Cold Press Organic oils OR Regular Oils..

[GalileeGirl]

Hello there! A newbie here! not much good soaps under my belt
Was wondering about the quality of the oils. I make my own body and face creams and its best if you use cold-press organic oils. So my Question is if its needed in soap making ? seeing as it goes throw harsh conditions with the lye, maybe it doesn't matter..
It just makes everything so expensive..
Thanks a bunch!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Hi! I personally don't see the point for the expensive oils in soap (even ignoring any issues around what the labels given to the oils can actually mean) because of the lye and that soap is a wash off product. That said, I also do not get the cheapest oils in the world either

 

[GalileeGirl]

For sure! I would not get the cheapest either, it tends to go rancid quite quickly.
Thanks so much for the info!!

 

[earlene]

I make soap for personal use (meaning I don't make it to sell) and for family, as well as giving a lot away to friends and so forth. I do understand the desire to try out luxury or specialty oils, which many new soapmakers do in the beginning. But unless that specialty or luxury oil (costly usually goes along with that) really makes a remarkable difference in the soap, I see no reason to use it.

As far as organic or the more expensive brands, I see no reason to use them at all in lye soap. For me, organic is only a part of the equation if it is the same price as any other offering of the same oil. Sometimes that is the case.

However, there is a market for soap made with organic oils and high-end oils (Extra-virgin or whatever.) Some people buy it. I wouldn't care because I don't believe it makes better soap.

Some oils naturally cost more than others, and among them, some of them do provide some qualities to the soap that my skin really responds well to, so in these cases, I pay the price. I do have a couple of 'luxury' soaps that I prefer to use in the wintertime because my skin gets really dry otherwise.

 

[GalileeGirl]

Super!
Im into soap making for the same reason.
So food grade oils would probably be a good idea!
Thanks so much!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Aye, generally if it's not food grade I wouldn't use it, but with a caveat - as an example I was looking to buy some tallow and saw some on a pet store website (for making seedballs to feed birds with, the tallow sticks it all together) but it said "not for human consumption" so I called and asked what was the issue with it and it was just plain tallow, but the shop wasn't licensed to sell food for people and so they put a disclaimer on it. Was still fine to use, so it can be worthwhile to ask

 

[Janewoc17]

Hello there! A newbie here! not much good soaps under my belt
Was wondering about the quality of the oils. I make my own body and face creams and its best if you use cold-press organic oils. So my Question is if its needed in soap making ? seeing as it goes throw harsh conditions with the lye, maybe it doesn't matter..
It just makes everything so expensive..
Thanks a bunch!

My opinion on the use of organic oils varies just a bit from the excellent information provided by @The Efficacious Gentleman and @earlene. I use organic oils whenever available in order to use my money to support more sustainable and less damaging farming practices, because this is a value important to me. I also make a point of sourcing butters and oils through companies that offer living wages throughout the supply chain. I’m very careful about sourcing essential oils since they are so concentrate, using mass quantities of plant material I don't want concentrated pesticides and unsustainable farming practices there either. There is so much in this world over which I have very little control, I choose to spend a bit more money to support organic and fair trade business practice because that choice makes me feel more a part of the solution.
All that aside, to reiterate— soap washes off, use the fancy oils and butters in skin cream. Research your sources you may find good prices with people just launching but not yet licensed as mentioned previously.
Stepping off my soapbox now.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

@Janewoc17 that was part of my point - "organic" may or not actually mean any of those things which are important to you. Simply buying an oil because it says "organic" without looking in to how that particular oil is produced can mean someone ends up being mislead, based upon their assumption of what the manufacturer means by "organic"

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Well, if the “organic” means “certified organic” (and in many parts of the world there is strict legislation that it has to), it at least ensures non-GMO, very restricted use of pesticides/processing additives, and supply chain control. IMHO this is much better than just being ignorant to these points – even though it does not tell you anything about industrial agriculture/monoculture, and only little about the socio-economical aspects.
Tracking down ingredients in all possible aspects of sustainability is, if possible at all, a full-time job and wouldn't give you time to use the ingredients at all (keep in mind we're not only talking about luxury commodities like DIY soap, but also all food). I don't know if this is the most desirable outcome, hence if it is any good as a standard to compare choice of ingredients against.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

An aspect to add to the original topic that hasn't been addressed yet: a major quality that distinguishes cold-pressed oils from RBD oils is smell.
I am personally absolutely in love with the smell that cold-pressed sesame, poppy, flaxseed, sunflower and red palm oils add to liquid soap (not so pronounced in bar soap, though). Cocoa butter, canola, mustard, and pumpkin seed oils are debatable. Tallow lends a pleasant sweet scent to soap bars. Lauric oils (coconut, babaçu, murumuru) disappoint entirely. Not to speak at all of “stinky” oils where the smell is a major reason to add them (neem, laurel – but I still have to see these offered in deodorised form yet).

tl;dr: If you consider usage of cold-pressed oils, you should check compatibility with your conceptions of fragrance (be it EOs, FOs, and/or natural scent of ingredients).

ETA: And this has nothing to do with organic or conventional agriculture.