Why mix OILS in soap ?

[saqqa]

Why many recipe mix 2 to 3 oils together ?
I was thinking of using 100% palm kernal oil with papaya or cucumber paste.
Will it be a good soap?

 

[shunt2011]

A blend of oils makes a much better balanced bar of soap. Most one oils soaps are not that good. Palm kernel oil only will require a higher SF and adding a paste to it won’t likely bring anything special to the soap. Read the beginners section and you will glean a lot of helpful information.

 

[TeresaGG]

Different oils make soap with different properties. some are cleaning/striping, some are bubbly, some are nourishing to your skin, some make hard bars. The point of mixing oils are to get a balance of different properties. Soapcalc will give you property ratings for each of the oils and suggested range for "good" bars.

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what Shari and TeresaGG said...to get a balance of different properties....which ties into being able to more accurately formulate for specific skin-types. For example, although a 100% PKO soap makes a hard bar with lots of bubbly lather, there are many who would not be able to use it because they find it too drying to their skin (because saponified palm kernel oil is very cleansing/skin-stripping.....as is saponified coconut oil). Some will be able to use it and find it delightful if you add a good cushion of superfat to it, but others will still find it too harsh for them no matter how much of a cushion of superfat you add to it. And there's also the point of diminishing returns to think about that comes part and parcel with higher superfats (i.e., less lather, softer soap, shorter life span of the soap, etc..). It's all a finely honed balancing act.


IrishLass

 

[saqqa]

Thank you guys for your awesome input.
So basically i should not make a soap of 100% palm oil ? (as i wanted to make it with termarin paste)... it wont give any good effect on skin ?

 

[earlene]

Thank you guys for your awesome input.
So basically i should not make a soap of 100% palm oil ? (as i wanted to make it with termarin paste)... it wont give any good effect on skin ?

I have responded to your other thread about tamarind soap, but to answer the question about 100% palm, no, and especially not if it's the red palm. Red palm oil used in high percentages produces a very orange lather which many do not really like in soap, and it can also stain your soap molds, which a lot of soapers don't like when using silicone molds.

You can try if you want to, but if you do, make a small batch, say about 500 grams total batch size and test it out for yourself. It would certainly be a very hard and long lasting bar of soap, but wouldn't bubble up much at all, if that matters to you. It would get you clean because it would be soap.

Here's a link to a single oil soap test. Scroll down to palm oil soap to see how it performed.