Rice Bran Oil Soap

[Cashie]

Hey everybody! My niece has asked me if I can research and develop a rice bran oil soap, similar to the rice bran soaps made in Japan.

I know the fatty acid profile of rice bran oil and olive oil are similar but rice bran oil does have a shorter shelf life. Even so, if a soap is primarily rice bran oil, it would need a longer cure time or I might end up with a soft soap.

She sent me links to the two soaps she uses, they are imported from Japan, and they are both very different in the oils they use. Reading from the ingredients in each:

Soap 1: rice bran oil, olive oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and fine-powdered komenuka rice bran. The site says this soap is cured for 6 months and I'm guessing it has to be since there seems to be little to no stearic acid. I think it is cold process.

Soap 2: rice bran oil, olive oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, and powdered rice bran. This soap is hot-process and has a 3 month cure.

Questions:
has anyone ever made this soap?
If you had a choice, would you try to formulate a bar from soap 1 or soap 2?
If you have made the soap, do you use the oils listed above, or have you had better results with different oils?
If there are any people in this forum who are from Japan, I would dearly love your input.


Thank you all so much.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

If you have made the soap, do you use the oils listed above, or have you had better results with different oils?

I think Zany's No Slime Castile would fit the bill perfectly. I would do a "Triple Rice CP Soap".

85% Rice Bran Oil,
10% Coconut Oil (hardness, lather boost),
5% Castor (Conditioning, lather boost).
Rice Water to make the lye solution. (Also boosts lather due to the sugar in it)
1 Teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon White Rice Flour PPO (Per Pound Oils)



Make a small 16 oz. /500 gram trial batch to start with. Follow the instructions exactly first time around then tweak to your heart's content.
The batch in the video is slow to trace because she didn't follow the temps recommended.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I know the fatty acid profile of rice bran oil and olive oil are similar but rice bran oil does have a shorter shelf life.

Correct. You've obviously done your homework!

it would need a longer cure time or I might end up with a soft soap.

Generally speaking, that's also correct. BUT. The rules governing castile soaps have changed. Even 100% Olive Oil ZNSC makes a hard bar and is ready to use or to package and ship in 2 weeks, although the longer the cure, the better the soap!

the fatty acid profile of rice bran oil and olive oil are similar

Correct. I use SoapCalc to compare oils side-by-side. Calculate 100% Oilve Oil. That shows up in the right column below. Then tick RBO and that shows up in the left column.
RBO vs OO

HTH

 

[lsg]

I use high oleic rice bran oil. I regularly use rice bran oil instead of olive oil. My soap does not require a long cure time. I use rice bran, palm, coconut and Castor oils in many of my soap recipes. If high oleic rice bran oil is not available to you, add ROE to the bottle of rice bran oil when it is opened. I refrigerate some of my oils and freeze oils such as palm and coconut. I also freeze butters. This will extend their shelf life.

 

[Zing]

I've long used rice bran oil and really like it. I personally said goodbye to olive oil long ago, just seems slimey to me and needs to cure awhile. I don't have experience with soybean or rapeseed. Good luck to you!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Recipe 1 sounds like a recipe for DOS to me. Aren't they all high on the DOS producing list?

You could consider using hydrogenated soy instead of liquid? That would provide longevity and hardness to the bar.
50% RBO
25% Soy wax
15% Coconut
5% avocado ( to make up the numbers he,he)
5% castor

Otherwise I certainly think @Zany_in_CO's no slime castile would be good as suggested.

You may want to add ROE or similar to your RBO to assist with the potential DOS problem.

 

[cmzaha]

I've long used rice bran oil and really like it. I personally said goodbye to olive oil long ago, just seems slimey to me and needs to cure awhile. I don't have experience with soybean or rapeseed. Good luck to you!

Nice to find a soapmaker who agrees with me when it comes to OO soap. I Hate it and besides being slimy, I always found it sticky, and could always tell a soap contained OO. I also used Rice Bran quite often the only objection I had with it was the color or RBO.

 

[paradisi]

Is it possible that the thing people like about the soap is the rice bran? (Exfoliation, lather boost, nostalgia, whatever the reason)?

If so, any combination of oils you like, including rice bran oil for the label appeal, might do.

 

[Cashie]

Recipe 1 sounds like a recipe for DOS to me. Aren't they all high on the DOS producing list?

You could consider using hydrogenated soy instead of liquid? That would provide longevity and hardness to the bar.
50% RBO
25% Soy wax
15% Coconut
5% avocado ( to make up the numbers he,he)
5% castor

Otherwise I certainly think @Zany_in_CO's no slime castile would be good as suggested.

You may want to add ROE or similar to your RBO to assist with the potential DOS problem.

You are thinking like me, that all of those oils (including the fact there is little to no stearic acid) would produce DOS early on in the curing process. I want to make a bar that will last. Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Cashie]

Correct. You've obviously done your homework!

Generally speaking, that's also correct. BUT. The rules governing castile soaps have changed. Even 100% Olive Oil ZNSC makes a hard bar and is ready to use or to package and ship in 2 weeks, although the longer the cure, the better the soap!


Correct. I use SoapCalc to compare oils side-by-side. Calculate 100% Oilve Oil. That shows up in the right column below. Then tick RBO and that shows up in the left column.
RBO vs OO
View attachment 75647
HTH

It's good to see the fatty acid profiles side by side, I have definitely studied the two oils because I do like the RBO qualities (aside from the fact it has a shorter shelf life than OO). The people who advertise Rice Bran soap have said that RBO contains Tocotrienol, the skin-loving variety of vitamin E. I'm still researching that.

Thank you for the alternate recipe. I think I will try it, but with a smaller percentage of RBO to hopefully extend shelf life.

 

[Cashie]

Is it possible that the thing people like about the soap is the rice bran? (Exfoliation, lather boost, nostalgia, whatever the reason)?

If so, any combination of oils you like, including rice bran oil for the label appeal, might do.

Yes, this is possibly the thing. My niece swears by the RB soap, she says it doesn't affect her sensitive skin at all. She is paying a hefty price to import it, though.

 

[AliOop]

I use high oleic rice bran oil. I regularly use rice bran oil instead of olive oil. My soap does not require a long cure time. I use rice bran, palm, coconut and Castor oils in many of my soap recipes. If high oleic rice bran oil is not available to you, add ROE to the bottle of rice bran oil when it is opened. I refrigerate some of my oils and freeze oils such as palm and coconut. I also freeze butters. This will extend their shelf life.

You could consider using hydrogenated soy instead of liquid? That would provide longevity and hardness to the bar.
50% RBO
25% Soy wax
15% Coconut
5% avocado ( to make up the numbers he,he)
5% castor

You may want to add ROE or similar to your RBO to assist with the potential DOS problem.

@Cashie for using higher amounts of RBO, there are some really good recommendations in the posts quoted above. Good luck, and be sure to report back on how it turns out!

 

[Cashie]

I've long used rice bran oil and really like it. I personally said goodbye to olive oil long ago, just seems slimey to me and needs to cure awhile. I don't have experience with soybean or rapeseed. Good luck to you!

Do you have a good source for RBO? I have looked around and I know Cabelas used to carry it in the big tubs around the holidays for deep frying turkeys, but I have not seen RBO offered anywhere at a reasonable price for quite a while.

 

[Cashie]

I use high oleic rice bran oil. I regularly use rice bran oil instead of olive oil. My soap does not require a long cure time. I use rice bran, palm, coconut and Castor oils in many of my soap recipes. If high oleic rice bran oil is not available to you, add ROE to the bottle of rice bran oil when it is opened. I refrigerate some of my oils and freeze oils such as palm and coconut. I also freeze butters. This will extend their shelf life.

Do you have a source in the US for high oleic RBO?

 

[AliOop]

Do you have a good source for RBO? I have looked around and I know Cabelas used to carry it in the big tubs around the holidays for deep frying turkeys, but I have not seen RBO offered anywhere at a reasonable price for quite a while.

I am interested in this, as well. I've looked at Cabela's, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Unfortunately, the ones around me seem to carry a peanut oil blend as their fryer oil, rather than RBO.

 

[lsg]

I used to order my rice bran oil directly from the Riceland website. I could buy a six gallon case. I liked it because it could be used in cooking as well as soap. You might try Walmart or Sam's Club. If you can't find high oleic rice bran oil, try adding ROE to the bottle right after opening. That should prolong the shelf life.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you, @lsg ! It looks like they don't sell from their website anymore.

If I look on Walmart dot com, their per-gallon price ranges from $40 to $65. I found this 35 gallon option for a good price, with free shipping. Although I couldn't use all 35 gallons before it went bad, I'd be paying the same price as it would cost to buy just four gallons. Maybe I could find someone to share it with me! Is this similar to what you used?

 

[lsg]

That is a lot of oil. Refrigeration will prolong the life of the oil, but how big is your refrigerator? I still have several bottles of Riceland oil in storage in my basement. I have never had a problem with it going bad. However, I got it in gallons all of the gallons remained sealed until use. Soaper's Choice has 7 lb. of rice bran oil for $17.36. The shipping may be a killer, though.

 

[DeeAnna]

You can also find RBO in a "feed and seed" store that sells equine supplies. People use it as a supplement when feeding underweight or ill horses. I have no idea if this will be a HO type or regular type RBO however.

 

[Cashie]

@Cashie for using higher amounts of RBO, there are some really good recommendations in the posts quoted above. Good luck, and be sure to report back on how it turns out!

I will post pics!