Why don't you like olive oil?

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Yeah, those recommendations can be confusing. A lot of different people's skins like different things. Starting with 20% is a good idea. If you want to go further, I see no harm in using RBO up to 40% of your oils. You can go higher, but your soaps might be more prone to DOS.
 
I’ve only used olive oil in my CP soap making so far. I have bought RBO and palm oil but haven’t had the chance to make soap in months.
I love Olive oil. I have a huge tube of coconut oil that a bought but haven’t used it yet. Everything I’ve read on coconut oil says it’s drying to the skin which I was shocked to learn because I always Thought it was very moisturizing.
 
I love Olive oil. I have a huge tube of coconut oil that a bought but haven’t used it yet. Everything I’ve read on coconut oil says it’s drying to the skin which I was shocked to learn because I always Thought it was very moisturizing.
Becoming an alkali salt changes the way a lot of oils and butters behave. One of my favorite oils is Babassu for amazing moisture and great absorption, but as an alkali salt it's as harsh as Coconut oil becomes. And yes, coconut oil becomes a very harsh cleaner. I just used a block of 100% CO soap to clean my greasy soap dishes, and IMO it outperformed Dawn.
 
Becoming an alkali salt changes the way a lot of oils and butters behave. One of my favorite oils is Babassu for amazing moisture and great absorption, but as an alkali salt it's as harsh as Coconut oil becomes. And yes, coconut oil becomes a very harsh cleaner. I just used a block of 100% CO soap to clean my greasy soap dishes, and IMO it outperformed Dawn.
I’m still quite new to soap making and have only made 4 batches so far. 2 of which were Castile and the other two a parsley soap. I’ve put it on hold during the summer because my husband has been convulsing from surgery and being an extremely hot summer and not being able to open the windows for filtration. But now that the cooler weather is here I plan On starting up again. I have Never considered a dishwashing soap. I use only Dawn because it’s such a great grease fighting soap. I offen Use it on oil stains on clothes
 
I’m still quite new to soap making and have only made 4 batches so far. 2 of which were Castile and the other two a parsley soap. I’ve put it on hold during the summer because my husband has been convulsing from surgery and being an extremely hot summer and not being able to open the windows for filtration. But now that the cooler weather is here I plan On starting up again. I have Never considered a dishwashing soap. I use only Dawn because it’s such a great grease fighting soap. I offen Use it on oil stains on clothes
I hope you mean your husband is convalescing (not convulsing, totally different meaning!). You said 2 soaps were Castile and 2 were Parsley???
 
My bad 🤦🏼‍♀️ I didn't Notice the typo 🤣🤣 yes he’s convalescing! A friend of mine has very sensitive skin and found a parsley soap at a speciality store. I used A basic recipe and modified it using the parsley. She loves it!
 
My bad 🤦🏼‍♀️ I didn't Notice the typo 🤣🤣 yes he’s convalescing! A friend of mine has very sensitive skin and found a parsley soap at a speciality store. I used A basic recipe and modified it using the parsley. She loves it!
Glad he’s not convulsing! Lol. I have never heard of Parsley soap. Is it just regular soap with parsley added? Like adding oatmeal for example?
 
My very first batch of soap was all OO/Castile soap. It LOOKED and smelled fantastic (I used a combination of lavender and peppermint). The resulting bars lathered very little and were slimy. I now look for soap recipes that have a bunch of different oils to bring out other properties. I am not a fan of olive oil. I like silky big bubbles.
 
My very first batch of soap was all OO/Castile soap. It LOOKED and smelled fantastic (I used a combination of lavender and peppermint). The resulting bars lathered very little and were slimy. I now look for soap recipes that have a bunch of different oils to bring out other properties. I am not a fan of olive oil. I like silky big bubbles.
Just adding a little powdered sugar (for bubbles) and salt (for unmolding) helps Castile soap a lot!!!
 
Glad he’s not convulsing! Lol. I have never heard of Parsley soap. Is it just regular soap with parsley added? Like adding oatmeal for example?
Yes it’s exactly like that. I chop fresh parsley very fine and add it the same way you would oatmeal.

I use 32% OO in my soap and I've never had an issue. No drying as far as I can tell but I also use a variety of oils in my soap.
I love OO! That’s the only oil I’ve ever used so far. I’ve been wanting to use CO but haven’t yet.

My very first batch of soap was all OO/Castile soap. It LOOKED and smelled fantastic (I used a combination of lavender and peppermint). The resulting bars lathered very little and were slimy. I now look for soap recipes that have a bunch of different oils to bring out other properties. I am not a fan of olive oil. I like silky big bubbles.
Lavender and peppermint sounds so nice. I have yet to try the Castile soap. The first batch I made Will only be ready around Christmas. The 2nd batch won’t be ready until April.
 
My first soaps had Olive Oil in them but as I worked toward finding my own recipe I moved away from it I now use a fairly high Lard percentage, pluse coconut, Palm, Castor oils and some shea butter. It's a formulation I love working with so am trying to move all my recipes toward that end. I found it interesting that not long ago I made a recipe with olive oil because I had some infused olive oil I wanted to use up and I found it took much longer to even reach emulsion. I didn't like it at all compared to my current recipe but that's just me.
 
My first soaps had Olive Oil in them but as I worked toward finding my own recipe I moved away from it I now use a fairly high Lard percentage, pluse coconut, Palm, Castor oils and some shea butter. It's a formulation I love working with so am trying to move all my recipes toward that end. I found it interesting that not long ago I made a recipe with olive oil because I had some infused olive oil I wanted to use up and I found it took much longer to even reach emulsion. I didn't like it at all compared to my current recipe but that's just me.
Once I get back to making soaps I want To start experimenting more. I have CO RBO and PO.
 
I love OO! That’s the only oil I’ve ever used so far. I’ve been wanting to use CO but haven’t yet.
It's really good to learn soapcalc.net. Then you can create your own recipes and try out different combinations of oils/butters/additives. Plus you don't have to wait a year for the soap to cure!
 
I’m still quite new to soap making and have only made 4 batches so far. 2 of which were Castile and the other two a parsley soap. I’ve put it on hold during the summer because my husband has been convulsing from surgery and being an extremely hot summer and not being able to open the windows for filtration. But now that the cooler weather is here I plan On starting up again. I have Never considered a dishwashing soap. I use only Dawn because it’s such a great grease fighting soap. I offen Use it on oil stains on clothes
I hope he is convalescing and not convulsing. Spell check can me brutal!

Oops, I didn't read the entire thread before replying. :lol:
 
So I'm seeing recommendations for RBO %s in soaps all over the map. I'm thinking of just replacing half the OO with RBO and see what happens. (like 20%, 20%)
Using a 50/50 blend of OO and RBO is a good idea! :thumbs: You can actually use it at more than 20% in formulas to sub for OO in any recipe. Not so very long ago, when the price of OO went sky high, Soapers Choice started offering OO/RBO as a less expensive alternative. It's a good thing.
Everything I’ve read on coconut oil says it’s drying to the skin...
This is just my opinion but that statement should be amended to read "Some people find coconut oil to be drying." I find it to be the mainstay of both hard bars where I use up to 30% for high lather and hardness and LS where you can use up to 80% along with oils of choice for a high lathering soap with a thicker viscosity than other oils due to it's ability to stay suspended in water at a higher ratio of soap-to-water than other oils.

A lot depends on what oils/butter/fats you combine with CO to make the end result more moisturising. Once you try it, you can decide for yourself whether it's drying to you or not. ;)

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Price, mostly. It's not that I dislike OO. It's that I can get lard and tallow much cheaper and...they'll do just fine for basic soap.

For my winter soap, I use OO. I love the softer feel and less-stripping properties. I just use it in smaller percentage with tallow as the heavy-hitter to bulk out the soap and keep away that slime. You know the slime. :)

My mother loves a pure Castile, which I make for her, but I don't feel it's aged appropriately until it's fully 2 years old. My 2018 batch is just about ready to give out. And even with that, I, personally, don't care for it much. Give me a tallow-heavy mix.
 

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