Cheapest oils for experimenting?

[Kari]

I am looking to test a few designs I have in mind. This will be fragrance free, and I have a bunch of cheapo Amazon micas for colors. However I don't want to waste expensive oils for this.

I was originally going to just use canola, however I've been scared away by some pictures I've seen. I could probably use it, however. I don't plan on selling these, just experiment and then use around the house.

What does the local grocery store carry that I could grab tonight to make soap tomorrow?

Thanks!

 

[Relle]

Olive oil, ricebran oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, these are relatively cheap, have no idea of prices in your area or what they carry, only you know that. There is nothing wrong with canola, mix it in with other oils.

The best idea would be to go to the store and see which is the cheapest, or see what you are willing to pay for and go from there.

 

[Anglezarke]

Lard a very, very cheap option. Mixed with Coconut Oil and Olive Oil in the correct proportions and you have a very good soap regardless of cost. Sweet Almond excellent too, if available locally.

 

[Dawni]

My supermarket has grapeseed oil as well, around the same price as avocado, both of which cost a bit more than olive oil. Coconut and rice bran is dirt cheap here, and a little more than that is mid oleic sunflower and canola oils.

I've seen recipes with soybean oil but never tried. Also cheap here.

I've made a 50% mid oleic canola oil soap and I've been watching it for DOS. So far so good at 6mos but it's known to be prone. If you use less, or a high oleic one, it'll lessen the chances while giving you a nice, bubbly soap. My mom actually likes that one.

But I agree. Lard is awesome, and cheap.. Costs even less than coconut and rice bran here. I use it regularly as Anglezarke said, with coconut and olive (or RBO) and it's a very nice soap.

 

[Obsidian]

I use lard, coconut and safflower. The saff is the cheapest high oleic oil I can get and it makes really nice soap, I completely replaced OO with it.

 

[Lin19687]

Crisco, Lard, CO

 

[Mobjack Bay]

The Walmart I went to the other day had Armour lard for $1.50 lb. The cheapest OO I can find locally is $17 for 101 fluid oz at my grocery store, which works out to be approx. $2.78 lb. I stock up on the more expensive oils, like avocado, when they’re on sale. I also just discovered that the Walmart had castor oil and aloe juice at half the price of my local Walgreen drugstore .

 

[shunt2011]

Lard, Coconut, HO Sunflower or Safflower or Olive.

 

[earlene]

Depending on the store, I'd buy OO, HO sunflower or HO safflower, the cheapest brand of CO I could find (or leave it out if no cheap brand was available - depends on the store). I used to use grapeseed when it was available, but it's not always and I rarely use it anymore, because of the short shelf life.

But it really does depend on what your store has available. I have been in many stores that carry only 4 oils total in the baking aisles, so that can really limit the grocery store oils buyer. If all you are doing is testing colors, I'd go for the lightest oils possible. And if you don't really care about the quality of the soap per se, use whatever is cheapest. But I'd want nice soap that I'd like to use at some point, so I'd use the oils I prefer in my own soap.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Rice Bran Oil is dirt cheap here, less than half the price of all the others.