Pumpkin Seed Oil?

[GreenDragon]

Has anyone used / had success with pumpkin seed oil in CP soap? I really like the look and feel that Tamanu oil (at 5%) gives my soap, but it's really expense, and PSO seems to have a similar oil property profile, and it's 1/20th the cost.

Thanks - Steve

 

[dixiedragon]

I got some at Home Goods. it's a very dark black-green color. I used it at 5 or 10 % in lip balm because of the color. Haven't tried it in CP.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Seed oils tend to be extra prone to rancidity.

 

[MorpheusPA]

With that fatty acid profile, I'd assume it goes bad fast and has a short shelf life. That having been said, there's no reason you can't use it at 10% in a CP soap--many people do use short-life oils with great success as long as the total amount is low and the rest of the soap has little to no linoleic and linolenic acids.

It's not that dissimilar to sunflower or safflower (it's actually a bit more stable than either) and both of those are fine at small percentages.

I don't think you'll have any issue at 10%, although this wouldn't be a soap I'd plan on storing for the very long-term if I had anything to say about it. I just wouldn't go past 10% for any reason.

All that having been said, some of the skin feel is the non-saponifiable portion of the oil. You may find pumpkin seed oil to be disappointing in the end, so I'd get a small amount and do a single test batch before going hog-wild on it.

 

[earlene]

Test it for youself at the same rate and compare the bars. My recommendations are:
1. add ROE to the bottle when you open it,
2. avoid high percentages because it makes for a very color-staining lather

Yes I have used it CP soap. Did not like in high percentages.

 

[DeeAnna]

The Efficacious Gentleman (Craig) made soap with pumpkin seed oil a few years ago. You might contact him and see what his long-term results have been with this type of soap. Or maybe he will weigh in here -- although with a young family to ride herd on, he's been pretty busy with Real Life of late.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The Efficacious Gentleman (Craig) made soap with pumpkin seed oil a few years ago. You might contact him and see what his long-term results have been with this type of soap. Or maybe he will weigh in here -- although with a young family to ride herd on, he's been pretty busy with Real Life of late.

I had left the thread unread as I wasn't sure if I still had a bit of that soap laying around. I checked my box of keepers (a bit of various soaps to see how they do over the years!) and I do have one. It isn't rancid or overly off in a major way. This was from 2015 so is at least 2 years old, up to 3. There is a fair amount of ash still, and the colour from the oil is long come, not that I used it in an amount which gave much lasting colour at all.

The members from the EU natural colourant swap can also weigh in on if it went bad for them.

 

[GreenDragon]

Thanks everyone. My oil should arrive on Wednesday and I plan on making a few mini test batches. Also, all of my recipes would be in the 5-8% max range, so that should also help.

I'll post an update after a few months of cure time!

Steve

 

[osso]

Have used at 5-7% with no issues. I also use ROE in my oils.