Palm Oil

[MindBodyGarden]

Hi Everyone

I have been a follower of this forum for some time and just decided to jump in and sign up, so HELLO!!

I've been soaping for about year (read up and about it for a year or so BEFORE that), and I just recently realized I may need some more help...

I recently heard that I should be melting my Palm Oil in its entirety BEFORE I add any to my other oils/lye. Is this true?

I have a huge container of palm oil, so I'm wondering if that means I have to melt all of that, then take what I need, and leave the rest? Can I leave melted Palm oil in the container and use again later?

I guess I'm a little confused on it. I have been soaping for a while but I do realize that some of my soaps containing Palm Oil, can be a little crumbly.

Any help or advise would really help
Thanks
Kim

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Welcome! I don't often have an issue with my palm, but it is the major part of a cooking fat that I buy, which might have something to do with it.

Some people do melt down their palm, it's also a good time to store it in portions that you need for a recipe, for example. But they also say that it helps in general with palm.

 

[CaraBou]

MGB, Welcome to SMF!

You will have more predictable, consistent, and desirable results if you always melt and stir the entire contents of your palm oil before using it. Once you've "homogenized" it, you can pour some into smaller containers so that it's not such a hassle to melt for subsequent soapings. And yes, it is okay to remelt the same tub multiple times if you need to (just don't get it too hot and ruin your oil). If you commonly use the same amount of PO in your batches, after you've melted/stirred you can just premeasure that amount into individual tubs, and then add a whole container to your soaping pot instead of having to heat & mix the PO separately again. Just give it all a good stickblend before adding the lye. Does that make sense?

Another approach some people take is to frequently stir the melted PO as it cools down, so that when it is finally solidified, it is homogenized and won't need the melting/mixing process repeated. But that isn't foolproof, and some people still have problems with stearic spots or streaks. For one thing, it gets really difficult to stir as it solidifies, so you might not be able to mix it enough to match its tendency to separate. Also, if you store your PO in a warm place (or live in a warm climate), your PO may melt and resolidify in the container without you knowing it.

The bottom line, I think, is to put into it what you want to get out of it. I would rather take the precautions to minimize the risk. There are enough other things that can go wrong! So if you are currently having problems, I would definitely give it a shot and see if it improves things. And then post about it so we can all learn from your experience. That's what makes this place great!

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Tienne]

I am just a small home soaper, so I buy my palm in smaller 1kg buckets. They're small enough that I can cut through to the bottom of the bucket with a big metal spoon and dig out the amount of oil I need right through all the layers, getting equal amounts from the bottom and the top. I am too lazy to melt, so I just make sure to get some from the whole depth of the bucket.

Another way, if you're just as lazy as me, is to place the whole bucket in a sink of hot water just until the oil loosens enough from the sides of the bucket to be able to turn the bucket on it's head and slide the whole lump of oil out. Then you can slice it through lengthwise and get what you need and then put the rest of the oil lump back in the bucket for next time. That way is a big messier though, but it's doable.

The correct way is to melt the whole bucket and stir all the layers together and then pour it out into smaller more manageable sized containers and so on, but I just don't have time (= too lazy) to fuss so much about it and I haven't had any problems doing it the cheater's way.

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and welcome!!! I'm from Michigan too.

As the others have stated unless you by the homogenized version you will need to melt the whole thing and then separate it into smaller portions. They don't have to be individual portions just something more manageable. I buy the homogenized no stir from Soapers Choice in 50lb blocks and that has been a real time saver for me.

 

[MindBodyGarden]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! All of you helped tremendously.

I'm going to be doing another batch of soap this weekend (2 molds) and I really wanted to get this figured out....I was just worried that melting the whole container would leave me with PO that I couldnt repackage for later/reuse later.

Thanks again and I will most definetly post pics once I've unmolded and cut.

Have a great day
Kim

 

[AF_SOAP]

Mine goes back to solid after each water bath I give the jug. Its a gallon. I just water bath it until its liquid and measure it out each time I use it. Also since I have the stir one I have to take a stick blender and mix before other oils because there are little flakes of palm even after the water bath. It turns clear yellow when I mix it though so no problems after that.

I wish all oils were easy as olive oil to work with.

 

[judymoody]

I do the melt and repackage into smaller containers routine.

The reason for this, in case you want to know, if that the stearic acid tends to sink to the bottom when the oil is in its liquid state. So the SAP value of the stuff on the top could be different than that on the bottom. This will affect the amount of lye needed and the stearic heavy stuff could cause your soap to accelerate.

 

[AF_SOAP]

^ that's why I have white specks and streaks sometimes