coconut fatty acid
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Soaplady22
Well-Known Member
I think it's just what's in the coconut oil. There are fatty acids in a whole lot of things.
My 2 cents!!
My 2 cents!!
According to Dr. Kevin Dunn's book 'Scientific Soapmaking', (which I have in my hand right now), a fatty acid is an organic acid derived from the saponification of a fat or oil. It's not the same as the oil itself even though it may look to be similar to the oil in appearance. If you were to react each with an alkali, they would behave very differently from each other.
IrishLass
IrishLass
Soaplady22
Well-Known Member
Oh --
I could have sworn I've heard of that in applications beyond soaping. Maybe I read it in a soap book .... !
I could have sworn I've heard of that in applications beyond soaping. Maybe I read it in a soap book .... !
Hmmm. Since soap is salts of fatty acids, sodium cocoate, potassium cocoate, etc., that confuses me. And what about EFAs (essential fatty acids) like omega 3s? They aren't soaps as far as I know.IrishLass said:According to Dr. Kevin Dunn's book 'Scientific Soapmaking', (which I have in my hand right now), a fatty acid is an organic acid derived from the saponification of a fat or oil. It's not the same as the oil itself even though it may look to be similar to the oil in appearance. If you were to react each with an alkali, they would behave very differently from each other.
IrishLass
Dr Dunn is da bomb, but methinks something is missing here.
carebear said:
Methinks you are right. My apologies.
That's what I get for being too hasty and posting when preoccupied. In my hurry to respond to the OP, I quickly jotted down the definition of fatty acids in Dr. Dunn's glossary in the back of his book on page 389, and I combined it with something I remembered from his chapter on fatty acids- i.e., how a fatty acid is different from the actual oil because they react differently when mixed with an alkali. And then I moved on to other more pressing matters. On further reflection after reading your post, I realized how incomplete my post was. Although it's not specified in Dr. Dunn's definition in the back of his book, I believe the 'something' that is missing is that he must be using the definition that he gives (i.e.- a fatty acid is 'an organic acid derived from the saponification of a fat or oil') solely in the context of the soap experiments that he does in the book where he liberates a fatty acid (oleic acid) from a dissolved bar of 100% OO soap through the application of a stronger acid (vinegar). [Slaps head].So, basically, the fatty acid is in the makeup of the oil, and when the oil is saponified, you can actually liberate the individual fatty acid out of the soap via the application of a stronger acid and then use it however you will. I wonder if or what other ways there are to liberate a fatty acid apart from making soap first?
IrishLass
carebear said:
I think you are correct. I also think these are used in commercial soap making. I live near a large soap maker, whose empty tankers go to be washed at a friends business. If this product is useable, I could have a nearly endless supply. Sometimes the same material is called several names and want to be sure that this is an different material. The name used would lead me to conclude that this is the fatty acid chains removed from the glycerol molecule. Correct me if I am wrong
Mike
