Corn Oil ?
- Thread starter eloy
- Start date
Help Support Soapmaking Forum:
The conditioning number is the sum of the percentages of oleic + linoleic + linolenic + ricinoleic acids. It lumps all these fatty acids together into one simplistic number which is fine for a quick check, but this one number can't tell you the whole story.
I have two concerns when I see people strongly focusing on the "conditioning" number. First: the fatty acids included in this number are not the only ones that contribute to the property of "conditioning." And second: if you get cleansing and longevity numbers set at the levels where you want them, the other "numbers" including the conditioning number are pretty much defined by setting the cleansing and longevity numbers.
If you really want to know what's going on in your soap, it's best to look at each one of these fatty acid percentages individually. Corn oil is high in linoleic acid and low-ish in oleic acid. Olive oil is the other way around -- high in oleic acid and low-ish in linoleic acid.
Fats high in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid make soap that is more prone to becoming rancid especially if you use those fats as a large percentage of the total fat. See --
http://curious-soapmaker.com/a-big-test-of-100-one-oil-soaps-after-15-months.htmlhttp://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2014/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-3-one.htmlhttp://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
In a nutshell -- Olive is a high oleic fat that is less prone to rancidity. Corn is a high linoleic fat more prone to rancidity. Just because they both raise the "conditioning" number does not automatically mean these two fats are good substitutes for each other.
I have two concerns when I see people strongly focusing on the "conditioning" number. First: the fatty acids included in this number are not the only ones that contribute to the property of "conditioning." And second: if you get cleansing and longevity numbers set at the levels where you want them, the other "numbers" including the conditioning number are pretty much defined by setting the cleansing and longevity numbers.
If you really want to know what's going on in your soap, it's best to look at each one of these fatty acid percentages individually. Corn oil is high in linoleic acid and low-ish in oleic acid. Olive oil is the other way around -- high in oleic acid and low-ish in linoleic acid.
Fats high in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid make soap that is more prone to becoming rancid especially if you use those fats as a large percentage of the total fat. See --
http://curious-soapmaker.com/a-big-test-of-100-one-oil-soaps-after-15-months.htmlhttp://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com/2014/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-3-one.htmlhttp://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
In a nutshell -- Olive is a high oleic fat that is less prone to rancidity. Corn is a high linoleic fat more prone to rancidity. Just because they both raise the "conditioning" number does not automatically mean these two fats are good substitutes for each other.
