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I substitute rice bran oil for olive oil. They are similar in properties when used in soap.
How are you offsetting the cost of Olive Oil?
- Thread starter Tuftyloves
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At Soaper's Choice avocado oil is less expensive than olive oil. Hard to believe 
I was at Restaurant Depot and Rice Bran Oil was $42.01 for 35 pounds. I don’t know what I’d do with 35 pounds but isn’t that a steal??
That's just about 4.5 gallons, so not too bad, really. Could you portion it into smaller gallon containers, add some ROE, and then refrigerate each container until you are ready to use it?
Good idea! Once my OO supply is a bit more depleted, I might have to give it a go.
Wow! Oh my gawd! Boing! Just checked out OO. At my local wally world. 3 liter bottle. Up $10.00! Usually grab a bottle. But haven't last couple of visits.
Let me see ....25% canola, 25% vegetable, 25% walmart vegetable/palm, 25% walmart tallow/lard......... where's that 1 pound test mold?
Let me see ....25% canola, 25% vegetable, 25% walmart vegetable/palm, 25% walmart tallow/lard......... where's that 1 pound test mold?
The organic high oleic sunflower oil at Trader Joe's was still $3.99 for a 33.8 [fluid] oz bottle when I was there earlier this week. That's less than 12 cents per fluid oz.
I use 40% lard in my recipe. I have been substituting OO with RB and Sunflower. Safflower is ok but at concentrations greater than 10% , it can cause DOS
Lynn Miglets
New Member
I’m experimenting with HO canola and HO sunflower this weekend. I don’t really sell yet, so I’m not married to OO. I think tweaks will be needed for sure, but that is part of the fun, right?
MelissaG
Well-Known Member
Well, I definitely will not be using Sunflower from now on. It makes for such an incredibly soft bar even at an 80/20 mix (Sunflower/OO). So now I'm looking for something else. Rice Bran seems to now be the same price as OO. I was looking at maybe Avocado? It's cheaper than either right now. Wondering if I should replace OO with lard for the moment. I really don't want to but the prices have just exploded. $30 for a 3L. I know that's better than most locations in the country but last year at this time, it was $9.97. Sams Club hasn't carried it in weeks and you now have to order it in.
MelissaG
Well-Known Member
Yes, lard, coconut oil and shea butter. Think the hard oils comprise 60% of my recipe already. I also use 5% apricot kernel and 5% castor with the rest as olive. My last two batches I used 80% sunflower/20% olive and they are so soft even after 2 months that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to sell these. I broke my ankle two months ago so haven't been able to make anything since then. About three weeks from now, I have a doctor appt and I really hope he gives me clearance to start doing most of my regular stuff again even if I can't go to market yet (due to all the driving and heavy lifting). I need to plan for when I do. I love playing video games but honestly, I'm kind of bored and want to go back to work.
I really like HO sunflower and have not found my soap to be soft at all. @MelissaG was yours HO sunflower or regular sunflower? The fatty acid profile of HO sunflower is almost identical to olive oil, but it is lighter in color and I think easier to work with, slightly slower trace. I’m not looking back. I tried HO soy and I really liked it too.
Someone on FB said they got DOS in all their sunflower soap, but I wonder if maybe their oil was old. I have not seen any DOS. Also, helps to use ROE and a chelator. And I use sodium lactate in almost all of my soap.
Someone on FB said they got DOS in all their sunflower soap, but I wonder if maybe their oil was old. I have not seen any DOS. Also, helps to use ROE and a chelator. And I use sodium lactate in almost all of my soap.
My experience is the same as @Vicki C with respect to HO Sunflower. It has a bit less palmitic compared with OO, but it's easy to compensate for that by adding a bit more lard, or whatever hard fat is in the recipe. When I sub one oil in for another, I check and adjust the oil and fat percentages as necessary to ensure that the fatty acid percentages (stearic + palmitic, oleic, etc.) match up between original and new recipe.
I am so glad I retired from selling back during Covid, it is just about impossible to make money any more and I was selling to make money not a hobby.
I noticed that 50 lbs of lard is now $63.99 and I used to pay $36.00. Tallow shortening was around $96 the last time I saw it there, I used to pay around $46 for 50 lb. Same goes for the business Costco stores.
I noticed that 50 lbs of lard is now $63.99 and I used to pay $36.00. Tallow shortening was around $96 the last time I saw it there, I used to pay around $46 for 50 lb. Same goes for the business Costco stores.
