My Palm Free Vegan Soap Adventures

[Andrew]

Most of these things have already been mentioned and discussed. I actually used shea and cocoa butter in the recipes i posted on the first page but given its 4 pages of reading i dont blame you if you didnt read it i dont think i would either. Iv opted for soy because its much much cheaper. Im in the uk so i would guess our prices differ quite alot from item to item cocoa butter here is 15 or 16 pounds per kg my wax cost me 3 quid per kg so its not even close price wise. bulk buying cocoa butter here isnt much cheaper either shea butter for 5kg works out about 35 quid so its cheaper and i do buy 5kg buckets of shea palm and coconut oil. I cant justify paying 50 quid for 5kg of cocoa butter and given we have majorly different selling rules via the eu we have to pay to get recipes assessed before we can legally sell here so thats alot of money to pay out to not get any money back for them plus that also depends on the tarket buyer your selling them too it can only make a premium if they are willing too pay that extra. Still planning to put shea in with the soy though but not buying more cocoa butter

yeah i read the whole thing and that is why i also mentioned mango, kokum, and illipe. i don't know what your prices are. there is a thread called soy wax users where I broke down what soy wax actually is and that it is not actually a direct substitute for cocoa. You are welcome to read through that.

 

[Chris_S]

yeah i read the whole thing and that is why i also mentioned mango, kokum, and illipe. i don't know what your prices are. there is a thread called soy wax users where I broke down what soy wax actually is and that it is not actually a direct substitute for cocoa. You are welcome to read through that.

Sorry if it came across as i was criticising you because i wasnt at all trying too i just didnt think you would of read all 4 pages because i wouldnt of done so but i am crap at reading

iv got mango butter in my arsenal and heard of the others but dont think they are easy to get hold of in england so havnt bothered trying i really couldnt tell any difference between using mango butter and not i didnt feel it really brough anything to the soap so dont feel its worth the money.

Iv read bits of that thread but iv been too busy to even think about soaping until today let alone keep up with forum threads like the soy wax one. Iv got a good idea in my head of the recipe im going to use and it will have both shea butter and coconut oil in along with soy wax so that should hopefully keep it hard enough but thats the fun of making soap you win some you lose some

Oh and beeswax is classed as a non vegan friendly addative something iv yet to have expalined to me by a vegan because if it wasnt for bees they wouldnt have all thier veggies but hey ho no everything has ligic based on facts the way i see it is i help my bees thrive and have a supply of food near by to grow as a colony and not all beekeepers extract honey oflr take comb that it being used they often built brace comb and chunks of comb that generally gets in the way of the beekeeper doing thier job so they get removed and that can be used in stuff like soap its not deprived them from anything at all

 

[earlene]

Ok so now the whole melt point has been cleared up and corrected im pretty sure i was thinking of the pour temp not melt temp! Does soy wax cause accelerated or just faster trace or likely to cause any increased reaction to colours (mica) or fragrance?

The only thing I've noticed with micas and soy is pretty much that same as with any darker oil. It tends to mute the colors somewhat, depending on how proportions used. But then so does RBO and any other oil I have used that isn't colorless.

As for acceleration, no, BUT if you soap too cool wax, like any other higher melt point soaping oil, it will start thickening up and may give you a false trace.

 

[Chris_S]

The only thing I've noticed with micas and soy is pretty much that same as with any darker oil. It tends to mute the colors somewhat, depending on how proportions used. But then so does RBO and any other oil I have used that isn't colorless.

As for acceleration, no, BUT if you soap too cool wax, like any other higher melt point soaping oil, it will start thickening up and may give you a false trace.

Yeah i have been soaping pretty successfully between 100-130 depending what iv used so think ill try 110 as thats about where iv had most success. Im about to get sorted to make my first batch just writing up a recipe to use then gunna get sorted its not raining so cats can get put outside without making me feel guilty.

Thank you everyone for thier help.and advice its much appreciated and im sure it will all come in useful and give me lots to think about when i read back over it

 

[Fiona Robertson]

I'm not in the UK, but I am making test batches of palm free soaps using rapeseed wax. I'd be interested in a swap if that's still on the table (I haven't had time to fully read all of the comments yet, but will as soon as my 4 year old is adequately distracted).

Any feedback on your rapeseed wax tests yet MarnieSoapien? I would love to know how they turned out. I just made a test batch yesterday using 5% rapeseed wax.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

Any feedback on your rapeseed wax tests yet MarnieSoapien? I would love to know how they turned out. I just made a test batch yesterday using 5% rapeseed wax.

I wasn't happy with the results, but I was using it at a higher rate (10-20%). I found it contributed to A LOT of ash on my soaps. I struggled with getting the temps right and several of my batches went from trace to mashed potatoes very quickly. And once the soaps cured, I found them to be very abrasive. I'm hoping you have better luck with the rapeseed wax than I did!

 

[Fiona Robertson]

I wasn't happy with the results, but I was using it at a higher rate (10-20%). I found it contributed to A LOT of ash on my soaps. I struggled with getting the temps right and several of my batches went from trace to mashed potatoes very quickly. And once the soaps cured, I found them to be very abrasive. I'm hoping you have better luck with the rapeseed wax than I did!

Oh No, sorry to hear that!! Mine took a while to trace but I kept the temp above 120f by putting it back on the cooker a couple of times. I got a light dusting of soda ash as soon as I took it out of the mould but it hasn't got any worse in 24hrs. I was thinking I would try it again with a weak brine solution. I will let you know if mine feel abrasive once cured...not feeling hopeful now

 

[MarnieSoapien]

@Fiona Robertson Starting at 5% is a wise choice. I was being ambitious and decided to go big. Plus I am used to soaping cool and didn't take into consideration that I was working with a wax that had a high melting point. I got frustrated and needed to walk away from it for a while. I might try again later. Let me know how your results are! And if the soap feels abrasive at 5% you can always drop it down. I just wouldn't recommend higher than 10%