Less number of different oils vs high number of different oils

[cmzaha]

Is Avocado oil worth getting to sub in for some of Olive in a recipe. Avocado refined oil is $15/L and Olive is is about $5/L

I personally am not fond of olive oil in soap and use it in small percentages. Avocado I love and even buying in bulk is not cheap so I usually keep it around 20% of my recipe. Soapers Choice has a cosmetic grade which is quite less costly and I have to say it works out to feel as nice as my pure avocado in soap. They blend with oils including avocado to come up with the same or similar fatty acid profile as 100% avocado. I did not purchase it, but a gallon was included in a de-stash of supplies I acquired. LOL, it was another of the oils in the Soapers Choice yellow gallon bottles that was still sealed, so it was old. I replaced my avocado oil in my normal avocado recipe and side by side I do not notice a difference. I used the regular Avocado Oil Sap and it work fine

 

[sephera]

Yes sigh it's not cheap the $15/L is even the lowest grade one.

Wonder what oils they used in the blend.

 

[DeeAnna]

Sephera -- Avocado oil cost about that much for me here in the US if I get it from a grocery store, so I agree it's not cheap. But it's considerably less expensive than many of the "luxury" oils I can think of -- jojoba and argan come to mind. But it's all about cost vs benefits. If it's too costly and you don't see much benefit, then the answer is clear -- don't use it.

 

[sephera]

What about Hemp seed oil that is very pricey but Bronner's uses it and some luxury soap markers used it in small quantities.

 

[shunt2011]

What about Hemp seed oil that is very pricey but Bronner's uses it and some luxury soap markers used it in small quantities.

You can use hemp but keep it at a lower percentage as it doesn't have a very long shelf life. I've used it at 15% with no issues. I had a bar for 2+ years and no DOS.

 

[navigator9]

Sephera, if you're looking for a particular oil that's going to make you go "Wow!" when you use your soap, I think you may be disappointed. I really feel it's more about the total balance of your recipe, than it is about any particular individual ingredient. It's fun to try them all, and see what you think, but in the end, it takes a well constructed recipe to make a great soap. You can't take an unbalanced recipe, add a luxury oil, and make it great. You need a solid foundation.

 

[Soapmaker145]

I make a hemp and beer soap for the boys with 40% hemp oil. I have bars that are >2 years old and they haven't developed any DOS or any other problem. Hemp has both polyunsaturated omega 3 and 6 which are considered more vulnerable to oxidation. I've also added flaxseed (high omega 3) to soap without any problems. I still can't figure out what causes DOS to develop on soap. So far, only some FOs seem to contribute to DOS.

Cold pressed hemp oil is dark green. Keep the color in mind if you decide on a colorful design.

 

[Ruthie]

It is interesting to me that it was more than halfway through this thread before anyone mentioned an animal oil (Thanks, Dixiedragon!) and there has been no mention since. I do realize that some have an aversion to AO in soap. Even if you don't, if you are selling and live in an area where vegan soap is expected, that is a consideration. But I've spent years perfecting my "go to" recipe, and it contains both lard and beef tallow. If I had to choose one of the 2, it would be lard. It mimics human skin and IMO nothing is better. I've tried most all of the pricey oils, but settled on a 5 oil recipe that includes lard, tallow, olive, coconut and castor.

 

[mx5inpenn]

It is interesting to me that it was more than halfway through this thread before anyone mentioned an animal oil (Thanks, Dixiedragon!) and there has been no mention since. I do realize that some have an aversion to AO in soap. Even if you don't, if you are selling and live in an area where vegan soap is expected, that is a consideration. But I've spent years perfecting my "go to" recipe, and it contains both lard and beef tallow. If I had to choose one of the 2, it would be lard. It mimics human skin and IMO nothing is better. I've tried most all of the pricey oils, but settled on a 5 oil recipe that includes lard, tallow, olive, coconut and castor.

I personally didn't avoid mentioning animal oils. But I was replying about the number of oils used and *luxury* oils. My standard recipe is more than 50% lard and I would not give up using it!

 

[dixiedragon]

It is interesting to me that it was more than halfway through this thread before anyone mentioned an animal oil (Thanks, Dixiedragon!) and there has been no mention since. I do realize that some have an aversion to AO in soap. Even if you don't, if you are selling and live in an area where vegan soap is expected, that is a consideration. But I've spent years perfecting my "go to" recipe, and it contains both lard and beef tallow. If I had to choose one of the 2, it would be lard. It mimics human skin and IMO nothing is better. I've tried most all of the pricey oils, but settled on a 5 oil recipe that includes lard, tallow, olive, coconut and castor.

My fav soap recipe uses lard. But I'm not big on animal fats in lotion, etc, except emu for its special properties. I couldn't really tell you why, though. since my tallow lives in the freezer I assume it is not shelf stable and thus not appropriate for lip balm, lotion, etc, but lard would probably be fine. But the idea of lard lotion is not appealing to me. But now I'm contemplating a natural bacon lip balm flavor using lard.

 

[ContentedKyrie]

It is interesting to me that it was more than halfway through this thread before anyone mentioned an animal oil (Thanks, Dixiedragon!) and there has been no mention since. I do realize that some have an aversion to AO in soap. Even if you don't, if you are selling and live in an area where vegan soap is expected, that is a consideration. But I've spent years perfecting my "go to" recipe, and it contains both lard and beef tallow. If I had to choose one of the 2, it would be lard. It mimics human skin and IMO nothing is better. I've tried most all of the pricey oils, but settled on a 5 oil recipe that includes lard, tallow, olive, coconut and castor.

I quite literally have gallons of tallow in my home. I went to a butcher and asked for some backstrap fat and he gave me about 7 backstraps (including the kidneys). It took me about 30 hours to process them, filter, etc. I ended up with about 8 gallons' worth.

The recipe I developed is my husband's favorite. It uses coconut oil and olive oil with the tallow. If I were to compare it, I would say that it could be considered an alternative to Dove.

I haven't worked on tweaking recipes much lately. Maybe next year.

 

[ContentedKyrie]

I'm surprised you would mention that tallow doesn't have a long shelf life. The tallow I have (I must have filtered it a minimum of 3 to 4 times) has been in my house in the gallon jars since July of 2014 or 2015. It hasn't gone bad. I don't care for lard myself, but it may have been the recipe I created. I do love the tallow, though, or rather, my husband loves it.

 

[biarine]

I like the feeling of soaps that has Lard or Tallow in it but I just hate the smell. I remembered I made soap with Lard, coconut, OO and Castor oil. I scented it with vetiver EO one my favourite essential oils. The smell it makes my stomach really bad because I can still smell the Lard but my husband likes the scent.