Chosen Ingredients

[Chappyk]

I am curious to know what is your determining factor choosing ingredients for your soaps. Is a bar that has 7 ingredients really all that different than one that only has 3? Would using less ingredients not be better so that you can sell your soaps to folks without a high price tag? I've seen homemade bars costing $5-$7 and I've just bought one that only contains 3 main ingredients, all plant based for a whooping $3. What about the use of Palm oil these days considering the controversial use? Just curious as a new soaper

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I use palm, I love it. I actually think that I prefer lard to be honest - the two can be swapped out for each other.

I am not a huge fan of using lots and lots of oils. But one reason to do so is to combine multiple properties to get to a solution that fits. For example, I don't often use castor oil in soaps as a bubble-booster, but when I made a Pumpkin Seed Oil soap, my bubblage figure was rather low - so I put some castor in to the mix to help out there.

One thing to bear in mind with this is that there is a huge difference between the properties of an oil or a butter compared to the properties of the same oil/butter once it is saponified! Coconut oil is really good on the skin, but once saponified it is then actually not so great. There has been some trialing of comparing soaps made with shea butter (not too cheap!) against palm or lard (cheaper) as they have similar properties when saponified, according to the science - it turns out that they are similar in use, too.

I say to bear it in mind as some times people combine oils thinking of their properties as oils, but it may not always translate over in soap.

 

[Miha Engblom]

I love to use butters in my soap , like cocoa , mango and shea , but my husband thinks palm gets the job done. If the soap is SF 5% or higher , the nice butters will make the skin feel great. unrefined shea is rich in unsaponifiables , the same with green cold avocado oil. I actually made a soap with 100% green avocado oil and it was great! great lather and super conditioning at the same time, but still maybe a bit slimy... (like Olive Oil).
But then again I am such that likes to blend together almost all the oils I have at home when I make soap...
some oils that i am not planning to use are canola and sesame! my sesame single oil soap turned light orange (although i do not think it went rancid) and it is not smelling great , and the canola soap started to DOS (the superfat oil went rancid) with one or two small orange spots... and it had only 40% canola, the rest was coconut oil and beeswax.
but hey... i am also a beginner, i have just been soaping for 5 months or so...

 

[Susie]

I have learned to save the expensive oils for leave-on products. My body butter and lip balms are rich in shea, lanolin, jojoba, etc. My soaps, on the other hand, are made with lard, olive oil, coconut oil, and castor oil. I like lard better than palm oil. I just think it conditions better. Might just be me, though.

 

[navigator9]

If you google "properties of oils and butters in soap making" you will find tons of information on individual ingredients and what they each contribute to a bar of soap. Then you can determine what properties you'd like in your soap and choose the ingredients that will give you those results.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm another that uses pretty simple recipes OO, CO, PO, Castor & Shea or Cocoa. I also like to you PKO with CO. However, I also make facial bars that I do use other oils in like Jojoba & Avocado. It totally depends on what you want in your soap. Lard is another great addition in place of Palm but I choose to use Palm for now.

 

[seven]

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/

^^^
might give you an idea on the properties of oils.

i personally think it all comes down to personal preference. some like to use 3 oils only, while others are using 5, 7, etc. no right or wrong. of course, the more oils (exotic ones esp.), the higher the cost. there is also label appeal for those who sell.

as for palm, i love it. cant live w/o it. besides coconut, it's one of the oils easily accessible to me. palm makes a hard, long lasting bar.