# palm kernel oil versus palm oil



## PippiL (Jul 25, 2011)

which oil do you prefer and why...????
Thanks


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## calico21 (Jul 25, 2011)

two totally different animals, I use Pko to substitute for some of my coconut oil in case someone who uses my soap is very sensitive to coconut oil. I've thought about totally switching it over so I have one less oil to deal with.


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## PippiL (Jul 25, 2011)

I was looking up PKO on the soap calc and couldn't believe the difference in numbers ! I have a 7# bottle, I have to play around with the numbers a little to find a good soap reipe...


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## IrishLass (Jul 25, 2011)

Like Calico said, they are 2 totally different animals and are not interchangable. They both derive from  palm fruit, but they come from different parts of the fruit. The way it was explained to me is this:

Palm oil is extracted from the _fruit_ or flesh of the palm itself, and PKO is extracted from the _kernel_ or the pit of the palm fruit.

In soap, palm oil acts much like tallow or lard- it makes a hard, long lasting, white soap, but is not very bubbly in the lathering dept.

PKO acts like coconut oil or babassu oil- it makes a hard, white, cleansing bar, with lots of bubbly lather.

IrishLass


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## PippiL (Jul 25, 2011)

I played around a little, I can't make up a recipe with PKO, the numbers always come out horrible, any suggestions???
thanks


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## Hazel (Jul 25, 2011)

I did a Bastile with PKO. You could try it to start out. I think I did 75% OO/25% PKO. It still takes a long time to cure. 

What oils do you have?


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## PippiL (Jul 25, 2011)

I have sweet almond, grapeseed,castor, PO,PKO,OO,sunflower oil,lard,
rice bran,shea butter,coconut


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## simplymcghie (Jul 25, 2011)

my favorite soap recipe uses a combination of both (with other oils too).


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## Hazel (Jul 25, 2011)

I should have also asked what you consider horrible numbers. What do you like in your soap? Lots of bubbles, more conditioning?

Here's a sample recipe which is close to what I like (I generally sacrifice hardness for more conditioning  :wink:  ) Using simplymcghie's suggestion, I added both PKO and CO into the recipe. But you could drop the CO and just use the PKO.

43% OO
22% PO
15% PKO
12% CO
8% Castor

Hardness 41 
Cleansing 18
Conditioning 56
Bubbly 25

Also, you kind of have to take the numbers with a grain of salt. After curing, the soap is going to be milder. I've also notice that some batches I've done which had a low bubbly value still produced a lot of bubbles and had nice lather.

The type of liquid you use is also going to make a difference, too.

*eta*: I forgot to ask if you're using PKO or PKO flakes. I based this recipe on the flakes. If you're using the oil, it's going to be softer.


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## PippiL (Jul 25, 2011)

I use the oil...the soap I was playing around with would be very bubbly and conditioning, but like you mentioned, not as hard...


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## Hazel (Jul 26, 2011)

Can you post one of your trial recipes that you said had horrible numbers? This would give a better indication of what you don't want.

Thanks.


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## PippiL (Jul 26, 2011)

sorry I didn't save and remember...


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## Hazel (Jul 26, 2011)

That's okay. I've done the same thing.   

What do you consider a "good" bar of soap? I have dry skin so I like a milder bar (lower cleansing value) with more conditioning. However, the bars I make tend to be on the soft side. I've also made a kitchen bar where I used a high percentage of CO and PKO flakes. The bar was rock hard but drying to my skin.


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## Woodi (Jul 27, 2011)

I sub palm for lard, they behave almost the same in bar soap, but pko is similar to coconut, harder, lots of fluffy lather, but much less moisturizing (or non-drying) than palm.

A good recipe (to me) is 50% olive (or your choice of liquid oil); 21% palm or lard, 26% coconut or pko, (some soapers say this is too high but I like it), 3% castor (castor really moisturizes, and also helps hold your scents cuz it's so viscous, but t_oo much_ castor (more than 5%) tends to make soap sticky). JMHO.


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## honor435 (Jul 27, 2011)

You can just sub the pk for co, or sometimes I do 1/2 co, 1/2pk, with oo, po and shea or a butter.


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## emxdee (Aug 6, 2013)

palm kernel oil and palm oil, which is better in making local soap?


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## sistrum (Aug 6, 2013)

Emxdee,  both oils can be used in a good soap formula, just remember, like people have been trying to explain they are two different type of oils and do two different things in soap. Read their fatty acid profiles and you can see where they fit in.


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## Candybee (Aug 6, 2013)

I use palm oil in place of lard or tallow when I want to make an all veggie soap. Palm oil lends creaminess to the bubbles, some hardness, and a whiteness to your finished bar.

PKO is similar to coconut oil and babassu oil. It helps make the bar hard and give it lots and lots of large fluffy bubbles.

My fav soap with PKO is a blend of CO and PKO at 50/50%. I like it best to split the amount. The reason why is too much coconut oil makes me itchy and PKO does not. So say I want a recipe with 30% CO. I will split that to 15% CO and 15% PKO. Personally I find it much more gentle.


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## savonierre (Aug 6, 2013)

I use Po and PKO in my recipe..


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## TeriDk (Aug 6, 2013)

I just made an OO (55%)/PKO (40%), castor oil (5%) soap yesterday.  Still in the round mold with a bit of zap.  If need be, I'll leave it there for a week before unmolding.  This is my first adventure with PKO.  Hope it turns out since I love lemongrass-eucalyptus EO.  Probably will need a long cure.  The yellow-green color looks a bit baby poopy to me so hoping the color fades but not the scent :crazy:


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## Brad (Aug 25, 2014)

*My PKO Bastile*

I make a bar that's exclusive to my beard company using PKO.  It's a bastile base with added African Black Soap in suspension.

It's very mild and the lather is incredible.  I've been thinking about adding veg glycerin for even more moisturizing properties, but as of now I use:

Shea Butter                                                                                                
Palm Kernal Oil
Castor Oil
Hemp Oil
Olive Oil
African Black Soap
Milled Oats


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## Jamie ☺ (Jun 12, 2021)

I live in Gabon and so I can get a great and ethical PO really cheap.... but OO and CO are very expensive. Can you make soap with just PO?

Any help would be greatly appreciated I am about to start making  ☺


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## AliOop (Jun 12, 2021)

Jamie ☺ said:


> I live in Gabon and so I can get a great and ethical PO really cheap.... but OO and CO are very expensive. Can you make soap with just PO?
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated I am about to start making  ☺


Welcome Jamie. FYI this thread is from 2014, and the member who originally posted hasn’t been here since then. You’ll get more answers to your question if you start a new thread in the Beginner Soapmaking Forum.


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## Zany_in_CO (Jun 13, 2021)

Jamie ☺ said:


> Can you make soap with just PO?
> Any help would be greatly appreciated I am about to start making  ☺


If you have PKO (Palm Kernal Oil) available as well as palm oil, just those 2 ingredients make a lovely soap. PKO is a good sub for Coconut oil to add lather and hardness to your batches. Use the default settings on *soapcalc* and make small 500g/16 oz batches to start with. You can tweak to your heart's content from there.  See PDF attached.


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