Pure hempseed oil soap

[f88]

Hello everybody, just found this site and this is my first post.
Glad to find a place where everybody is talking about one of my favorite things to do, making soap.
Basically I make only one kind of soap, pure hemp seed oil, lye and water. Yes, only one oil. It's a super soft soap and it's the best soap my family and I have ever used. We use it for everything, hair, body, babies, dishes, laundry, bicycle chains, the list goes on.
So I'm wondering if anybody else have done the same and what's their experiences with hempseed oil soaps.
Looking forward to chatting with all you soap experts on this forum.
Cheers.
Happy soaping.

[/img]

 

[Chalk Creek]

HI and welcome. I've never tried pure hempseed. Very nice looking soap.

 

[f88]

HI and welcome. I've never tried pure hempseed. Very nice looking soap.

CC, thank you for the welcome and the compliments.
I use hempseed oil because it's the best and one of the cheapest oils I can get locally. I also made a few batches of pure apricot kernel oil and some apricot/hempseed various percentages mix. Also a very nice soap and apricot by itself is a super hard oil.
I do not have access to coconut, olive and other oils that most soap recipes on the net call for. So I just decided, hey why not try with just one oil? If it doesn't work, oh well, worse things have had happened in life. But it turns out real nice.
BTW I use the lye calculator from thesage and I usually go for 5-6% excess fat, minimum water recommended.
Pure hemp seed oil takes forever to trace with conventional methods, hand stirring, eggbeater attached to drill etc, so I've been using a blender since my 3rd batch, takes less than 2 minutes to light trace, from which I stir out some of the millions of air bubbles trapped inside and then pour it into my mold, then stirring more with a fork to get more air bubbles out, till it gets to a medium/heavy trace.
I'm pretty new to soapmaking, so it's all interesting to me.

 

[SouthernEssence]

Did you use colorants in those bars in the picture? They're a very nice color.

 

[f88]

Did you use colorants in those bars in the picture? They're a very nice color.

Hello SouthernEssence, I do not use any colorants or any other additives for that fact in my soaps. And it turns a very nice dark forest green as you use it. It's a really, really soft soap(maybe I'm using too much excess fat?), and a few of my friends using it are mixing w/water and using it as liquid soap, but I really like the soothing green color so I mostly use it in bars.
If any of you get some hempseed oil, you should try making a pure soap out of it. I guarantee you'll be real happy with the results.

 

[SouthernEssence]

Did you use colorants in those bars in the picture? They're a very nice color.

Hello SouthernEssence, I do not use any colorants or any other additives for that fact in my soaps. And it turns a very nice dark forest green as you use it. It's a really, really soft soap(maybe I'm using too much excess fat?), and a few of my friends using it are mixing w/water and using it as liquid soap, but I really like the soothing green color so I mostly use it in bars.
If any of you get some hempseed oil, you should try making a pure soap out of it. I guarantee you'll be real happy with the results.

I love the color. I think I'll get some hempseed oil and try it.

 

[f88]

Did you use colorants in those bars in the picture? They're a very nice color.

Hello SouthernEssence, I do not use any colorants or any other additives for that fact in my soaps. And it turns a very nice dark forest green as you use it. It's a really, really soft soap(maybe I'm using too much excess fat?), and a few of my friends using it are mixing w/water and using it as liquid soap, but I really like the soothing green color so I mostly use it in bars.
If any of you get some hempseed oil, you should try making a pure soap out of it. I guarantee you'll be real happy with the results.

I love the color. I think I'll get some hempseed oil and try it.

SouthernEssence, good on you, I think everybody should give it a go sometimes. It's great for all kinds of skin conditions, from super sensitive dry to oily skin like mine. Great for hair too. And never dries you out. We use it for everything in the house and work. It's our one do-it-all soap.
One thing, though, I should mention, I press my own oil with live seeds. I believe most of the oil that you buy commercially are pressed from irradiated(dead) seeds. I've never tried with commercial hempseed oil, I'm sure the result would not vary too much if used for making soap. I would just not use it for food/cooking though, since it's been denatured, but that's just me.
If you have any questions regarding the making of hempseed oil soap, let me know, but it's super easy compared to other recipes.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Hi and welcome to The SMF! We are glad you joined! I have a sample of HSO, and love it in leave on products. I would love to have a source for a good, inexpensive hemp seed oil! Mind sharing! Do you have DOS issues using this all by itself? Thanks! Your soaps have a beautiful hemp green colour! Nice! :wink:

Paul

 

[f88]

Hi and welcome to The SMF! We are glad you joined! I have a sample of HSO, and love it in leave on products. I would love to have a source for a good, inexpensive hemp seed oil! Mind sharing! Do you have DOS issues using this all by itself? Thanks! Your soaps have a beautiful hemp green colour! Nice! :wink:

Paul

Hello Paul and thank you for the welcome and compliments for the soap.
I've never had DOS issues with either my hso or apricot kernel soaps, and they are all blender soaps.
I've dried the hso soap both cut up in bars after taking them out from the mold or as 1kg chunks and never had a problem. If you leave them in big chunks and cut them up a few months later, they have a 2 tone color, a little yellowish on the outside and greener inside. I'll find my camera tomorrow and get some pics, I've one piece I'm cutting away at right now.
I really wish I can sort people out with hso. I press my own oil from seeds I source myself. Only problem is that I'm living in China and it just would not be cost efficient to send it over wherever you are. You'll be better off to source it from Canadian/European/American hemp companies. I know the prices are outrageous, if I was living in Canada, I would not make pure hso soap either. But where I live, they harvest hs by the ton, so it's really economical for me to make pure hso soap. It's even cheaper than coconut or olive oil for me here, and those 2 oils are hard to come by, so I'm 'stuck' with hso.

 

[CPSoaper]

Welcome F88. Your soap looks nice.

I too was wondering about the DOS as hemp has a very short life. I also wonder how the lather is with a pure hemp soap? Since they are soft bars, how long does one last? I would think they would not last long at all. Having said this, I have to also say that I love hemp. I make a hemp soap, and have experimented with different % to see how far I could take it without DOS. In my hempy soaps, I use no more than 10% - over that, and I got DOS. I've been thinking about trying to add to some ROE and vit e to see if it helps.

I also love to make body butters with hemp. It is a wonderful oil.

 

[f88]

CPSoaper, thank you for the welcome and the compliments.

HSO soaps in my experience can keep up to a year. That's curing for 6-8 weeks and just a saran layer wrap for keeping in a cool, dark place.
You're right, they're not the longest lasting soap in the world, especially if you have kids playing with it in the bath like we do. In the real world, for example a 100-120g bar for hand washing dishes would last 10 to 14 days of everyday use and we do cook at home mostly, so imo, it's not that bad on longetivity. If you make it into liquid soap, it'll last longer.
I've never had DOS problems, maybe I'm lucky. I do live in a really dry climate, I'm not sure if that helps.
I just read to avoid ROE and vit e to avoid dos. http://www.soapnaturally.org/DOS.html
Never made hso body butter but we do use the oil pure for massage and dry skin, which is a problem here.
I'm also curious what most of you folks use for mixing your soap. I'm thinking to get a dough mixer to make larger batches, is it a good idea?

Welcome F88. Your soap looks nice.

I too was wondering about the DOS as hemp has a very short life. I also wonder how the lather is with a pure hemp soap? Since they are soft bars, how long does one last? I would think they would not last long at all. Having said this, I have to also say that I love hemp. I make a hemp soap, and have experimented with different % to see how far I could take it without DOS. In my hempy soaps, I use no more than 10% - over that, and I got DOS. I've been thinking about trying to add to some ROE and vit e to see if it helps.

I also love to make body butters with hemp. It is a wonderful oil.

 

[f88]

Lather

CPSoaper, forgot to answer you question regarding lather.
HSO soap does lather really well, much better than pure apricot kernel oil . Mixed with ako it lathers wonderfully as well.
In fact, the other hso soap that I've tried that lathers better is Dr. Bronner's, and they use hso as well with jojoba and peppermint, I love that smell. I want to figure out how to extract mint crystals by using ice and filters.
I only have experiences making soap with hso and ako, though I'm searching for other seeds/kernels locally that I can press into oil.

 

[Lane]

I LOVE using Hemp seed oil in my soaps! I have only used up too 33% before, but I had no DOS problems. Hemp seed oil is expensive, but is sells very well. On it's own, it has a very nice smell and a beautiful color!

Welcome f88!

 

[CPSoaper]

CPSoaper, thank you for the welcome and the compliments.

HSO soaps in my experience can keep up to a year. That's curing for 6-8 weeks and just a saran layer wrap for keeping in a cool, dark place.
You're right, they're not the longest lasting soap in the world, especially if you have kids playing with it in the bath like we do. In the real world, for example a 100-120g bar for hand washing dishes would last 10 to 14 days of everyday use and we do cook at home mostly, so imo, it's not that bad on longetivity. If you make it into liquid soap, it'll last longer.
I've never had DOS problems, maybe I'm lucky. I do live in a really dry climate, I'm not sure if that helps.
I just read to avoid ROE and vit e to avoid dos. http://www.soapnaturally.org/DOS.html
Never made hso body butter but we do use the oil pure for massage and dry skin, which is a problem here.
I'm also curious what most of you folks use for mixing your soap. I'm thinking to get a dough mixer to make larger batches, is it a good idea?

I'll bet your soaps are quite nice and conditioning. Lucky you that you can get hemp oil so cheap. How lucky for your family to that they get to use a nice hempy bar everyday.

To mix my soap, I either stir by hand or use my handy dandy stick blender. A dough mixer would be great to use to make whipped soaps like Whipped Nizzy. I tried it a few times, but darn was it time consuming. I think I will stick with my regular routine of stirring and/or stick blending.

I think a whipped hemp soap would be just devine! You've inspired me and I must now try to make a pure hemp soap. 8)

 

[f88]

Hello Land and thank your for the welcome.
Yes, hso is a great oil for body, hair, pretty much anything else.Probably the most moisturizing soap I've ever used as well. I would not hesistate to recommend it to everybody to try making at least once, even a small 1 pound batch to see what I'm fussing about. The best thing is the simplicity of making a one oil soap and since I use a blender, I do not worry about the temp. difference at all. If you hand stir it, it'll properly take a day to trace, I've also tried with an eggbeater attached to a drill and the first time it took me 7/8 hours to trace, I really thought I made a mistake somwhere. But my wife thinks that the 'slow' way produced a creamier quality soap. I myself do not notice any difference.
Yeah, I love the smell of hso, though it might be a bit much for some people(a tiny minority), as I do not use any scent in my soap, I love the simplicity of a, er, simple piece of soap.
HSO is an expensive oil everywhere else, I'm just lucky I live in a hemp producing region. The hemp here is grown exclusively for the seeds. I buy a few hundred kgs or so at a time and get an oil press shop to press it for me for a small charge. I think the commercial price for hso is ridiculous, it's too much for many home soapmakers who would like to create with this oil, also maybe why I haven't seen pure hso soap anywhere on the net or in stores.

I LOVE using Hemp seed oil in my soaps! I have only used up too 33% before, but I had no DOS problems. Hemp seed oil is expensive, but is sells very well. On it's own, it has a very nice smell and a beautiful color!

Welcome f88!

 

[f88]

CPSoaper, yes, I also know that we are lucky to have such access to hs, for cheap too. I've looked into other oils, but they all have to be imported, olive oil from Italy, coconut oil from Thailand, etc and they do cost more than hso here, plus they need to come from a ways away and I cannot justify all that energy spent just so I can get some oil.
The kids love it and yeah, if I have to buy hso based soaps, I would very likely not let them play with it on the bathroom floor so they can slide on the tiles and such. But I do hope they grow out of it someday.
But if you are frugal, ie making it into liquid soap, it'll last you much longer, I just add one part water to one part soap to mine and let it sit in a container for a few days and shake it a couple minutes everyday. If you do it right, you get a real creamy liquid soap. Great for shampoo, dishes, bike chains where you do not need a bar soap.
I'll be shopping for a dough mixer when I get some money together. If it doesn't work out, my wife would just use it for mixing dough as she bakes quite a lot. I cannot get one of those stick blenders here, would like my folks to send me one from Canada, but it's the wrong voltage. I'll find one someday...
I'm really happy that you're going to give it a try to make a pure hso soap. You'll be glad you did. Please keep me updated on how it goes.

[/quote]

I'll bet your soaps are quite nice and conditioning. Lucky you that you can get hemp oil so cheap. How lucky for your family to that they get to use a nice hempy bar everyday.

To mix my soap, I either stir by hand or use my handy dandy stick blender. A dough mixer would be great to use to make whipped soaps like Whipped Nizzy. I tried it a few times, but darn was it time consuming. I think I will stick with my regular routine of stirring and/or stick blending.

I think a whipped hemp soap would be just devine! You've inspired me and I must now try to make a pure hemp soap. 8)[/quote]

 

[Neil]

Welcome F88,

I find the subject of discussion extremely interesting so much so It’s inspired me to experiment with some local oils to test the possibly of a single oil soap. One in particular is cottonseed I find here at around .85 a lb and it has a hardness factor 26 so although it would be soft it should set up ok compared to the hemp which has a hardness factor of 8. The conditioning factor is very good also on the cottonseed and as well it has natural antioxidants so shelf life is better than some.

Then I want to test the Cottonseed and Coconut at a 70/30 mix.

Your conversation based on your own experience seem to confirm my feelings of the Soap factor specs in that the numbers are not always representative of the final results. Some soap is best made by trial and error. I think the soap specs are a good starting point... then experience must finalize the results.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us and thanks for inspiring me.

 

[f88]

Neil, thank you for the welcome.
I'm happy I can inspire you to try local oils and one oil soaps. Source locally and you can cut your costs by more than half or more. Cottonseed I cannot find here, else I'll try that too, but today I found carrot seeds but the farmers don't want to sell that, instead they'll trade me for hso.
If cottonseed is 3 times harder than hso, then by all means you can create a one oil soap. Apricot kernel oil by itself probably has a hardness factor of that much, but I'm not 100% sure. I do not use coconut oil cause I cannot get it here, plus quite a few people using my soap has dry skin and I know that coconut robs the skin of moisture. Good for hot, tropical countries but not good for here.
I agree soap making is also pretty much a trial and error thing, like most things in life. I was hesistant at first to start making soap because of the unavailability of most oils and ingredients that internet recipes provide. Also I've searched on the net for 100% pure hso soap and never found any. But I've also used pure olive oil soap from Allepo, Syria and that was a pure one oil soap and it was the best commercial soap I used before trying to make my own. So that was pretty much my inspiration to try one oil soap, and I'm very lucky that it all worked out great.
Please let us know how your cottonseed oil soap goes.
Btw how are you going to press the oil?

Welcome F88,

I find the subject of discussion extremely interesting so much so It’s inspired me to experiment with some local oils to test the possibly of a single oil soap. One in particular is cottonseed I find here at around .85 a lb and it has a hardness factor 26 so although it would be soft it should set up ok compared to the hemp which has a hardness factor of 8. The conditioning factor is very good also on the cottonseed and as well it has natural antioxidants so shelf life is better than some.

Then I want to test the Cottonseed and Coconut at a 70/30 mix.

Your conversation based on your own experience seem to confirm my feelings of the Soap factor specs in that the numbers are not always representative of the final results. Some soap is best made by trial and error. I think the soap specs are a good starting point... then experience must finalize the results.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us and thanks for inspiring me.