Palm Oil Sub??

[ToniS.]

Are there many of you who have discontinued using Palm Oil in your soap recipes? What's your honest opinion on this? If you've switched, what do you think is the best substitute oil? I've been researching but undecided as to whether I want to drop Palm or not and if so, what to use? Thanks

 

[lsg]

I still use palm oil; but lard can be used as a substitute if you are not opposed to using animal products. Run it through a lye calculator whatever the substitution.

 

[innerdiva73]

I dont use Palm. I use different hard butters to sub for palm

One of my recipes
47% Olive
23% Coconut
15% Shea Butter
9% Avocado
5% Castor

I may add sodium lactate at times or sea salt to get a harder bar or faster curing time

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I have used it but don't see a reason to continue doing so. I use lard or beef tallow. I do have a little bit of palm left over, but once I use it up I won't be buying anymore. None of my friends are against animal fats, and in fact some have told me that they prefer those made with tallow or lard over all veggie soaps.

 

[savonierre]

I use sustainable palm oil and see no reason to stop, my customers want vegetable oils in the soap.

 

[ahutchins9]

I stopped using palm. Not for the fact i didn't want to use it but i wanted to try a palm free soap and my first try was the best soap I've made so it became my regular recipe. I also do not use animal fats.

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[Saswede]

I don't use palm oil at all, because its practically impossible to ensure that the oil you're buying is really sustainable .... And there are good options out there to make palm-free soap, so I prefer not to fuel demand for palm. We've also stopped buying foodstuffs containing palm oil for the same reason - makes no sense to make palm-free soap and then continue to buy Nutella and other products containing palm oil. (In France, like many other countries, there's growing pressure from consumers on food manufacturers to alter their recipes to use alternatives,)

Regarding alternatives, I generally use Shea or cocoa butter - or a small amount of each. But Shea is my favorite.


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[shunt2011]

I choose to use sustainable palm however, you can also sub lard for the palm. I've used lard as well and it does make a lovely soap.

 

[judymoody]

Either lard or a combination of avocado oil and cocoa butter.

If we investigated all of the tropical oils we use in soap, many of them would not hold up to claims of sustainability. We all make choices differently; there's room for all opinions regarding ingredients. This holds for producers as well as consumers.

 

[stewiesmom]

I still use palm oil. I got large buckets at essential depot. So it'll be a while before I run out!


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[ToniS.]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I want to discontinue using Palm?? I have yet to have anyone question my use of Palm but my concern is the environmentalists. I guess I'll just play it by ear for now but if I decide to change, it'll be after all my present supply is gone!! Thanks again

 

[Paintguru]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I want to discontinue using Palm?? I have yet to have anyone question my use of Palm but my concern is the environmentalists. I guess I'll just play it by ear for now but if I decide to change, it'll be after all my present supply is gone!! Thanks again

You're never going to please everyone all of the time. However, it is probably good to attempt to make products that most of your potential customers desire. My guess is that customers in SE Wisconsin would not have a major issue with animal products in their soaps. On the other hand, I'd also guess that less than 1% of your customers even know about the issues of palm oil. Of course, 50% of statistics are wrong 75% of the time in 10% of the situations they are used in :mrgreen:

 

[ToniS.]

GOOD POINT Chris, can't please everybody plus no one has said anything to me yet about palm.

 

[sistrum]

If YOU think it's wrong, for what ever reason, to use a certain ingredient in the soap you are making then don't use it. If you are just trying to please customers give them a choice with a palm, or whatever, free line in your soaps.

 

[onugs]

Less than 1% of your customers even know about the issues of palm oil. Of course, 50% of statistics are wrong 75% of the time in 10% of the situations they are used in :mrgreen:

LOL love it!

 

[ShayShay]

I started making soap at the beginning of the year (Jan 2013) and the person I learned from had already stopped using palm oil and explained about the sustainability issues. So I have never made a bar with palm oil. I am curious to see the difference, especially since most published soap recipes use it. But so far I have resisted. And I am still experimenting to find my "perfect" recipe with no palm.

 

[Ancel]

Here in Costa Rica there are several large palm oil plantations. They are mostly on the southern Pacific Coast, but there are a couple on the Atlantic side too. Having driven through / by these plantations on many occasions I would say they are good habitats for wildlife. Sure, they are plantations with a planted mono-culture, but as a permaculture farmer myself, I think they offer a good alternative to the pastureland they replaced. There is plenty of bird and animal life in the palms, which are heavily mulched and as far as I can see do not use herbicides or pesticides. The trees are basically left to grow by themselves and harvested by hand. The processing plants are quite large and dirty, but not overwhelmingly so. Nicaragua and other Central American countries also export palm oil. There are obviously no orangutans here.

It's up to the individual to make their choices, but I have mostly vegan / raw / organic clients and no-one has asked me about palm. Perhaps they know I'm using the local stuff. the Central american palm might be a good alternative for you. This point has made me wonder what 'sustainable' means in terms of oil plantations - how do they define that?!? Off to research.