Cold pressed oils? Refined butters?

[Chaiat5]

We are having such cool weather here… good time to make soaps! And of course, I have more questions than ever!!

I found a place selling shea butter. The raw kind is SO tempting but madly expensive, even at only 250g. (I know shea butter is pricey but the huge tax on imported goods is a double whammy.) The refined one is half this price. This place also sells refined cocoa butter (no unrefined cocoa butter) — same price as the unrefined shea butter.

Question #1: What is your stance on refined butters? I ask because there is a local soap maker (soaper? soapist?) who turns up her nose at refined stuff. She won’t say exactly where she gets her unrefined ingredients, more is the pity

Question #2: Do you think it is wiser for me to try soaping with the cheaper refined shea butter since I am new to this soap business?

Question #3: I also chanced upon a local place that sells extra virgin, cold pressed and unrefined (so they say) sunflower and canola oils. I am tempted to use the sunflower oil… but wondering if the soap will get all dossy? Is it worth considering, you think? (I do have some EVOO, cold pressed CO and PKO at the moment.)

 

[Vicki C]

I tend to look for the best prices since I buy on large quantities - I’ve used both refined and unrefined shea butter. The refined shea was much harder, unrefined was more buttery, I liked the unrefined better, but honestly it was just cheaper at the time.
Re the cold pressed canola and sunflower, personally I would look for high oleic oils and not worry about them being cold pressed. It’s the fatty acid composition that will make it go dossy. I have switched to HO sunflower since the olive oil prices are out of reach.
Your local soapmaker sounds unhelpful.