essential oil as hardener?

[pix]

Hello, I'm new to soapmaking and would like to make soap without palm oil. I made one batch a while back without it, but it was rather soft, except for the portion that I put a little cinnamon essential oil in. Are essential oils a way to make soap harder? Are there certain ones in particular? Did I just strike lucky with the cinnamon? Many thanks!

 

[lsg]

Essential oils such as cinnamon can cause ricing in cp soap. This is not the same as hardening. To make your soap harder, use hard oils, such as cooca butter, coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax etc. Stearic acid and sodium lactate can also be used to make a harder bar. You will need to do some research.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you're not adverse to the idea - lard or tallow can be used instead

 

[pix]

so much to explore

Thank you for your replies - I see I have a lot of experimenting to do!

 

[snappyllama]

If you're looking for initial hardness for unmolding, check out salt or sodium lactate.