Mango butter vs. palm oil

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OnePlus

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On soap calc these two have very similar properties and seem to be a substitute for one another. However, I have to imagine they have very different properties in a finished product. What differences would be seen in a recipe with all olive, coconut, and palm vs. one with some of the palm substituted for mango?
 
OnePlus said:
On soap calc these two have very similar properties and seem to be a substitute for one another. However, I have to imagine they have very different properties in a finished product. What differences would be seen in a recipe with all olive, coconut, and palm vs. one with some of the palm substituted for mango?

Hmmmm...good question. I guess the main thing would be the cost?

I haven't used mango butter. Is it really hard like cocoa butter or softer like shea.
 
Mango Butter

Dear Oneplus,
Normally Mango Butter is used melted at trace. Palm makes the bar hard. The norm is to use it at 3-8% of the oil base, if you used more you might sacrifice the hardness of the bar.
 
agriffin said:
I haven't used mango butter. Is it really hard like cocoa butter or softer like shea.

The one I used was from Mountain Rose Herbs, it was the consistency of palm oil IMO, soft-ish at room temp. used it in lip balm.

I can't speak to the qualities of it in soap but it's very expensive! I would only use a little bit based on the cost, lol.
 
I rarely ever use palm (I like my lard and tallow better), but it looks like mango would be an excellent (albeit expensive) sub for it according to it's fatty acid profile.

I went a little bit overboard and have a lot of mango on hand (love the stuff), and I use it in a few of my soap formulas- from 8% in one, and all the way up to 30% in another (70% CO/30% mango butter). I also use it in my body butter and lip balms.

I have mango butter from 3 different vendors- Columbus Foods, Soapies Supplies, and Oregon Trails, and all 3 are quite hard (I keep them in the fridge), but of different consistency 'as is' out of their packages.

To explain, my favorite is the one I get from Oregon Trails- I save that particular one for my body butter, lotions and lip balms only. It's so incredibly smooth, rich, and buttery 'as is', right out of its package.

The one from Soapies is very grainy right out of the bucket (I save it for my soaps), and Columbus Foods is somewhere in between, but much closer to Oregon Trails 'as is' than Soapies.

In product, all 3 are great, though. When melted and re-hardened they all have that dense, rich, decadent, buttery feel to them that I've only ever felt with mango butter. It has a wonderful, unique 'body' to it that I just don't feel with other butters. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it feels more 'creamy' to me than 'greasy'. It's wonderful stuff.

IrishLass :)
 
I love mango butter and have used it in many of my soaps as a luxury ingredient but not in lieu of palm oil. As IrishLass stated, the consistency will be different depending on its source. I've only purchased it from BB so can't compare it to other sources but what I have is not as hard and brittle as cocoa butter but is firmer than the shea I have on hand (also purchased from BB). I love it in soaps :)
 
Well even though it sounds like you can achieve the same soap properties without mango. It seems like the soapcalc allows you to get the same numbers with the classic 3 oils as you can with any other "fancy" oil.

I will assume its possible that two recipes with the same fatty acid profile can still have different properties. Otherwise there would be not reason to keep a diverse selections of oil :D what fun would that be?

I just got some mango butter so I will be making a bar of something nice later today and will post pictures once its cut :twisted:
 
i use it in soap, but with palm, its too spendy, for me to use in high amts.
I buy mine from oils by nature, good price and you dont have to buy 10lbs.
 
I am using a soap calc which shows iodine value, hardness, conditioning, lather, persistance of lather, and cleanliness.
when I compare palm oil to mango butter, it shows that mango butter makes more persistant lather and harder bar than palm. mango butters iodine value is lower which means the soaps life will be longer (there is a small difference though). also mango butter is slightly more conditioning and more bubly. no wonder why mango butter is expensive!!
I hope it helps!
 
Mango butter versus Palm oil

All I have to add here is that mango butter makes a marvelous addition to a luxury soap. All my own, just for me soaps, are made with OO,lard, CO,PKO and mango butter. Seems to be the magic ingredient for me.
 
Palm and mango butter

Hi, I was just looking for an answer to the same question. I see this post is from more than a year ago. Have you found an answer yet?

If not, I plan to make 2 soap recipes, one with all palm and one with all mango and compare them, and I'll let you know how they are different!

Ornitte
 

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