Palm Oil-Free Recipes

[HappyGoNaturally]

I'm here learning and reading. I'm wondering if there is a collection of palm oil-free recipes? In an effort to reduce the use of palm oil, or of buying from sustainable sources, I'd like to find some palm-free recipes so I can begin this hobby sometime soon, but I don't care to support Big Palm.

I was reading this article: https://www.soapqueen.com/business/on-palm-oil/ and was happy to see that Bramble Berry has taken a stand on this issue.

 

[Susie]

Are you opposed to using animal fats?

 

[VelvetDragon]

All but two of the recipes on The Nerdy Farmwife are palm-free.

 

[HappyGoNaturally]

No, I'm not, but I know that there are varied points of view on this.
A recent article I saw ... http://crunchybetty.com/time-to-play-whats-in-your-soap

Is cocoa butter a good alternative to both palm and tallow?

 

[HappyGoNaturally]

All but two of the recipes on The Nerdy Farmwife are palm-free.

Thanks ... I'll read through those!

 

[Susie]

I am of the opinion that every animal used for meat should be respected enough to have all usable parts used. I was raised that way in a hunting/fishing/animal raising family. You don't kill it unless you intend to use every part that can be used. Even the "offal" can be used in a compost pile to fertilize future plants. So, it makes sense to me to use animal fats. After all, no animal is slaughtered for its fat. The fats are a by-product of the meat industry. Those animals were destined to be meat from birth. My not using their fat is not going to change the fate of that animal. The alternative to the fats not being used is that they end up in a land fill. Far, far better that it be used in soap. I am not saying anyone has to agree with me, but that is my opinion.

The whole reason I asked, however, is that palm, lard (pig fat), and tallow (beef, bear, or lots of other animal fats) are very similar in the role that they play in soap. They feel very different in soap, but they serve the same purpose.

Here is my favorite recipe:

65% Lard, Tallow, OR Palm Oil
15% Olive Oil
15% Coconut Oil
5% Castor Oil
5% superfat (set the lye calculator to that, don't try to add a "superfat" after trace)

 

[LilyJo]

There are a number of resources with palm-alternative recipes but one thing that we have found is that you need to differentiate between palm and RSPO approved/segregated palm.

Our research has thrown up a number of questions about the traceability of RSPO palm and we have taken the view that non-palm suits our ethical stance better than something we cannot 100% rely upon. If you are interested in limiting your palm use please do consider reducing it in other areas of your consumer purchases and in our opinion, its worth taking a stance on whether RSPO approved palm fits with what you want to achieve.

As far as the use of animal fats is concerned, I agree that whilst killing animals for meat may or may not (depending on your viewpoint) be acceptable, it is always better to use the whole of the animal from nose to tail. However, whilst rendering animal fats at home is preferable (albeit not very pleasant) most people are not able to do us and would need to buy from wholesalers etc. I just cant get my head around supporting the industry that does that and there is a growing movement (certainly in the UK) for non-animal derived products.

As a result our soaps are produced using no animal products whatsoever and without palm. We have produced a nice hard bar, that lathers well and has no negative responses from our trial.

Guess all I am saying is that palm free and animal free is more than possible - play around with some soap recipes substituting the palm and run through soapcalc; have no doubt you will come up with something that works.

 

[dixiedragon]

Palm, lard and tallow are somewhat interchangeable, meaning you are going to get a similar soap in regards to hardness and bubbles. If you want to use something besides those three, you have to build your recipe in a different way.

 

[cmzaha]

I am of the opinion that every animal used for meat should be respected enough to have all usable parts used. I was raised that way in a hunting/fishing/animal raising family. You don't kill it unless you intend to use every part that can be used. Even the "offal" can be used in a compost pile to fertilize future plants. So, it makes sense to me to use animal fats. After all, no animal is slaughtered for its fat. The fats are a by-product of the meat industry. Those animals were destined to be meat from birth. My not using their fat is not going to change the fate of that animal. The alternative to the fats not being used is that they end up in a land fill. Far, far better that it be used in soap. I am not saying anyone has to agree with me, but that is my opinion.

The whole reason I asked, however, is that palm, lard (pig fat), and tallow (beef, bear, or lots of other animal fats) are very similar in the role that they play in soap. They feel very different in soap, but they serve the same purpose.

Here is my favorite recipe:

65% Lard, Tallow, OR Palm Oil
15% Olive Oil
15% Coconut Oil
5% Castor Oil
5% superfat (set the lye calculator to that, don't try to add a "superfat" after trace)

I totally agree with Susie, we even changed to releasing all sharks we would catch because we could not consume all the meat for them. The only I am not sure about is the killing of Emu for the layer of fat. I know people do eat the meat but I really question how much of the meat is processed for sale. Until I see proof that the Emu is not killed for just the fat layer I refuse to purchase the oil. I love tallow in soap and have no dos problems with it, on the other hand I do have problems with lard and dos so have to add in some extra BHT. This site has some good palm free recipes http://www.millersoap.com/
Referring to the rendering of fats, most of our butchers and grocers here send in their trimmings from packaging meats to a rendering company. So the scraps are not going to waste

 

[Susie]

I Until I see proof that the Emu is not killed for just the fat layer I refuse to purchase the oil.

I agree. But the other concern I have for Emu oil is that it is the only oil that will carry substances through human skin to be absorbed into the blood stream. They use it to make topical medications/patches that work over time to treat Alzheimer's and high blood pressure. I don't want stuff from my soap/lotion/etc absorbing to my bloodstream.

 

[dixiedragon]

I love beeswax at 5%. I tried 10% and it makes a softer bar than 5% which is so weird to me. Also, the 10% beeswax had very little lather and was almost lotion-y feeling. But at 5% it makes a very hard bar of soap. Granted, I am using it with lard, but it might be something to consider.

 

[HappyGoNaturally]

This is all very interesting to me ... thanks so much for your comments!

I live in an area where there are many goat farms -- is tallow from this source a feasible option?

Much more reading, exploring for me to do with this -- I first became aware of the palm oil
issue a few years ago and the more I've read, the more concerned I am about it. I know there
are sustainable sources, yet I feel that sometime in the last fifty+ years, those plantations were
also beautiful rain forests that have been lost forever.

I'm just going to post this here for my (possible) future reference in case the
goat farms here can sometime supply with a raw material that I will need to render.
http://joybileefarm.com/easy-guide-to-render-fat-into-tallow/

Looks as though my outdoor birds wouldn't mind me getting into this either!
(re: comments at end of article)
I've never made a candle that includes tallow, that might also be of some interest to me.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It's true, seeds in tallow is a dream for birds. A place where I will buy my tallow sells it for that purpose

 

[Susie]

Both of the most common soap/lye calculators have goat tallow listed as an oil. So, yes, you can use goat tallow in soap.