# What kind of oil that you use?



## mymy (Nov 3, 2015)

Hi guys! 

These kind of oil brands are easily available in the grocery stores.  Have you guys used these or you purchased higher grade or 'cosmetic' grade oil for soapmaking?


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## Lion Of Judah (Nov 3, 2015)

Once it's food grade oil you're in good hands . different brands appear in different parts of the country. where I'm at I do not find those brands , but the supermarket is where i get my OO and CO if i'm in a pinch.


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## mymy (Nov 3, 2015)

Lion, I'm quite surprised when I saw soapers use solid PO for thier soaps.


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## dixiedragon (Nov 3, 2015)

Nothing wrong with those oils at all. My personal preference is not to use canola, because it doesn't contribute anything to the bar besides some mild conditioning. I use lard, which I buy at the grocery store and I use olive, which I buy at Costco.


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## cmzaha (Nov 3, 2015)

Cosmetic Grade Oil is what you do not want. It is usually a mix of oils with similar fatty acid profiles. I love lard too, but have some dos problems with it and never have dos problems with canola, which I do use quite often. Not sure why I am one of few with dos and lard but I seem to be. Did a test last year with different brands of lard and all the ones I tried ended up with dos. The tallow samples did not and neither does palm. I have a bar with 30% canola 30% olive, coconut, palm, castor that is a couple of years old, no dos. Check out the Canolive recipes on millersoaps.com


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## lsg (Nov 3, 2015)

The oils I use most in soap are coconut, palm, Castor, Olive, rice bran and shea butter.  When new to soaping, it is wise not to buy a large volume of any oil.  Experiment for several months to find out the combination you like.  Then you can order in volume from suppliers online.


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## penelopejane (Nov 3, 2015)

I can get OO cold pressed from the supermarket cheaper (even when it's not on sale) than the soap suppliers. But avacado oil is about 1/4 the price from the soap supplier for a 1 litre bottle and even cheaper for bigger quantities. 

Prices also vary hugely between suppliers. Some are half the price of others. It really pays to shop around, in Australia anyway.

The big difference between prices is whether or not an oil is cold pressed. Many oils are chemically extracted. If you are looking for pure best quality oil you might want to compare the prices of the different types.


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## mymy (Nov 3, 2015)

Dixie- I'm afraid if nobody uses such oils that I posted to make soaps. I've been lingering on oil section for quite a while and these oils really affordable. 

Cmzaha- good info regarding the cosmetic grade oil. I have few soaps that have dos on them and yes, they have mixed of canola and sunflower inside.

Isg- Yes you are right. At first I felt like to stock up every oil that I saw. After I made my first batch of soap I learn to stay a lil bit low.  I need to run more experiments. 

Jane- same here.  Certain oils are cheaper to get from supplier and some are not.  OO pomace(there are sayings that pomace is prone to cause dos) is the cheapest that I could get from the store. EVOO is slightly expensive. Ricebran and other luxurious oils are quite hard to get around here.


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## Nevada (Nov 3, 2015)

The Canola and Safflower oil that I find on the grocery shelves is High Oleic - Much less prone to DOS. Look for a higher amount of Monounsaturated fat, around 80% of total fat.

http://www.oilseedssf.com/products/international/ho-safflower-oil.php#fragment-1


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## mymy (Nov 3, 2015)

Nevada - Good share! Thank you.  Will pay more attention to the nutritional facts on my next visit.


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## penelopejane (Nov 3, 2015)

I got cold filtered rice bran oil for $3 per litre (2 pints) the other day in the supermarket. 2 years ago they didn't even stock it!


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## mymy (Nov 4, 2015)

Jane- to be honest, out of 10 stores that i visited, only 1 store had 1 bottle of 500ml ricebran oil for sale. So hard to get good oils around here.


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## penelopejane (Nov 4, 2015)

It's so annoying isn't it?  I have to go to the supermarket and two soap making suppliers to get what I need to make fairly basic soap at the best prices.


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## shunt2011 (Nov 4, 2015)

I primarily use OO, Palm, PKO, CO, Shea, Cocoa Butter, Castor.  I do have a couple with lard too.  I don't purchase from the grocery store unless in a pinch.  I have a local restaurant oil supplier that carries some soaping oils/butters too.  So, I can get my Castor and CO locally.  The rest I get from Soaper's Choice.


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## mymy (Nov 4, 2015)

Jane - Yes, if I ever find rare oils on the counter I will surely grab them for good! Currently I'm finishing my OO Pomace and will use EVOO. 

Shunt- Palm oil is super cheap right here and they are easily available at all time.  I'm trying to reduce to 3 types of oil in a recipe. Sometimes, I visit local bakery store for butters.     . Do they charge too high if we buy lots of oil online? Assuming more than 10kg of package.


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## rosyrobyn (Nov 4, 2015)

mymy - where do you find cheap palm oil? I'm looking for alternative sources for oils.


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## dillsandwitch (Nov 4, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> It's so annoying isn't it?  I have to go to the supermarket and two soap making suppliers to get what I need to make fairly basic soap at the best prices.




The fun of not having big chain stores that carry the things we need.  Have you tried essentials of Australia for CO? they have the cheapest t at I have found  so far


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## penelopejane (Nov 4, 2015)

dillsandwitch said:


> The fun of not having big chain stores that carry the things we need.  Have you tried essentials of Australia for CO? they have the cheapest t at I have found  so far



dillsandwitch

They are cheap for CO and a lot of other oils!   Thank you.

Compare New Directions in Australia for some of the other oils (eg avocado and camellia oil) that they have a bit cheaper than Escentials but Escentials looks great.  Thank you.


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## Lee242 (Nov 4, 2015)

Do any of you buy oils from E Bay?


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## dillsandwitch (Nov 4, 2015)

penelopejane said:


> Compare New Directions in Australia for some of the other oils (eg avocado and camellia oil) that they have a bit cheaper than Escentials but Escentials looks great.  Thank you.



I havent tried them yet. Next time i need some oils I'll have a look


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## seven (Nov 5, 2015)

I use food grade oils for soap. Cosmetic grade for lotions and such.


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## mymy (Nov 5, 2015)

Rosyrobin - first, may i know where are you from? Because I'm guessing  it's kinda hard to get PO if you're from the west. I buy them from the local grocery stores. Various of brands and quality to be chosen. I would like to try soaping using red palm oil as it's better than bleached palm oil. 

Lee242 - I have no experience of buying oils(big amount) online except for essential oils. They came in a small container.

Seven - good to know. So I'm not the only one using them.


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## rosyrobyn (Nov 6, 2015)

mymy - I'm from Vancouver, BC. I haven't seen palm oil in any of the grocery stores that I shop at - unless it's kept somewhere different than the baking/oils isle. I do head across the border quite often though so if there's a particular store chain that carries it, I could check there.


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## Steve85569 (Nov 8, 2015)

rosyrobyn.
Walmart GV shortening is mostly palm oil so when you come down south you can pick some of it up. They are a good source for lard too.

Watching this thread has been an education for me. There are soapers all over the world on this forum!

edit:
GV shortening is moslty palm tallow not oil. My error.


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## mymy (Nov 11, 2015)

rosyrobyn : I'm from Asia and it's very easy to get Palm Oil around here but hard to find animal fats.  I would like to try making soap using animal fats if I have them.


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## rosyrobyn (Nov 16, 2015)

Lard is easily found at groceries stores here. Weird that palm oil is so hard to find... My next trip across the border I'll be looking for palm.


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## golden_seal (Nov 16, 2015)

I buy my OO from my local grocery store and my lard from a manufacturer of fats. I do have to buy the lard by the 45 gallon drum though. Everything else I buy from a local soap supply store.


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## mymy (Nov 16, 2015)

rosyrobyn, we are living in a parallel universe  goodluck on your trip. most PO over there are in liquid form? 

golden_seal, i wish i know where do people get animals fats around here.  I have zero knowledge to render animal fats by myself, I'd make them by myself if I have the expertise. Plus, vegetable shortening is rare too.


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## golden_seal (Nov 17, 2015)

Rendering fat is really easy. Basically cut up the fat and put it on the stove until the fats melt out and then you're left with little meat pieces floating around in melted fat. When we had our own pigs my husband loved the meat that was left over to put on his food and jam toast. 

It's not worth it for me to do it myself these days because I only pay 75 cents a pound for my lard. I also don't have my own pigs anymore.


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## mymy (Nov 17, 2015)

now you make me want to try! haha.   been reading that lots of soapers enjoy their lard soap.  grrrr the temptation is too high now.


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