Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to making soap, and brand new to this forum! So far, I am partial to coconut oil in my soaps. What are your favorite oils/butters and why? Looking forward to learning a lot from all of you experienced soapers!
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-I love coconut and PKO for bubbles and hardness.
-I love castor for the oomphy enhancement it brings to my lather made by coconut and PKO.
-I love lard for the creamy body it lends to my lather and for slowing trace down.
-I love tallow for the hardness it lends.
-I love olive for it's gentleness, eventual hardness, and the certain 'body' it contributes to my lather in certain doses.
-I love cocoa butter, kokum butter, mango butter, and illipe butter for the hardness and creaminess they lend to certain of my formulas, such as my shaving formula for example.
-I love rice bran for it's contribution of linoleic acid to certain of my formulas.
I don't use all of the above in every batch, mind you, but they all do get used in my various formulas.
IrishLass
-I love castor for the oomphy enhancement it brings to my lather made by coconut and PKO.
-I love lard for the creamy body it lends to my lather and for slowing trace down.
-I love tallow for the hardness it lends.
-I love olive for it's gentleness, eventual hardness, and the certain 'body' it contributes to my lather in certain doses.
-I love cocoa butter, kokum butter, mango butter, and illipe butter for the hardness and creaminess they lend to certain of my formulas, such as my shaving formula for example.
-I love rice bran for it's contribution of linoleic acid to certain of my formulas.
I don't use all of the above in every batch, mind you, but they all do get used in my various formulas.
IrishLass
All of the above as IrishLass stated except Olive Oil and Mango butter, with the addition of my all time favorite which is Avocado. I love everything about Avocado, next in line would be Sunflower High Oleic.
snappyllama
Supporting Member
I'm the first of the lard folks! I win the forum award
Seriously, lard - LOVE IT.
Other oils I normally use:
Olive - good for a non-stripping oil. Sometimes sub it for Pumpkin or Avocado or Hemp
Castor - good for bubbles in small amounts
CO/PKO: I like to combo these for a total of 15-20% for bubbles
Shea: I like this in small amounts to add some serious conditioning. I keep it small to stop the butter from killing my bubbles.
I live in a dry area that's hard on my skin so I tailor my soap for myself.
ETA: I need to crush on lard for a sec. It's inexpensive and easily accessible. It slows trace. It makes a creamy, rich lather. It makes a hard bar. There aren't DOS concerns with it. It makes a white bar. It makes a long lasting bar.
Seriously, lard - LOVE IT.
Other oils I normally use:
Olive - good for a non-stripping oil. Sometimes sub it for Pumpkin or Avocado or Hemp
Castor - good for bubbles in small amounts
CO/PKO: I like to combo these for a total of 15-20% for bubbles
Shea: I like this in small amounts to add some serious conditioning. I keep it small to stop the butter from killing my bubbles.
I live in a dry area that's hard on my skin so I tailor my soap for myself.
ETA: I need to crush on lard for a sec. It's inexpensive and easily accessible. It slows trace. It makes a creamy, rich lather. It makes a hard bar. There aren't DOS concerns with it. It makes a white bar. It makes a long lasting bar.
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TwystedPryncess
Well-Known Member
She beat me to lard. Sigh. Lard. Insert. Dreamy. Face. Here. That is all.
My favorite oils are (in priority order):
Lard
CO
Castor
OO
Lard
CO
Castor
OO
I love the basics: Coconut, lard, olive oil, castor oil
Im a big fan of sweet almond oil, which puts me back in the oddball camp
Im sort of neutral on palm oil, but Im am one of those weirdos who likes a little red palm in some recipes for color.
Im a big fan of sweet almond oil, which puts me back in the oddball camp
Im sort of neutral on palm oil, but Im am one of those weirdos who likes a little red palm in some recipes for color.
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
LARD. LARD LARD LARD. If I could only have one soaping oil it would be lard.
# 2 - coconut.
Cocoa butter. Not for its properties in soap but for its properties in leave on products.
Avocado in leave on products.
# 2 - coconut.
Cocoa butter. Not for its properties in soap but for its properties in leave on products.
Avocado in leave on products.
Like everyone else, LARD.
Then CO, olive, avocado, castor, all for the reasons people have stated.
The two oils which are irreplaceable to me are lard and castor. The rest I could do work-arounds.
Then CO, olive, avocado, castor, all for the reasons people have stated.
The two oils which are irreplaceable to me are lard and castor. The rest I could do work-arounds.
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I love tallow and also love sweet almond oil over olive. It's a neutral color over olive and has a slightly higher conditioning number than olive. I love the home rendered tallow I make because the butcher throws in pork trimmings...it's a blend of tallow and lard. Though I don't always know the percentages precisely of what to what, it's appx a 70% tallow to 30% lard without the additives store bought lard has. Love it! When I do this I use the tallow sap numbers and account for the lard in there mixed brings the superfat down no more than 1/2-1%. So I keep this in mind (and don't sell)
I am new too in soap making world and using these oils
Olive oil
coconut oil
shea butter
almond oil (I love to ad it in all my soaps)
caster oil
I never heard about Lard and its not available in my country .
Tallow (I am planning to use it now as I heard a lot about it )
Olive oil
coconut oil
shea butter
almond oil (I love to ad it in all my soaps)
caster oil
I never heard about Lard and its not available in my country .
Tallow (I am planning to use it now as I heard a lot about it )
I like SAO fine, but I can't buy it locally, so OO wins for convenience. When I order lyes, I get some, though.
-I love coconut and PKO for bubbles and hardness.
-I love castor for the oomphy enhancement it brings to my lather made by coconut and PKO.
-I love lard for the creamy body it lends to my lather and for slowing trace down.
-I love tallow for the hardness it lends.
-I love olive for it's gentleness, eventual hardness, and the certain 'body' it contributes to my lather in certain doses.
-I love cocoa butter, kokum butter, mango butter, and illipe butter for the hardness and creaminess they lend to certain of my formulas, such as my shaving formula for example.
-I love rice bran for it's contribution of linoleic acid to certain of my formulas.
I don't use all of the above in every batch, mind you, but they all do get used in my various formulas.
IrishLass
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." I can't help but feel that you are channeling Elizabeth Barrett Browning here. :wink:
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