non-tropical oils, animal-free soap recipes

[Zany_in_CO]

Well NOW I'm confused! (To) wax, or not (to) wax, that is the question...

I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference. I prefer hydrogenated soy oil. It's just a matter of what is available to you and the cost. Many SMF members are currently into adding soy wax to their batches. You can research their experiences by using the magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of this page.

 

[earlene]

Mea culpa. My bad. To be honest, I'm not familiar with "liquid soybean oil" but I will look for it the next time I'm at the store. That's what made me respond as I did.

"Soybean Oil", to my mind at least, was always solid -- from the time I first started soaping it Lo, those many years ago. It was always available at Costco and that's what I used, mainly after Crisco changed formula, if memory serves. I liked the creamy lather.

FWIW, Soy wax wasn't listed on SoapCalc until a few years ago when chandlers started making soy wax candles and soapers started using it in soap. Here is a thread about Soy Wax use back in 2003. At that time, I think the ONLY option was Soybean Oil (27.5% hydrogenated) because that's what showed up on the printout of the recipe where I used soy wax. You may remember it differently. ???

No worries. I am actually surprised you haven't seen it. Although I prefer not to use it for cooking or in soap due to it's short shelf life, bottled liquid Soybean oil is sold in many grocery stores. This is what it might look like at Walmart & Sam's Club & Costco respectively:



At Sam's the 35-pound bottle of liquid is enclosed in a box, so unless you pick it up and shake it, you may not have ever noticed it is a liquid. Same for Costco - you would have to pick it up & shake it if you wanted to verify that it is a liquid. Sometimes it is only labeled as "Vegetable Oil" but when you read the label closely, you'll find that the oil is actually soybean oil, although sometimes when labeled "Vegetable Oil" it may be a blend.

Often it is a blend of soybean oil and other oils that are used as a frying oil in restaurants in fry cookers for French Fries, onion rings and so forth.