils and fats used in soap making vary in their fatty acid makeup.

It is largely this fatty acid variation that explains the variation in finished soap properties.

If you go to http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp or some other soap calculator, you can see the fatty acid variation.

On the left side of the calculator, look for the fatty acid make-up of the various oils.

As you toggle from coconut oil to palm kernel oil, you will note that the fatty acid composition is very similar. Compare that to olive oil. See how different it is?

Now if you look at palm oil and compare it to lard, you'll again see how similar they are...

And so forth...

If you spend some time looking at the different oils in the calculator it will quickly show you how the oil compositions vary. Again, that oil variation largely explains variation in finished soap properties.

I could waste hours just looking at the fat variations... Actually I guess I already have over the years...

Then you could stand around in the oil aisle at the store reading labels...

 

[LunaSkye]

This is the red palm oil that I bought. It is 100% organic red palm and more importantly non-gmo.

 

[Patrick]

also Palm oil makes a Hard bar!

I buy My palm oil from Target

 

[LunaSkye]

I buy My palm oil from Target

I doubt my target would have it, but I'll definitely check them out. A saved buck is an earned buck imho.

 

[DeeAnna]

Look for "non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening". If you find it, check the ingredients -- the product I found was 100% palm oil. The brand was Spectrum.

 

[LunaSkye]

Thanks, DeeAnna.