Best soaping oil/s? Lard and what else?

[not_ally]

OK, JK, sort of, about the lard. I know that is not good for those of you who want to avoid animal fats completely. Also, it is kind of a stupid query in some ways, b/c those of us who post here already know a lot about what the rest of us use. But it is still fun to talk about it

For me: lard in large amounts (60-75%). Also castor in little ones (5-8%). Everything else is negotiable. Lard: moisturizing, good lather which takes well to working w/castor, white bar, hard bar, pretty much as close to the moisture-lather unreachable Holy Grail thing as you can get. Castor: great about making existing lather good, and that is about it.

Anyone else? It would be helpful to specify the stuff you cannot live without and why (so maybe 1-3 oils) rather than listing recipes

 

[Obsidian]

Olive oil is a must in my recipes, 20%-25% really adds to the overall skin feel. I also really like avocado oil in small amounts.

 

[not_ally]

Obsidian, the small amount that is left for me almost always includes at least a little bit of olive (or avocado) and CO. For me, a combination of the basic oils somehow always creates some kind of fusion which is better.

 

[Susie]

Lard, castor oil, OO, CO, tallow.

Lard in high amounts. At least 50%.

Olive oil in most everything, 25% or less.

CO in everything @ 20% or less.

Castor oil 5% in most everything. High amounts in shampoo bars.

Everything else is negotiable.

 

[Seawolfe]

Coconut - I don't think I've ever made a soap without coconut oil. And you know what a salt bar **** I am, so there

Of course you know I share your lard love. And olive oil is a standard, though I do adore me some sweet almond oil as well. Castor is a constant, but I have left it out of some recipes and they did OK, so I count castor as useful but not critical.

 

[not_ally]

So far we have (in no particular order, except for my favorite ) we have lard, OO, CO, castor, tallow, avocado (I was almost tempted to include that w/a slash w/olive, it seems so similar to me, although I do like it better in marginal ways), SAO.

No butters so far, and no really expensive/exotic oils.

Sea, there are a lot of you salt bar sluts out there, we need an acronym.

 

[KristaMarie]

Shea and cocoa butters are essential for me, because I don't use palm or animal fats. I am definitely in the minority here!

 

[Sonya-m]

Lard anywhere from 35-75%

Castor always 5%

CO always 15-20%

And OO in my lower lard % soaps to make up the balance

 

[Arthur Dent]

I like to use a little Sunflower Oil now and then.

 

[IrishLass]

-Olive is probably my biggest staple oil. Depending on my formula, I use it in every single one of them except for my salt bars.

-Rice bran for linoleic in 2 of my most important formulas.

-Avocado oil for my shaving formula and a lip balm formula

-Being a Bubble Babe (since we're coming up with names and all ), coconut oil, PKO flakes, and castor oil for the perfect lather trifecta- they are a major game player in the majority of all my formulas.

-Lard, tallow and the butters (illipe, kokum, cocoa and mango are my staple butters, both for soap and other B&B things that I make).

All of the above are non-negotiable to me.

Others that I have on hand are babassu and shea, but they are negotiable.


IrishLass

 

[spenny92]

Shea and cocoa butters are essential for me, because I don't use palm or animal fats. I am definitely in the minority here!

Same here - although I think cocoa butter is more essential for me. Love my butters, though!

 

[cmzaha]

Tallow, Palm or Palm Shortening, Avocado, Sunflower HO are my favorites. I am still having DOS issues with lard so use it in smaller amounts. OO is my very least favorite oil although I do use it in small amounts since it is quite reasonable, but any percentage over 15% feels sticky to me

 

[galaxyMLP]

I don't use CO or any other "bubbly" oils here except castor. Olive is a must for me. I love lard, palm, Shea and a bit of avocado. Just not a CO fan... Too drying. Although, I can't wait for the swap soaps becasue maybe I'm just doing it all wrong.

 

[shunt2011]

Olive, coconut, pko, castor, lard, Palm, avocado. I too use co, pko, and castor together. But I'm a salt bar **** primarily

 

[TeresaT]

Lard, olive, coconut, castor, are my regular recipe in varying combos. I add Shea butter sometimes.

I have done avocado, flax and sesame, too. Might use them again.
Used cocoa butter once and will never use it again. Stuff was a brick and made my house stink! :lolno:

 

[doriettefarm]

Lard, tallow, sweet almond, avocado, rice bran, sunflower, PKO, castor & cocoa butter are my faves.

Carolyn - where do you buy your lard? I almost always use the manteca lard which has EDTA added and over 5 yrs have only had 1 batch DOS. I'd like to think the added EDTA helps but haven't done enough batches with freshly rendered lard to compare.

 

[DeeAnna]

Main fats: Lard, HO safflower or HO sunflower (olive alternatives), coconut oil.

Secondary fats: Avocado (thanks, Carolyn, for turning me on to this!) and castor.

Coming soon to a soap kitchen near me: Freshly rendered tallow (thanks to my co-worker Connie and my fellow soaper Renae). Don't know where tallow will rank in my soapy pantheon, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

 

[snappyllama]

Lard is non negotiable. I like CO and PKO at equal amounts. I'm a big fan of a little shea. For me, olive oil is good, but it's easily exchanged for AO, Pumpkin Oil or Hemp - depending on my mood. I keep Pumpkin and Hemp below 15% though.

ETA: Castor @ 5%, gotta have it .

 

[not_ally]

One of the fun things about spending time on a forum is that you figure out who soaps like you do (and we are all different w/r/t end goals) which makes it great when they post, I already have some new thoughts on this thread based on that. Also, now we have some new terms. Salt Bar **** and Bubble Babe. We should add those to a "important but not scientific soap term" sticky! Also one from a thread I saw long ago from Morpheus, "I meant to do that" when things go awry