Olive oil alternative

[Whillow]

Here's a neat little trick I use with SoapCalc when I want to sub one oil for another.

First, choose Olive Oil at 100% and hit Calculate.
That shows up in the Right column.
Go down the list of oils, ticking one at a time.
That shows up in the Left column.
So you can then see how each oil compares to OO

Left Column: HO Sunflower vs. Right Column: Olive Oil

View attachment 72790

I hope this tip helps you find the right oil for your purposes and budget.

What a great hack. Thanks.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

What a great hack. Thanks.

My pleasure!

 

[CecileBC]

Here's a neat little trick I use with SoapCalc when I want to sub one oil for another.

First, choose Olive Oil at 100% and hit Calculate.
That shows up in the Right column.
Go down the list of oils, ticking one at a time.
That shows up in the Left column.
So you can then see how each oil compares to OO

Left Column: HO Sunflower vs. Right Column: Olive Oil

View attachment 72790

I hope this tip helps you find the right oil for your purposes and budget.

Thanks Zany, Great tool !

 

[Jorah]

Lovely, thank you !

I unfortunately have to buy from a supplier, as here (France, Europe...), the legislation requires that you register your recipe with a toxicologist, including specific suppliers and their safety information sheets... If you change your supplier, you pay; if you change your recipe, you pay; if you breathe, .... Buying from a supermarket is therefore not an option

Wrote a note about Avocado, shea and cocoa, thanks !

Is that registration needed if you're making something for yourself, or only if you're selling?

 

[Blufuz]

If you’re in direct contact with OO suppliers, do they make the distinction between olive pomace, virgin oil, and extra virgin? You could get the cheapest option, if that wasn’t what you were doing already.

Another way to reduce prices is what a lot of companies do: make the bars smaller. If they are hard soaps, you can likely get away with slicing them a little thinner, so they have the same surface area and are easy to handle, but weigh less. I also would balk at paying more than 5 euro for a bar of soap, but that’s before I realize how much longer an artisan bar would last compared to commercial or especially liquid soap. I think customers will tolerate smaller bars so long as they last long enough to be comparable to what they would otherwise pay for soap. A lot of people don’t realize how much more bar soap lasts.

If you do switch to sunflower oil, you can market it as eco-friendly; sunflower oil is locally grown in Europe, and it’s one of the highest yield crops per acre (check out Our World in Data). I think they also use substantially less pesticides than olives. But be careful they might have a shorter shelf life.

 

[CecileBC]

Is that registration needed if you're making something for yourself, or only if you're selling?

Hi Jorah,
Sorry, I just saw your post...
Registration is on my needed if you sell your soaps.
Have a nice day !

 

[CecileBC]

If you’re in direct contact with OO suppliers, do they make the distinction between olive pomace, virgin oil, and extra virgin? You could get the cheapest option, if that wasn’t what you were doing already.

Another way to reduce prices is what a lot of companies do: make the bars smaller. If they are hard soaps, you can likely get away with slicing them a little thinner, so they have the same surface area and are easy to handle, but weigh less. I also would balk at paying more than 5 euro for a bar of soap, but that’s before I realize how much longer an artisan bar would last compared to commercial or especially liquid soap. I think customers will tolerate smaller bars so long as they last long enough to be comparable to what they would otherwise pay for soap. A lot of people don’t realize how much more bar soap lasts.

If you do switch to sunflower oil, you can market it as eco-friendly; sunflower oil is locally grown in Europe, and it’s one of the highest yield crops per acre (check out Our World in Data). I think they also use substantially less pesticides than olives. But be careful they might have a shorter shelf life.

Hi Blufuz,
Again, sorry I just saw your post...
Yes, I guess I could reduce the size, as I realize we tend to cut bars a little too big, to make sure we don't go under 100gr once cured.
As for sunflower, it is consistently quite cheap so could be a good option. I read that adding some Vit E might be a way to increase shelf life.
Thanks, have a nice day

 

[CecileBC]

To add a little info I just got this morning from my oil supplier, who was nice enough to enquire with the right people:
OO is likely to increase in price over the next year - in Europe, not sure about the rest of the world. The main reason being droughts all over Europe, and no perspective of much rain to come.
So prices are stable so far as we're on the 2022 harvest. Their advice is to anticipate our soap prices for an increase in 2024.
Thought it would be a good info to share.

 

[Blufuz]

To add a little info I just got this morning from my oil supplier, who was nice enough to enquire with the right people:
OO is likely to increase in price over the next year - in Europe, not sure about the rest of the world. The main reason being droughts all over Europe, and no perspective of much rain to come.
So prices are stable so far as we're on the 2022 harvest. Their advice is to anticipate our soap prices for an increase in 2024.
Thought it would be a good info to share.

Drought? Italy is currently flooded…
Probably doesn’t help either though

Regarding soap sizes, I’ve bought soaps that were 90 and even 40 g. Personally, I find the 90 a good size; over 100 start out a bit uncomfortably big. The 40 ones were good for traveling.

Regarding sunflower oil, I haven’t tested vitamin E, but I’ve been testing a whole bunch of stuff to make it last longer:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-create-dos.90104/
In a month or so I’ll take another peek and give more results.

 

[CecileBC]

Drought? Italy is currently flooded…
Probably doesn’t help either though

Regarding soap sizes, I’ve bought soaps that were 90 and even 40 g. Personally, I find the 90 a good size; over 100 start out a bit uncomfortably big. The 40 ones were good for traveling.

Regarding sunflower oil, I haven’t tested vitamin E, but I’ve been testing a whole bunch of stuff to make it last longer:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-to-create-dos.90104/
In a month or so I’ll take another peek and give more results.

Hard to believe, we're also drenched here in the south of France !

Interesting experiment with the copper coins ! I'll be interested to see which one gave the best results.