Soy Based Butters

[Christa10]

I searched but couldn't find any info on this. In reading about all the butters out there that can be used to make cold process soap, I find that many of the specialized butters, like Avocado, Aloe, Calendula, etc., are mostly Soy Butter (up to 97%). Avocado butter, for example, appears to just be Soy Butter mixed with Avocado oil. And the difference in price is substantial in some cases. I'm wondering if it is worth it to buy the specialized butters? I was thinking I could just use basic Soy Butter and then add one of the oils (like avocado) which would achieve the same result as using the more expensive Avocado Butter. What do you think? I'm not referring to a discussion of other butters like Mango or Cocoa, because they do not have added Soy Butter - so only the ones that you can buy that have a Soy Butter base with added oils that they then label as Avocado Butter, or Aloe Butter, or Macadamia Nut Butter, etc..

 

[KiwiMoose]

I haven't heard of soy butter, but I use soy wax in my soap. I guess it's the same thing? Hydrogenated soy? But I agree - i definitely would not waste money on 'butters' that are not really a proper butter.

 

[Zing]

I searched but couldn't find any info on this. In reading about all the butters out there that can be used to make cold process soap, I find that many of the specialized butters, like Avocado, Aloe, Calendula, etc., are mostly Soy Butter (up to 97%). Avocado butter, for example, appears to just be Soy Butter mixed with Avocado oil. And the difference in price is substantial in some cases. I'm wondering if it is worth it to buy the specialized butters? I was thinking I could just use basic Soy Butter and then add one of the oils (like avocado) which would achieve the same result as using the more expensive Avocado Butter. What do you think? I'm not referring to a discussion of other butters like Mango or Cocoa, because they do not have added Soy Butter - so only the ones that you can buy that have a Soy Butter base with added oils that they then label as Avocado Butter, or Aloe Butter, or Macadamia Nut Butter, etc..

My only concern is typing the correct substance into the lye calculator.

In general I save my expensive ingredients for leave-on products. I do know some sellers will include small amounts of expensive ingredients in soap for label appeal.

 

[not_ally]

I agree with @KiwiMoose, a lot of places offer those adulterated butters. I think they are just moneymakers for the sellers and that people don't read closely enough to realize that they are almost all soy. I won't tell you how I know, but I'm not making that mistake again. Another thing to consider is that soy butter may have a shorter shelf life than whatever it is being sold as, so I would consider (eg) avocado butter of this type to have a shelf life of 8 mos (for soy butter) rather than 100% avocado butter (1-1.5 years).

 

[Christa10]

I agree with @KiwiMoose, a lot of places offer those adulterated butters. I think they are just moneymakers for the sellers and that people don't read closely enough to realize that they are almost all soy. I won't tell you how I know, but I'm not making that mistake again. Another thing to consider is that soy butter may have a shorter shelf life than whatever it is being sold as, so I would consider (eg) avocado butter of this type to have a shelf life of 8 mos (for soy butter) rather than 100% avocado butter (1-1.5 years).

Hi not_ally, I have yet to find an avocado butter that is not mixed with something else, such as hydrogenated vegetable oil (Brambleberry), Soy Butter (New Directions), Soybean lipids and beeswax (Making Cosmetics), etc. If you're aware of any, please let me know where I can find it. Thanks for the info.

I haven't heard of soy butter, but I use soy wax in my soap. I guess it's the same thing? Hydrogenated soy? But I agree - i definitely would not waste money on 'butters' that are not really a proper butter.

Thanks KiwiMoose, I'm guessing that they mean hydrogenated soy. The only true one ingredient butters that I'm aware of are Cocoa, Mango, Illipe, Kokum, Shea, Cupuacu, and something called Sal (that I never heard of before). I often use Cocoa, Kokum and Mango for making soap, but I was also using "Avocado" butter, which I found out is a combination of mostly other things and only a small amount of avocado. That's when I started thinking maybe just using Soy Butter (which is probably soy wax) and adding avocado oil.

My only concern is typing the correct substance into the lye calculator.

In general I save my expensive ingredients for leave-on products. I do know some sellers will include small amounts of expensive ingredients in soap for label appeal.

Thanks Zing, I agree, trying to find the right substance in the lye calculator is kind of what led me to the original question, because, even though avocado butter is listed in the lye calculator, I haven't found one that is actually avocado rather than a mix, so I wondered whether I should be using Hydrogenated Soybean instead. I can get avocado oil here at Costco fairly inexpensively, so my logic was to just use the soy and add the avocado oil as one of the oils for the soap. I wondered whether anyone else might have come to the same conclusion about those butters, like avocado, which turn out to be at least 90% something else.

 

[not_ally]

@Christa10, somehow I missed your query about whether or not I knew of an avocado butter that is actually made of avocado and not soy. I believe that this one is, although I have not used it (it's not cheap at $20/lb.) Let us know what you think if you do!

ETA: I didn't reread this thread before I posted this, and having done so I don't think I would bother buying this for soap. I think you could get the benefits from it from the oil, which is cheaper, and use a cheaper butter, like shea, if you wanted the conditioning and hardening benefits of a butter.

https://www.thesulu.com/products/3-...refined-avocado-butter?variant=21415723892849

 

[Christa10]

@Christa10, somehow I missed your query about whether or not I knew of an avocado butter that is actually made of avocado and not soy. I believe that this one is, although I have not used it (it's not cheap at $20/lb.) Let us know what you think if you do!

ETA: I didn't reread this thread before I posted this, and having done so I don't think I would bother buying this for soap. I think you could get the benefits from it from the oil, which is cheaper, and use a cheaper butter, like shea, if you wanted the conditioning and hardening benefits of a butter.

https://www.thesulu.com/products/3-...refined-avocado-butter?variant=21415723892849

Thanks not_ally. It is interesting to know that there are actually some butters that appear to be pure avocado, and I agree with you that this would be better utilized for something other than soap. I noticed that the description on one of the pictures of the product says "Unrefined cold pressed from heavy pomace of avocado oil." It sounds like a great product but not for soap. I looked at a few of their other butters, and some are competitively priced so I will keep the link to the site, just to explore sales or other products. Thanks for the info, and for getting back to me. We learn so much from each other on this forum!