Less olive oil?

[John Harris]

Although I like olive oil, I notice that it is often colored green or gold out OOB. I figure this has to be affecting the the color of the soap, no? Right now I am using it at 17% of the recipe (888 grams). Is it ok to reduce the olive? Am I going to be losing some special quality that Olive brings to the soap? (I also use Mid-oleic Sunflower at 17% and Lard at 18%. Coconut at 26%.)

 

[Zing]

I gave up olive oil awhile back. I like the feel of saponified avocado and rice bran oils instead.

 

[Kamahido]

Although I like olive oil, I notice that it is often colored green or gold out OOB. I figure this has to be affecting the the color of the soap, no? Right now I am using it at 17% of the recipe (888 grams). Is it ok to reduce the olive? Am I going to be losing some special quality that Olive brings to the soap? (I also use Mid-oleic Sunflower at 17% and Lard at 18%. Coconut at 26%.)

You may find Rice Bran Oil to be a nice substitute for Olive Oil as far as properties go.

 

[Obsidian]

I also gave up olive, I use safflower or if I can find it, sunflower. Both make nicer soap imo.

That being said, when I was using it at 20% along with 50% lard, it doesn't affect color at all.
EVOO can make greenish soap but standard oo, even though its golden, makes a fairly white soap.

 

[John Harris]

So! If I stayed with non-EV OO I should be happy with color issues?

EV is slightly cheaper here than regular oo. Reg oo is about 23 dollars for 3 liters. EV is about 19 dollars. Mid-oleic sunflower oil is only 11.50 for 3 liters !

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I gave up OO for most of my recipes, but I also make a soap that features OO. The OO I use has a pale golden hue and the resultant soap is very white. I love avocado oil in soap, but it’s a little pricey, even when I buy it at Costco. I also love RBO. I use avocado and/or RBO, plus HO sunflower, for the liquid oils in most of my recipes.

 

[lsg]

I have replaced the olive oil in most of my recipes with rice bran oil.

 

[lenarenee]

Are you using palm oil (which is usually more yellowish palm or hydrogenated shortening)? If so, and you think your soaps have more yellow tinge to them than you want, you may want to experiment to see if it's the palm. Even the type of coconut oil I buy to save considerable money is yellower the the kind I wish I could afford for soaping (Nutiva!)

I did stop using olive oil because it did affect the color of the batter to the point where my colorants were giving me different shades than I wanted. (I used 20 to 25% oo) High oleic sunflower helps keep my batter lighter in color. However - I will say that as the cure progress (several months), even a 100% oo soap whitens up quite a bit. (maybe you're more patient than I am and can wait for that...?)

 

[John Harris]

Based on what I have heard here, I think I will move to a golden OO at 17.xx% of the recipe. That will probably give me what I want.

 

[lenarenee]

Based on what I have heard here, I think I will move to a golden OO at 17.xx% of the recipe. That will probably give me what I want.

Let us know how it goes. And what is golden oo? Just virgin? You've been using evoo?

 

[John Harris]

@lenarenee Yes, I have been using extra virgin.

 

[TheGecko]

Olive Oil is 35% of my recipe along with Palm, Coconut, and Castor Oils and Cocoa and Shea Butters (natural) and I don’t have any issues with colorants or leaving it ‘natural’.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Canola, anyone? It's even named after Canada! and it's about 4.5 CAD for 3 litres here (in the other Canola land aka Germany). It could fully replace both sunflower and olive (with basic rancidity precautions in place). RBD canola, while not as pale as sunflower/safflower, is reasonably light coloured to be at an advantage over olive and most tropical hard fats (palm, cocoa, shea…).

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

I love the feel of rice bran oil in my soaps and would like to use more instead of olive, but I'm always nervous about DOS or rancidity. What percent RBO can I safely use without being concerned? (If it makes a difference, my other usual oils are lard or palm, olive, shea, avocado, and castor.)

 

[Cat&Oak]

I'm the only psycho who still uses oo apparently

 

[Quilter99755]

I was having an itchy feeling in my soaps a few years back and was trying to find a new recipe by switching out various oils. One poster (I can't remember who this morning) said she no longer used OO as it made her itch. I made one batch without any OO and it did the trick. I now use RBO and have used it as high as 70% without any DOS after 14 months (I do add ROE in the container as soon as I buy it). When I ran out of RBO this spring I tried out high oleic safflower oil. Using the ends of the loaf, I like it, but still has a month or so before it's cured so I can't compare it to the RBO. I will leave the OO in the kitchen for cooking and keep it out of my soaps. I don't sell soap and love lots of scents that turn color, so the color or lack of it doesn't bother me at all. I changed for the non-itch property, but also love the feel of both RBO and so far safflower oil.

 

[dibbles]

I'm the only psycho who still uses oo apparently

I use it too, and like it!

 

[sokysoaper]

I'm the only psycho who still uses oo apparently

I love OO in my soaps. I use it for 30-50% in all my cp soaps. I have recently ordered some RBO to play with.

 

[maryloucb]

I'm the only psycho who still uses oo apparently

I use it and love it! I also use avocado oil in some of my recipes and love that too!

 

[Cat&Oak]

I love OO in my soaps. I use it for 30-50% in all my cp soaps. I have recently ordered some RBO to play with.

RBO is really good as well I've used it in the past