Rhus verniciflua wax aka Berry Was aka Japan Wax

[Cin]

Does anyone have experience using Japan wax in their recipes?

I bought some to make lotion bars and thought i'd experiment with it in soap. It contains 80% palmitic acid and the melting point is lower than beeswax. I had quick trace as expected but that could also be due to many other factors.

 

[ilarion.gonoratskiy]

Hello, I was wondering where you bought the japan wax. I have been looking for it!

 

[Cin]

Hello, I was wondering where you bought the japan wax. I have been looking for it!

Sorry I missed this. I got it from Bay House Aromatics in the UK.
If you do use it, let me know how your soap turns out. Mine received good reviews from friends.

 

[steppanyaki]

Sorry I missed this. I got it from Bay House Aromatics in the UK.
If you do use it, let me know how your soap turns out. Mine received good reviews from friends.

Hi I'm a little late to this thread. Can I ask how it's going with adding Japan wax to your soaps? I'm considering adding it to my soaps but read that it has high rancidity. Have you come across this issue at all?

 

[Cin]

The soap I make using the Japan wax is harder than my normal soaps. I haven't had a problem with rancidity and have soaps over a year old.

 

[AliOop]

This is very interesting - I haven't heard of using Japan wax in soap or balms. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[ResolvableOwl]

I wonder why I haven't found this thread much earlier…


Among the proper oils, Japan wax is the undoubted palmitic king (~ 90% hardness number)! It can replace double its weight in hard oils (palm oil in particular), and frees up the oleic moiety for other soft oils.

Unlike the FFA-type palm stearin (the brittle, icy looking shave-soap/frost-candle quality), Japan wax is chemically an oil (triglyceride), i. e. does not react instantly with lye to soap-on-a-stick, its reasonable use isn't confined to HP.

That said, it still is still finicky to work with it in CP, due to its tendency to form a very “stiff” false trace. IME at lower temperatures than of soy wax or fractionated palm stearin (“palm wax”), but then with much more vigour.
Guess who gave it a try in a OPW swirl anyway…