Avocado, Almond, Olive

[Benjamin]

Using SoapCalc, it seems like avocado, almond, and olive oil all have similar fatty acid profiles. Given their similar profiles, do they really make a substantive difference in the quality of the final product, especially since avocado and almond oil are considerably more expensive than olive oil for me? For example, would it be worth it to replace some of the olive oil with avocado or almond oil in a basic castor, coconut, olive, and palm or lard recipe? Thanks so much for any insight folks might have!

	Avocado	Almond	Olive
Lauric	0	0	0
Myristic	0	0	0
Palmitic	20	7	14
Stearic	2	0	3
Ricinoleic	0	0	0
Oleic	58	71	69
Linoleic	12	18	12
Linolenic	0	0	1

 

[Kari Howie]

I stopped using avocado oil because some of my clients are allergic to it. In fact, people with a serious allergy to latex may also have symptoms after eating avocado. You may also hear this called latex-food syndrome or latex-fruit allergy. I also no longer use almond oil because of tree nut allergies. Granted most of these allergic reactions occur after ingesting the allergen, but I’d rather not risk it. I never found any great advantages to using these two oils anyway. Olive oil is good enough for me.

 

[Benjamin]

I stopped using avocado oil because some of my clients are allergic to it. In fact, people with a serious allergy to latex may also have symptoms after eating avocado. You may also hear this called latex-food syndrome or latex-fruit allergy. I also no longer use almond oil because of tree nut allergies. Granted most of these allergic reactions occur after ingesting the allergen, but I’d rather not risk it. I never found any great advantages to using these two oils anyway. Olive oil is good enough for me.

Thanks, Kari! I hadn’t heard that about avocado oil.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Of the three, I prefer avocado oil due to its high palmitic value, and it feels good on the skin. I don't use any nut oils for the same reason as @Kari Howie.
My recipe does not have any palm oil or animal fat so i rely on picking up a bit of extra palmitic where I can.
My recipe uses 20% Olive Oil and 5% Avocado oil. Have you looked up Rice Bran Oil? It is very cheap here in New Zealand and I use that at 20% also. It is 1/4 of the price of OO now that OO has gone up in price.
Edit to Add: If fact, I think I'll change my OO down to 10% and up the RBO to 30%. That will offset the OO price increase.

 

[AliOop]

Another vote here for avocado over almond oil (and either of those over olive oil).

As Kiwi noted, avocado has significantly more palmitic, which will help create a harder, longer lasting bar.

It also has significantly less oleic than the other two, which means less slimy snot in the lather.

It is also lower in linolenic, which lowers the risk of DOS/rancidity.

Avocado for the win - unless there are allergy issues, of course.

 

[Benjamin]

Another vote here for avocado over almond oil (and either of those over olive oil).

As Kiwi noted, avocado has significantly more palmitic, which will help create a harder, longer lasting bar.

It also has significantly less oleic than the other two, which means less slimy snot in the lather.

It is also lower in linolenic, which lowers the risk of DOS/rancidity.

Avocado for the win - unless there are allergy issues, of course.

Thank you, both. It also seems avocado is high in unsaponifiables. I’ve been playing with shea butter to make palm-based soap with qualities similar to my favorite lard soap. I wonder if adding avocado oil could help.

Of the three, I prefer avocado oil due to its high palmitic value, and it feels good on the skin. I don't use any nut oils for the same reason as @Kari Howie.
My recipe does not have any palm oil or animal fat so i rely on picking up a bit of extra palmitic where I can.
My recipe uses 20% Olive Oil and 5% Avocado oil. Have you looked up Rice Bran Oil? It is very cheap here in New Zealand and I use that at 20% also. It is 1/4 of the price of OO now that OO has gone up in price.
Edit to Add: If fact, I think I'll change my OO down to 10% and up the RBO to 30%. That will offset the OO price increase.

I haven’t looked at rice bran oil. I’ll have to check it out. Ty!

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

I've started replacing olive oil with HO sunflower and rice bran oil because my base recipe is 40% olive and the cost is killing me! This is just in new soaps since my customers and husband can tell when I change the core soap line recipe. I can get sunflower local to me at a decent price than shipping it in (just like olive, I get that at the local grocery store to save on shipping). Unless I'm getting a drum, nothing has come close to a price break.

I stopped using avocado and almond in many products due to allergies like Kari says and sub in the sunflower. I tried hemp but I think it smells terrible and the cost is high also. I have noticed in the new soaps with RBO, there is a nice slippery silky feel to the lather.

 

[Ephemerella]

I use avocado oil specifically for the palmitic and the low linolenic, as already pointed out. I think it makes a nice bar of soap in my recipe, and I actually use it to compliment the high OO percent in my soap, but as you can see, opinions are highly subjective due to multitudes of factors.

Piling on with the highly subjective opinions, I've never had good luck with RBO in my recipe. I've found the final product to be rubbery, and it was the only time I experienced DOS, but there certainly may have been other factors in place, so I am not pointing fingers (I used to love FEEDING RBO to my horses; it is good stuff!).

I was unaware of the allergens associated with avocados; I'm so grateful to learn this! Given that my soap is extremely high in shea, it would fall into the same category as latex allergies.

 

[Benjamin]

I've started replacing olive oil with HO sunflower and rice bran oil because my base recipe is 40% olive and the cost is killing me! This is just in new soaps since my customers and husband can tell when I change the core soap line recipe. I can get sunflower local to me at a decent price than shipping it in (just like olive, I get that at the local grocery store to save on shipping). Unless I'm getting a drum, nothing has come close to a price break.

I stopped using avocado and almond in many products due to allergies like Kari says and sub in the sunflower. I tried hemp but I think it smells terrible and the cost is high also. I have noticed in the new soaps with RBO, there is a nice slippery silky feel to the lather.

I’ve tried replacing olive oil with high oleic sunflower oil with good results. I’ve also had good results with local sunflower oil, but it is much more expensive than grocery store oils.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I'm price checking locally and finding that high oleic sunflower is available here but it's even more expensive than the current price of olive oil!

 

[Benjamin]

I'm price checking locally and finding that high oleic sunflower is available here but it's even more expensive than the current price of olive oil!

They are about the same by me, but that is for grocery store quantities.