Olive vs. HO sunflower/safflower/canola

[ResolvableOwl]

Mainly a question for those who have used both: olive oil (various grades), as well as high-oleic seed oils (sunflower, safflower, and/or canola).

What, in your experience, does one of these oils add to a recipe, that others cannot offer? Do you notice a difference at all, at low to medium percentages (<50% of oils)?

They all are valuable base oils, notorious slow tracers; they harden up nicely (but not after a never-ending cure), and exhibit the “castile slime” phenomenon. The fatty acid profiles are so similar between all these, that they are, from the view of recipe “bureaucracy”, next to fully interchangeable.
Still, one decides for one and against others when determining a recipe. What are your reasons? Experiences? Sympathies/antipathies? Issues? Influence on processing, colour, fragrances…? Third-party feedback? Availability?

(At least initially, I'll try to hold back my personal opinions.)

ETA: I don't want to discuss the pros and cons of high-oleic soaps here (plenty of different places to do so), but rather, after deciding to go for one, the source of the oleic acid. The forum search hits were remarkably indecisive upon this topic.

 

[Obsidian]

I never use OO anymore, safflower is my go to HO oil. I also use sunflower at times but its hard to find here.

Safflower is cheap, easy to find, makes white soap and doesn't dry out my skin like OO does. I think it also lathers better and isn't so slimy. My base recipe contains 25% safflower.

Sunflower add to the lather better then other HO oils, it also makes a nice white soap and doesn't dry my skin.

I gave up on canola, its always causes dos, even at low amounts.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I haven’t used sunflower oil all that much, but it does seem to slow down my swirl recipe compared to using a generic light OO.

 

[RDak]

I honestly will use any of those interchangeably. No noticeable differences for me.

(Now this is only for the HO types like you mention compared to olive oil.)

 

[earlene]

Availability and price is my primary reason for choosing one HO oil over another. Sometimes the color plays a part as well, particularly if I want a whiter soap.

 

[dibbles]

I can buy HO sunflower oil locally for a lower price than I can have it shipped to me from a vendor. HO safflower oil is quite a bit more expensive in my area and I can't even find HO canola in the stores here. So I use HO sunflower. I do still use light olive oil too, which I also buy locally.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

This hasn't become quite as controversial as I feared . Avoided the fallacy of confusing precious (valuable, favourable properties) with pricey (limited supply, high cost). No worries about quality grades and adulteration.

So many recipes out there, particularly those for beginners, specifically call for olive oil. I suspect it's a mix of easy and reliable availability of OO and little danger of confusion (and maybe participating from the good PR/rep of OO), rather than a substantial advantage of OO over HO seed oils. Don't get me wrong, I love olive oil, but I prefer to enjoy its culinary qualities in the kitchen/on the dining table, where my body gets something out of it for several hours (or years), rather than mere seconds.

HO safflower appears, for whatever reason, seasonal here (you can get it only a few months per year, but then it's one of the cheapest of all oils). By now, HO sunflower has become easy to get here, and is reasonably cheap (even regionally sourced). It has become my go-to oleic oil. Since it is so low in poly-unsaturated fatty acids (about half of olive, safflower, and even palm oil), of all base oils it gives the largest headspace in terms of the “linoleic budget” (DOS safety margin for addition of high-iodine oils).