# Palm oil



## mommycarlson (Jun 28, 2016)

Hi all,
I am out of palm oil, and am looking on Walmart.com to see if I can order palm and canola at the same time, Walmart seems to only have red palm oil. Can this be used in the same was as regular palm oil?  Thanks!
Beth


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## kchaystack (Jun 28, 2016)

Yes, but it will make your soap very orange.   as will the suds.


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## lenarenee (Jun 28, 2016)

Look for Spectrum  all vegetable shortening  in the blue and gold container. Double check the ingredient list, but it used to be 100% palm oil....white palm oil.


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## cmzaha (Jun 28, 2016)

You really do not want to use the red, it will stain.


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## Arthur Dent (Jun 28, 2016)

Some Kroger stores carry the Spectrum shortening.


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## mommycarlson (Jun 28, 2016)

Thank you all for your responses!


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## Seawolfe (Jun 28, 2016)

I like a little red palm for natural color. Red and white palm swirls are easy and pretty.


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## jules92207 (Jun 29, 2016)

If you have a Smart & Final or even Target they both carry the spectrum Palm oil. I've even found it cheapest at whole foods, if you can believe it.


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## mommycarlson (Jun 30, 2016)

Seawolfe, that is so pretty!  Is the orange where you used the red palm oil?


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## artemis (Jun 30, 2016)

I like to add a little red palm for the nice yellow color. I have never had a problem with staining, but maybe my amounts are too small to matter?


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## Seawolfe (Jun 30, 2016)

mommycarlson said:


> Seawolfe, that is so pretty!  Is the orange where you used the red palm oil?



Yep. I didn't add the palm in the recipe to the main soap batter. Then I split it and half got red Palm and half got regular Palm. I added charcoal to some of the white palm.


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## mommycarlson (Jul 5, 2016)

artemis, do you use the full amount of red palm oil for the palm oil called for in the recipe?  or do you just do a partial amount?  I like that color.  I'm trying to do some color in my soaps but I want to use only natural colors.


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## artemis (Jul 5, 2016)

mommycarlson said:


> artemis, do you use the full amount of red palm oil for the palm oil called for in the recipe?  or do you just do a partial amount?  I like that color.  I'm trying to do some color in my soaps but I want to use only natural colors.



If I want a brighter color, I use the full amount. It comes out looking sort of like good old fashioned Dial soap. If I just want a little bit of yellow, I scoop out a Tbs or more of another hard oil and replace it with the red palm. That's what I did for the soap in the picture. The lighter color shows what a little red palm can do. The darker portion also has a little red oxide blended in.


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## artemis (Jul 5, 2016)

I don't think I answered that well. Yes, I just substitute red palm for white palm. I control the color by altering the amount of red palm I use. If I want a lighter color, I  just replace a Tbs or two... etc. Is that better?


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## earlene (Jul 5, 2016)

Here is a soap I made with 18.18% Red Palm Oil and no added colorant: 






The other oils in the above soap are: Olive, Almond, Cocoa Butter.  I did add honey to the soap, so that may have intensified the color a little bit.  And the FO was Honey Vanilla Love Dust, so the vanilla probably darkened it a bit also. 

But my point is, it doesn't take a lot to get your soap bright with Red Palm Oil.

This was when it was new.  It's a bit darker now, but not much.

ETA: Color bleeds a bit when I wash with it.  So I believe 18% is too much.  It colors my sink when I wash my hands.  (I just tested it because I thought you might want to know.  It is only 2 months old at this point, so not done curing.  I doubt the bleeding will diminish with curing, but I don't have the experience to back up that statement.)


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## Arimara (Jul 7, 2016)

earlene said:


> _I doubt the bleeding will diminish with curing, but I don't have the experience to back up that statement.)_



I had a bar that was over 6 months old and it still lathered yellow. I may have another bar of that soap floating around but I got fed up and threw that batch out. It still stank of RPO to me and the soap was on the harsh side.


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## mommycarlson (Jul 10, 2016)

Thank you everyone!  I think I'll order some red palm oil and give that a whirl.  I also have some brick red oxide pigment that I thought I'd try to color a batch with, does anyone know how much I should add to a batch?  I would like to try a little bit of swirling, even though I haven't done it and don't know how, I'm up for a challenge


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## artemis (Jul 11, 2016)

mommycarlson said:


> Thank you everyone!  I think I'll order some red palm oil and give that a whirl.  I also have some brick red oxide pigment that I thought I'd try to color a batch with, does anyone know how much I should add to a batch?  I would like to try a little bit of swirling, even though I haven't done it and don't know how, I'm up for a challenge



Brambleberry says, "add 1 teaspoon of oxide to 1 tablespoon of a carrier oil like Sweet Almond or Olive Oil and mix well using a mini mixer. To create the color in the sample of cold process soap above, we used 1.5 teaspoons of colorant (about 0.15 oz before dispersing) in 1 pound of soap." 

I am still experimenting with both the brick red oxide and swirls. It's pretty strong. And, I found when I used too much, the red part of my soap was softer than the rest. With a light hand (scant 1/4 tsp ppo) I got a nice pink swirl. Maybe you should experiment a little, too.


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## artemis (Jul 11, 2016)

Just as a heads-up: I find it hard to clean up after using the brick red oxide. It seems to stick to everything.


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## Viore (Jul 11, 2016)

When I use oxides, I use about 1/8th of a teaspoon of oxide into a tablespoon of oil. This is for when I'm coloring only a portion of the batter for making swirls. a little goes a long way!


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## mommycarlson (Jul 13, 2016)

Thank you Artemis and Viore, appreciate your responses!


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