Green tea seed oil

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Cactuslily

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Has anyone used green tea seed oil as an additive? If so, can you give me some feedback? Did you lower overall SF to allow for this? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Green tea and black tea come from the same plant; the "green" or "black" part comes from the different way the tea leaves are processed. "Green tea" seed oil is more correctly called Camellia sinensis seed oil -- that's how you're going to find it in the soap calcs anyways.

I think people are using the "green tea" name because of the cachet that green tea has in the marketplace and also because people can easily confuse the simpler name of "tea seed" oil with tea tree EO. Camellia sinensis oil has a saponification value -- you treat it just like any other soaping fat when creating a recipe.

I haven't used it in soap. It's kind of expensive, at least the stuff I've looked at. It might be better in lotions and other leave on products?
 
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I've used it but only when I have some that is getting a bit old that I want to use up. It is very similar in composition to olive oil with oleic acid and then linoleic acid being the 2 most common components. You normally want to minimize the linoleic fraction in the soap to reduce the likelihood of DOS. You treat it like any other oil.
 
Hmmm. I was told by BB to use as an additive @1T PPO, and to maybe lower SF if too oily. I've had it now for over a year, so I hate to waste it. soapmaker, what % did you use in your soap?
Deanna, as always, I so appreciate your posts. thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail. Your breadth of knowledge blows me away. We are lucky to have you on the forum.
 
Has anyone used green tea seed oil as an additive? If so, can you give me some feedback? Did you lower overall SF to allow for this? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I have used Camellia Oil at 10% and at 30% in CP soap recipes. I have had a lot of trouble with it. At 10% the soap takes a long time to harden. At 30% my recipe has still not hardened after 8 days. It is spongy.

I made 2 soaps at the same time one with almond oil at 30% and one with camellia oil. I wrapped them and put them in a 100*F oven and then turned it off. The almond is perfect, the camellia is a disaster.

I can't work out why because on paper it should be a substitute for other oils but it has to be the camellia oil or my soap making - which is entirely possible. : )
 
I've used it at 10% and it was fine. I think there is a bit of problem with the quality of green tea seed oil on the market. The composition of the oil in soapcacl is different from the one I've seen published which had significantly more linoleic acid. It may depend on the extraction method but honestly I don't see why. The extraction method may affect what other unsaponifiable compounds are extracted with it which may have an unpredictable effect on the cp process. I also think it is one of the oils that is more likely to be diluted with other oils.

It is supposed to be high in antioxidants but realistically who knows what you end up with after cure. If you add it at 1 Tbs ppo (about 10 to 12 grams) and you use 5% superfat, you can probably ignore it. It will add 2 to 2.5% to the overall superfat. I doubt you'll notice it. If you superfat at higher levels, it can become a problem. My suggestion is to weigh the amount you add so you know exactly how much you are adding and decide if you want to compensate for it. You can also try adding it at 5% in a small batch and see if it misbehaves.
 
You are very welcome. I'm happy to share. Please share your experience with this oil after you try it.
 
Might this be a good additive for hot process soap, to add after the cook? Then whatever skin benefits in brings will remain (mostly) intact, assuming the heat isn't damaging.
 

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