But I have Palm (Spectrum brand), Olive, Castor and Sweet Almond oils. Can I make a conditioning, lathering, hard bar with just these oils? Which percentages should I use?
Thanks, everyone!
Thanks, everyone!
Out of coconut oil!
- Thread starter Cashie
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dieSpinne
Well-Known Member
Just got done tinkering with SoapCalc (www.soapcalc.net) and figured that, unless you mean Palm KERNEL Oil, you aren't going to get a really HARD bar of soap, since Palm oil, though it can make a decent bar, isn't much on the Lauric, Myristic or Stearic Acids. It has Palmitic acid in spades though and will make a creamy long lasting lather.
I used just the Olive Oil and Palm oil in the recipe (the other two oils softened the bar quite a bit, though you may want to add a little castor or almond as a SF for their conditioning properties).
So here's the results of my tinkering; let me know if this works for you. it will essentially be like the old Palmolive bars. (Palm/Olive...see?)
300 gr Palm Oil
200 gr Olive Oil
190 gr Water
66 gr NaOH
that's it. Simple soap that will hold a bar shape and produce mounds of creamy lather. Not a lot of bigger bubbles, but a soft silky foamy lather that will moisturize the skin.
If you want the bigger bubbles, coconut and palm kernel has the stuff for that. You may also get some bubbling if you swap in a little Castor oil for some of the Olive. That may change the Lye measurement, though, so check on Soapcalc first.
More experienced soapers: Please help us both learn by giving any tips or pointers here; I am not extremely experienced in the ins and outs of particular brands of oils yet, and mostly used Soapcalc as my launch point. Thanks.
I used just the Olive Oil and Palm oil in the recipe (the other two oils softened the bar quite a bit, though you may want to add a little castor or almond as a SF for their conditioning properties).
So here's the results of my tinkering; let me know if this works for you. it will essentially be like the old Palmolive bars. (Palm/Olive...see?)
300 gr Palm Oil
200 gr Olive Oil
190 gr Water
66 gr NaOH
that's it. Simple soap that will hold a bar shape and produce mounds of creamy lather. Not a lot of bigger bubbles, but a soft silky foamy lather that will moisturize the skin.
If you want the bigger bubbles, coconut and palm kernel has the stuff for that. You may also get some bubbling if you swap in a little Castor oil for some of the Olive. That may change the Lye measurement, though, so check on Soapcalc first.
More experienced soapers: Please help us both learn by giving any tips or pointers here; I am not extremely experienced in the ins and outs of particular brands of oils yet, and mostly used Soapcalc as my launch point. Thanks.
judymoody
Well-Known Member
Cashie said:
Do you have a Walmart super center near by? They sell two lb. containers under the Louanna brand.
But to answer your question, you don't need coconut. Remember Palmolive soap (palm + olive)?
True thing about the coconut. You can make lovely soap without it, but some kind of bubbly oil like coconut or PKO really does help to make a lovely bar even lovelier if you can get a hold of some.
Having said that, though. You can get a lovely hard bar from using just 100% olive oil, or 90% olive oil and 10% castor. It'll need a long cure (3 months +) and you won't notice any big exploding bubbles in the lather dept if you use just your hands to lather it up with, but if you lather it up with a nylon pouf you'll get tons of lucsious, bubbly/creamy lather.
Re Palmolive- Here is a slice of soap history....I was curious as to what other ingredients might be in it and so I went searching and I found a really cool ad for Palmolive bar soap dating from 1928. The ad lists it as being made from the oil of 3 trees: olive tree, coconut palm tree, and African palm tree, "and no other fats whatsoever", the ad says. :wink: I assume from that that they used coconut as well as olive and palm. You can see the ad in the below link. It's hard to read as is, but if you click and zoom in on the words, they show up as clear as day:
http://www.amazon.com/1928-Palmolive-Ol ... B005DMWHZ6
IrishLass
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Soaplady22
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the link, Irish Lass! Interesting!!
All this time I thought it was just palm and olive.
Last year my husband dug up one of those metal tokens from PalmOlive that says you can turn it in for a free "cake" of soap. BOGO. We then found a number of them for sale on eBay. But we're keeping ours!! It's a part of our fun history here at the farm!!
All this time I thought it was just palm and olive.
Last year my husband dug up one of those metal tokens from PalmOlive that says you can turn it in for a free "cake" of soap. BOGO. We then found a number of them for sale on eBay. But we're keeping ours!! It's a part of our fun history here at the farm!!
dieSpinne said:
This is great information! I had thought about doing a castile with olive, but would like the cure to be a little shorter.
Maybe I will do a batch of each. I do not know if Spectrum brand is palm kernel oil, I have tried googling and looking at the label. I think it is just palm oil (extracted from the fruit).
I know it makes a difference. Does anyone know?
Cashie- no, the Spectrum brand palm oil is not the same thing as palm kernel oil.
HTH
IrishLass
HTH
IrishLass
Spectrum Palm Oil is Palm Oil, not Palm Kernel Oil.
And Palmolive soap is now: Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate (aka tallow, coconut, palm kernel) plus some other stuff. No olive.
http://www.drugstore.com/palmolive-fami ... c/qxp25926
You can get a very hard bar using just palm oil, by the way.
And Palmolive soap is now: Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate (aka tallow, coconut, palm kernel) plus some other stuff. No olive.
http://www.drugstore.com/palmolive-fami ... c/qxp25926
You can get a very hard bar using just palm oil, by the way.
IrishLass said:Re Palmolive- Here is a slice of soap history....I was curious as to what other ingredients might be in it and so I went searching and I found a really cool ad for Palmolive bar soap dating from 1928. The ad lists it as being made from the oil of 3 trees: olive tree, coconut palm tree, and African palm tree, "and no other fats whatsoever", the ad says. :wink: I assume from that that they used coconut as well as olive and palm. You can see the ad in the below link. It's hard to read as is, but if you click and zoom in on the words, they show up as clear as day:
http://www.amazon.com/1928-Palmolive-Ol ... B005DMWHZ6
IrishLass
I want that print!
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I love this forum. I'm making soap this weekend and I'm eyeing the oatmeal container as a possible mold.
Thanks for the info, everyone, especially the historical piece on Palmolive soap.
Thanks for the info, everyone, especially the historical piece on Palmolive soap.
musiccitysuds
Well-Known Member
*Insert shameless blog plug here*
I actually posted a blog about this a few months back while waiting impatiently for my next oils order to arrive. http://letssoap.com/2011/05/making-soap ... conut-oil/
The palm oil does make for a super hard bar, but try using a fruit juice (I like tomato) as a water substitute and add a little sugar in your lye mixture. This will help with lather.
I actually posted a blog about this a few months back while waiting impatiently for my next oils order to arrive. http://letssoap.com/2011/05/making-soap ... conut-oil/
The palm oil does make for a super hard bar, but try using a fruit juice (I like tomato) as a water substitute and add a little sugar in your lye mixture. This will help with lather.
