non coconut oil recipe?

[james]

hello,

I've been making soap for a few years now using the same basic recipe (off the top of my head I think its 50% olive oil, 30% canola oil & 20% coconut oil). This makes a simple everyday soap- nothing special, just good basic all purpose bathroom soap.

My local supplier of coconut oil has stopped selling it, and I've had no luck finding another source. If I can, I'd rather not buy over the internet (however if needs be, then I will...)

Are there any alternative recipes that use readily available ingredients excluding coconut oil?

I'm in the UK.

 

[ChrissyB]

Why don't you try doing a basic castille?
100% Olive and great for your skin, a great bathroom soap I would say also!

 

[james]

that was an option that I'd considered. Possibly use good EV olive oil, making a pale green soap which I can lightly scent.

I'd also considered using hard vegetable oil (palm oil) and/ or lard. Any advice regarding the usage of these ingredients? The recipes I've seen for these ingredients all include coconut oil.

(edit: I stopped off in Newcastle, NSW a few years ago...bought groceries in Woolworths)

 

[carebear]

Palm kernel oil and babassu are both similar to coconut oil in their soaping properties, tho here they are generally more expensive.

Hope that helps.

Lard is great, but I still like it best in combination with coconut oil. But 100% lard can be very nice indeed - still not the bubblage of CO tho. I've not made 100% palm so I can't speak to that.

Don't have the patience for Castile.

 

[james]

so I could perhaps use a blend of lard (or palm oil) and liquid fat (sunflower. canola or olive), run this through the saponification calcs and get reasonable product?

 

[ChrissyB]

Yes I think that would work.
I have soaped with lard and palm oil, in my experience they both make nice hard soaps. I always use them with coconut oil though, it might be worth seeing if you can follow up with another supplier.
I think the pale green evoo soap sounds great!

PS Which woolworths did you go to in Newcastle? Do you have a shop like that over there, I get a lot of soaping supplies at good old woolies. :wink:

 

[xyxoxy]

I recently ran out of coconut oil and while waiting for my internet order I decided to try an alternative. I used soapcalc.com to concoct a recipe using more Palm (42%) and substituting Crisco (vegetable shortening- 24%) for the coconut. Olive oil was lower than my usual at 18%. I also used a fair amount of castor oil (16%) for bubbly lather. I added salt to the lye mixture for hardness but it was probably not necessary in hindsight.


I tried 3 different test batches with different additives. All came out nice and hard with plenty of light bubbly lather though not very moisturizing. One was a coffee bar with coffee grounds as an abrasive. I really like this one and wish I'd had some coffee scented FO. One batch got a bit chalky on the outside but that washed right off.
So I would not recommend this for every batch but for kitchen soaps and mechanics soaps it should be fine... though I might work on the recipe a little more to use a lower percentage of Palm and add some more moisturizing oils. I was just trying to use what I had on hand.

I am also waiting until after the holidays to buy some babassu oil and try that as a substitute.

 

[Lindy]

I really love Castile (100% EVOO) and mine turns out quite white with no other additives. It is such a mild soap that I'm quite comfortable giving to friends and family who have babies and they love using it because they're not worrying about allergies or irritation to their sensitive skin.

Okay - so I like it. Almost all of my soaps are 75% EVOO.

Cheers

 

[james]

thanks for good advice everyone.

I think I'll go for a EVOO rich blend, probably with lard & palm oil to firm it up a little. I've been reading up on the properties of castor oil & this sounds like a good additive also- maybe superfat at 5%
I've heard that lard has good moisturising properties, as does olive oil, so this blend shouldn't be too hard on our skin.


ChrissyB- Unfortunately we were just passing through Newcastle, and used it as a grocery stop. We had a bank account with Woolworths/ Commonwealth bank, so whenever we found one while travelling around we'd stock up on Uncle Toby's cereal bars etc..
Woolworths in the UK was a different beast altogether- not a supermarket. It was absolutely useless, selling chart music, cheap electricals and sweets. I say "was" becuase it went bust last week, and the shops are closing up even as I speak. Such is the reccession in the UK that even Woolworths isnt sacred.

 

[james]

well after yet more reading and research, it appears that coconut oil is more important than I thought, and cannot easily be left out without unbalancing a soap.
It has two properties that are hard to find elsewhere: it makes a good open-bubbly lather, and it breaks down oils during the cleansing process.
Using this soap calculator and the associated help page, it becomes apparent that its very hard to form a well balanced, cleansing soap without using coconut oil. This is because coconut oil contains a fatty acid called myristic acid, which, when saponified, has a much greater cleansing capacity that other fatty acids. Myrisitc acid is not found in many other oils (and no cheap, readily available oils).

So to cut a long story short, to make a good balanced soap, you need coconut oil.

Luckily, I found some in a local health food shop.

So after reading lots of good stuff about lard as well as coconut oil, I've formulated & made the following soap (formulated using the above calculator):

450g lard (60%)
150g coconut oil (20%)
150g light olive oil (20%)
106g Caustic Soda
250ml water (33% of oil weight)

superfatted at 5%

blended at 60c with stick blender till trace, then flavoured with:

1 tsp olbas oil
1tsp peppermint oil
0.5 tsp eucalyptus oil

I made it about an hour ago, and its already hardened. Its got a good light creamy white colour. It should make a hard white soap, with a very creamy bubbly lather and good moisturizing potential.