# Single oil bar test



## jnl (Mar 10, 2015)

I am doing a single oil bar test
I have seen the other sites that have done it, but i want to feel it myself, and include some oils they didnt.
I used a mini mixer, so it did put a bunch of air into the bars.  I wasnt going to hand mix all of them and the volume was way too small for a stick blender.  some fats held onto the air, some let it out easy.

I did 5% SF and 30% water (to oils)

Initial observations (right after finishing making them):

color:

peach -  rice bran
cream - olive oil, sunflower (almost white), avocado (almost peach), grapeseed, argan, mango
white - coconut, shea (refined - the shea was white)
greenish/yellow - camelina, unfiltered EVOO
tan - cocoa butter

texture:

lumpy -  rice bran, avocado.  mango looks lumpy but it was "plopped" at very thick trace and would not settle.  the rice bran and avocado poured smooth but over time lumps started popping out.  i think it must be from shrinkage.
runny -  camelina, sunflower was runny for a bit but set after a couple hours, EVOO and argan are runny but were JUST poured (will update in a couple hours)


trace:

speeds trace -  shea, mango (very fast), argan went to a little thick very quickly, but then stayed there
slows trace - camelina (i mixed it for twice as long and poured with it was just a little thick)


I will post updates

Here is my spreadsheet with details:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1034xHVbeVh0HyatATbSQj4KHp_xEYEFj3QklvBbeMrk 







View attachment oil_testing.pdf


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 11, 2015)

A bit late for you, I know, but others might also benefit - put the batter in to a bottle, screw the lid on and shake. 

Looking forward to seeing what you think of the bars b


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## jnl (Mar 11, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> A bit late for you, I know, but others might also benefit - put the batter in to a bottle, screw the lid on and shake.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing what you think of the bars b





ahh....interesting idea
how much shaking does it take?


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 11, 2015)

I don't - it was the method suggested by Dr Kevin Dunn in his book.  I think until it starts to look a little bit thicker


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## jnl (Mar 11, 2015)

it has been over 8 hours and the camelina oil is just STARTING to set in the middle.

i think if i had used a stick blender it would not have been as much of an issue because i would have gotten it to thicker trace before i poured.  or maybe it still would have take a long time.

from this one test it looks like camelina oil really slows trace.


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## hmlove1218 (Mar 11, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> A bit late for you, I know, but others might also benefit - put the batter in to a bottle, screw the lid on and shake.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing what you think of the bars b



So you're telling me that we can make soap AND workout?? I knew soapmaking was good for your health


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 11, 2015)

Okay, I need a video of you holding a bottle half filled with soap batter and doing the Harlem Shake................


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## biarine (Mar 11, 2015)

Please tell us how's the soap after it set?


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## jnl (Mar 12, 2015)

ugh.  so i remade 5 of the test soaps in tiny 48g batches. plus added one new one in.

2 of the soaps were oozing lye water (argan and grapeseed)
and 2 others had oil separate out, tho it was eventually absorbed back - that was the EVOO and the Camelina Oil.
The Sunflower Oil wasnt creamy enough when poured....it was all bubbly and foamy and still is a bit weird even after unmolding.
so some of the batches i had made had not really gone to trace
i could tell after pouring they werent right because they werent as creamy and took much longer to set

so remade those plus added in a "Natural Shea".  the other shea i used was refined and is quite different than the natural shea i have.
the new ones (batch 2) are on the left side and top.  ignore the fugly ones in the rest of the tray, those were ones that didnt go so well and were remade.  the non-lye leaking ones might end up usable, but they arent ideal.


beware of "false bubble trace"
normal "false trace" is when it gets thick instantly after adding something, but if you keep blending it goes back to being runny
"false bubble trace" (i made it up) is when it gets full of bubbles and looks like its at trace and will leave lines and lumps on top but isnt really - its just the bubbles holding things up.  if you keep mixing and mixing eventually most of the bubbles will go away and real trace will come.  each time i found that real trace had few bubbles and looked much creamier.  so if you think its at trace but there are lots of bubbles in it, keep mixing and you will find its not actually at trace.  this was very evident with Sunflower Oil and Argan Oil.


it took me over an hour to get camelina oil to trace, and half of that was on heat with the oil at 140F.  thats a crazy long time.  using a mini mixer the whole time, not hand mixing.  its one stubborn mofo!!


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## Luv2Soap (Mar 13, 2015)

This is a cool experiment!  Can't wait for updates!


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## jnl (Mar 13, 2015)

yeah its so annoying having to wait.

i will wash test the bars starting at 1 week

hoping to keep testing up to a year or until they all go nasty


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## Trix (Mar 13, 2015)

Thank you for posting these, I think over the past year I have developed an addiction to all these single oil soap experiments and all the results ppl in different places get.

Olive oil is a challenging oil in single soap recipes, so don't worry about it (as you probably already know, it will hardly foam in the beggining, but later in the year it may slightly change.)
I am also glad you added sunflower oil for people who are stuck in places without anything but a nearby grocery for soap making supplies, to get ideas from!

Once again good work on starting this experiment!


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## jnl (Mar 13, 2015)

i might pick up some bits of other oils my friend uses that i dont.  i think she has palm, castor, lard and hemp.

the more the better!

its kind of annoying tho to have bars all at different ages.  tho once they hit the 1 month mark a few days off i guess wont matter.


if there is anyone in the Vancouver BC area who has oils they want me to test and can get me a ~48g sample of the oil, i can add it into the test.  i cant test aloe tho because it would burn my skin off.


the whole reason i started this is to find some good base oils that dont feel as slimy as olive oil does.


you should feel how silky the cocoa butter bar is.  its amazing.


i need to get some rosemary seed extract because i want to test sunflower with an antioxidant added to see how much longer of a shelf life it has.  sunflower really does bubble a lot (man, when mixing it it bubbles like a mofo), and i need bubbles help because i dont use palm or castor or animal fats.


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## JimSteel (Mar 15, 2015)

Great experiment.  I can't wait to see the results.  Be sure to get a picture of all the soaps when they are taken out of the molds, too.

I don't think being a few days off on timing will make a difference, especially after you hot the 4+ week mark, as you say.  I know it can be annoying though, to have an experiment not align perfectly as you would like.


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## Obsidian (Mar 15, 2015)

Don't bother making a 100% castor bar, it won't lather at all and will just be a waste.


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## kumudini (Apr 22, 2015)

Any updates jnl? Really interested to know the outcome of your awesome experiment.


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## jnl (May 1, 2015)

Yes I have a bunch of updates written on paper and have to do some more lather tests.  Had to run out of town for3 weeks then got sick.

The camelina soap has DOS already.


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## JimSteel (May 7, 2015)

Well, whenever you can find the time, know that we are all eagerly waiting


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