Palm Oil

[Seventeen Soaps]

Am I the only one that no longer uses palm oil in any of my soaps?

As I hadn't made soap in a few years I thought I would try and gather some fun new recipes and was shocked to see they all still contained palm oil.

Since all the media coverage brought the aspect of what is happening to produce the palm oil and the destruction to habitat it causes I decided years ago to go palm free however when I see all the recipes posted up over the internet 99% include palm oil.

 

[dubnica]

Yep, there are a lot of recipes with palm. I use lard instead but that does not work for some that are vegans like my co-worker.

 

[rileylite]

I know some suppliers only use palm oil that was responsibly harvested, and was certified by some kind of environmental council. But you will have to pay more for it, and you'll have to make sure you're buying from a responsible company who wouldn't lie about it.

 

[Seventeen Soaps]

I haven't used it in years and won't be doing so again...I just reformulate the oil portion to account for it. I won't use lard either, part of the reason I started making my soaps was to get away from animal fat portion of so I only make 100% vegetable oil soaps.

I that I will just use fragrance and additive ideas and add them to my current tried and true recipes

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I use palm oil in some soaps but have quite a few recipes without palm. My favourite recipe has no palm. If you do a search on "palm free soap recipe", you'll find many recipes. :wink:

 

[fiddletree]

I don't use palm. I felt too guilty when I used it, and even though my palm-free recipe costs significantly more to make (lots of shea butter in it), my conscious is lighter. I'm a vegetarian, so I don't use animal fats.

I think most people still use palm, but some don't. If I were to use palm, I'd get the sustainable variety, but I figure that doesn't help much, as truly sustainable palm oil doesn't really exist as far as I can tell, and the only thing that could help the situation is to not add to the demand.

 

[carebear]

i use palm in certain formulas. i don't feel guilty.
it's all a matter of balance.

 

[dagmar88]

i use palm in certain formulas. i don't feel guilty.
it's all a matter of balance.

Same here.

Also, I don't think the palm plants are the problem, just a result.
And many ingredient have got there own disadvantages.

I've decided not to go with the ingredient bashing wave, whether it's Phthalates, SLS, parabens, argan/soy/palm oil.
It really starts to annoy me that consumers are scared in to buying stuff, instead of making the best possible product you can and educating them.

I like it, I've done my research, I use it

 

[eleraine]

I have both - palm and palm-free.

 

[Padamae]

I bought a little palm oil and have not been impressed but I do use palm kernel flakes. I don't like having to melt all of my palm like each time.

 

[honor435]

I still use, dont feel guilty.

 

[green soap]

I don't use palm in any of my soap (or other) recipes. I tried it but found that I could make fine soap without it. They lather very nicely, get you really clean, are conditioning, smell great, who needs palm?

Most of my soaps are vegan, except for the goat milk ones (and the honey ones).

 

[IrishLass]

I use PKO and don't feel guilty.

I agree with what carebear and dagmar88 said. Just about everything we use in soapmaking has an up-side and a down-side, but we don't hear so much about the downsides of those other things because palm gets the most exposure in the media. The more I study it, the more I understand that this is not such a black & white issue as it may seem on the surface, and so to me, it all comes down to balance. My ingredients motto is 'Do your own research, choose to use/not use according to your own conscience, and if others choose differently, then so be it'.


IrishLass

 

[carebear]

coconut oil is not without its own issues.
for example, unless you are using "organic" (and keep in mind that 3 X as much organic oil is sold than is produced) then your coconut oil is probably extracted using solvents.

nothing and no one is without impact on our planet.

 

[Seventeen Soaps]

I wasn't talking about the plant but the destruction to the habitat. And if you can find "plantation" crops that is great, but I believe that supply and demand is how the industry works so if I am just one less person buying it then that's one more but of habitat saved. I don't think anyone should feel guilty about using anything nor do I preach my beliefs as what you do or don't use is 100% a personal choice

And as for ingredient bashing well the main reason I started making my own skin care products was to get away from all the nasty ingredients and I don't add any of them to my products. I have a chemical sensitivity which means I must be careful what I put near my skin and if I use products that contain SLS's or parabens just to name a couple of things as it upsets my hormones and leads to my hair falling out and various other symptoms. Most of those "ingredients" are unnecessary and only used as they are cheaper than the alternative!

But that wasn't the aim of my original post it was purely the fact that I was shocked as I thought more people were on the same thought as I was but maybe it was just a passing fad for many a few years ago.

[/quote]

 

[carebear]

oh yes. i see.
“If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.”

 

[dagmar88]

I wasn't talking about the plant but the destruction to the habitat.

The habitat is destructed for wood (fast money, relatively little investments) and because of careless, corrupt governments.

I don't think anyone should feel guilty about using anything nor do I preach my beliefs as what you do or don't use is 100% a personal choice

And as for ingredient bashing well the main reason I started making my own skin care products was to get away from all the nasty ingredients and I don't add any of them to my products.

Nasty doesn't sound the least judgmental.

I have a chemical sensitivity which means I must be careful what I put near my skin and if I use products that contain SLS's or parabens just to name a couple of things as it upsets my hormones and leads to my hair falling out and various other symptoms.

That happens. People can develop allergies or sensitivities to almost anything and everything, 'natural' or chemical.

Most of those "ingredients" are unnecessary and only used as they are cheaper than the alternative!

Preservatives are necessary and I have yet to find a more stable, safe and well tested alternative.

 

[Seventeen Soaps]

I'm sorry dagmar88 but I think you have read things into my post that aren't there!

All things are made up of chemicals and whether natural or not I am sensitive to some. Some of the not so nice ones happen to affect me and many others more than other people. They are nasty ingredients and I am not against preservatives or the like but there are plenty to choose from and I choose to use alternatives. There is nothing judgmental about making a choice not to use something it is purely a choice that every individual has the right to make. And again I was purely talking about myself and my choices!! Some people are not affected at all by things and lucky for them but I think you off the mark on your attacking responses to me. I didn't develop this sensitivity I was born with it but until I was old enough to research and find out answers to my questions I wasn't able to do anything about it. But again I wasn't product bashing but merely asking if there was any other soapers who had chosen to go palm free

Palm trees are not chopped down for their wood either

 

[judymoody]

If you're opposed to palm oil, it's easy enough to formulate your own recipes using a program like soapcalc.net You can tweak to get the fatty acid profile that you like. Chances are a lot of recipes floating around on the internet are based on easy to find ingredients and the basic three: OO, CO, PO.

Nothing we use is impact-free with respect to habitat loss or energy use. I'm sure that species are displaced by coconut and babassu plantations too.

I buy sustainable palm but a number of my recipes don't include palm at all. Everybody makes different choices. I know for some soapers, local and sustainable trumps all else so they use locally farmed tallow and lard. Not my preference, but to each his or her own.

 

[green soap]

Tallow and lard are sustainable, but they carry and 'ick' factor for many people.