Properties of oils

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Seems like all the great properties certain oils have are lost during saponification.

Is this true? Or does the finished soap retain some of the properties of the original oils used (excluding superfatted oils)?
 
Danielito said:
Seems like all the great properties certain oils have are lost during saponification.

Is this true? Or does the finished soap retain some of the properties of the original oils used (excluding superfatted oils)?

No, not quite, otherwise coconut oil wouldnt be drying and olive oil wouldn't make one of the nicest soaps
 
Um... hunh?

anyway coconut oil becomes drying because it's converted, through the joys of chemistry, to the sodium salts of it's fatty acids and thus isn't coconut oil any more. theses soaps (salts!) are very good at removing oils.

there are supposedly healing qualities in unrefined shea. I personally cannot say with any certainty that there are, and have not seen any research on whether or not these qualites carry through. carrot seed oil is supposed to be spectacular for the skin, but I doubt you'd get any of that. hazelnut is supposed to be "drawing" and is castor. I don't work with hazelnut (nut allergies abound in my family) but I've not found castor soap is "drawing".

any benefit in "superfatting" with a particular oil (assuming it's done in HP and thus is actually the oil that remains - otherwise don't bother) is mitigated by the fact that the vast majority of the oil is washed away by the SOAP. the superfat, IMO, simply reduces the soap's ability to remove the oils from the skin - I wouldn't say any of it is deposited.

so color me sceptical
 
carebear said:
so color me sceptical

Exactly! Seems like it's more about how the oils affect the finished soap's hardness, durability and lather, than anything else.

Carebear, have you noted any real difference in a soap made with 5% castor oil vs. soap made without it?
 
well it would depend on what you substituted for it. if I make a 100% olive oil vs 95% oo/5% castor then I see a slight difference in lather.

now when I use straight olive oil on my face (the oil, not a soap made with the oil), or a mixture of olive and castor I DO notice a difference.
 
carebear said:
well it would depend on what you substituted for it. if I make a 100% olive oil vs 95% oo/5% castor then I see a slight difference in lather.

now when I use straight olive oil on my face (the oil, not a soap made with the oil), or a mixture of olive and castor I DO notice a difference.


i just made olive oil soap for the first time (i have used it before..) .. I looove it.... I will make many more batches of 100 % OO in the future... very nice soap non drying and leaves you feeling aaaaaaaaaah fresh!

do you like to one with a little castor or straight olive better?
 
actually though the castor does boost the lather a bit - it's not enough to make it any nicer to use. I like 100%
 

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