Palm free, animal free

[madpiano]

I am struggling to come up with a nice soap which is palm free and contains no animal fats.

I don't want to use palm oil as the only palm oil I can get locally thats not Malaysian is bright orange. Which is fine for some soaps, but doesn't really go with green and blue Micas.

I can't use animal fats, as these cannot be certified for sale in the UK.

I have tried castille, but in our hard water area it's horrible.

So I made up some other recipes, but the bars take forever to harden and some are still quite soft. I do make a 100% CO range, but not everyone likes these.

Has anyone got any hints what other oils I can use that are mostly white and make a nice hard bar ? My maximum CO usage is 30% and another 40% is taken up by a mix of OO and RBO, so I need something for the last 30% that makes a nice hard bar, but isn't Palm or Animal.

I wish it was easier to get lard certified, as it makes the most amazing soap, but EU rules are EU rules, so no can do.

Cheers
Sabine

 

[Ganiggle]

Shea butter can improve hardness, and the refined shea is white, not sure about the natural. I think shortening would add to the hardness too.

 

[andreja]

Do you discount water? I don't have problems after I started discounting water.
How about cocoa butter? It helps with hardness.

 

[MikeInPdx]

I know you mentioned castile, but have you tried bastile soap? Basically the majority of the soap being olive oil, but with a healthy dose of coconut and castor to up the lather.

I make my bastiles with a 40% lye solution, add kaolin to make them silky and further improve lather, and they harden up quickly.

Might be worth a try.

 

[madpiano]

Thanks for the tips so far. It all sounds good, although it will cause a bit of a re-think.

1) Shea Butter - how much would I have to add. It is quite pricey, and will seriously cut into profits

2) I haven't tried water discount yet, in my CP soaps the hardness issue is not too bad, it's mainly my HP soaps which don't want to harden and I don't like Water Discounts in those. I'll do my next CP one with a water discount.

3) I might give Bastille a try, but this being a hard water area (fish here carry rock-picks), Olive Oil really doesn't work. I am already adding sugar and Castor Oil to most of my soaps.

I'll try and post a recipe later, maybe that would make it easier to tweak

 

[Guest]

You could also try shea or cocoa butter , shortening , cruelty free tussah silk .
HTH

Kitn

 

[Guest]

Check out the recipes on gracefruit.com they all fit your description 8)

 

[donniej]

I'd try hydrogenated soy. The hydrogenation converts the linolenic to linoleic reducing orange spotting and converts the oleic to stearic which of course improves hardness. This is especially true with fully hydrogenated.

It's also very inexpensive.

 

[IrishLass]

I can't use animal fats, as these cannot be certified for sale in the UK.

Cheers
Sabine

I was just reading a thread over on the SoapDish Forum started by a forum member who lives in England who was able to have her animal fat soaps certified. It was quite an ordeal for her going through all the hoops of writing letters to the powers that be and talking to chemists and all that (whch she explained in detail on the thread), but she just recently got her certification papers to be able to sell lard and tallow soaps in the EU. This just happened at the end of last month. If you are a member over there, just look up posts by Julia in the soapmaking section.

IrishLass

 

[Ganiggle]

Thanks for the tips so far. It all sounds good, although it will cause a bit of a re-think.

1) Shea Butter - how much would I have to add. It is quite pricey, and will seriously cut into profits

2) I haven't tried water discount yet, in my CP soaps the hardness issue is not too bad, it's mainly my HP soaps which don't want to harden and I don't like Water Discounts in those. I'll do my next CP one with a water discount.

3) I might give Bastille a try, but this being a hard water area (fish here carry rock-picks), Olive Oil really doesn't work. I am already adding sugar and Castor Oil to most of my soaps.

I'll try and post a recipe later, maybe that would make it easier to tweak

I usually add about 10% Shea butter

 

[MikeInPdx]

You might want to also experiment with citric acid in small amounts.....yeah it neutralizes some of the lye, but it also creates sodium citrate.....a most excellent water softener.

 

[Guest]

Cool tip Mike , TY


Kitn

 

[MsBien]

My soaps are animal and palm free. I use Shea butter at 10% and I love it.

Stacie