Soaping with unknown oil

[varshamanick]

Thankyou for replying. If you don't mind, may I ask what is SF?
And is it okay if I used the Ruchi Gold oil for making soap or should i use some other oil instead?

I am a newbie too.
Started making soaps in June.
I used Ruchi gold for all my recipes until I recently realised its palmolein and not palm oil.
It's fine. Just Select Palmolein in Soapcalc and use it.

SF is Superfat.
Check this out for more details about SF:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...cess-soap/superfatting-soap-an-explanation-2/
Soap making is a fun journey. Today you might feel like you know everything and tomorrow a completely new issue will pop up. The beginning is all about research and lot of trial and errors.

 

[Pooja H.]

I am a newbie too.
Started making soaps in June.
I used Ruchi gold for all my recipes until I recently realised its palmolein and not palm oil.
It's fine. Just Select Palmolein in Soapcalc and use it.

SF is Superfat.
Check this out for more details about SF:
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...cess-soap/superfatting-soap-an-explanation-2/
Soap making is a fun journey. Today you might feel like you know everything and tomorrow a completely new issue will pop up. The beginning is all about research and lot of trial and errors.

Ohh thankyou so much for clearing my doubts!! (Even tho its 2.43am currently )
I've read about super fatting but didn't connect the abbreviation with that. But you're right everyday some new information about this pops up and from one minute that I thought "I know everything and should just careful proceed at last" changes to "the understanding of soapcalc to a 5yr old" lol and like you said, I can only imagine how many times I'll have to troubleshoot when I'm actually making it. Ah well like they say, soap making is tests and trial most of the time, is true I guess and I think it's more fun that way.
From a newbie to another "let the trace be with you" and thanx again.

 

[Dawni]

Illipe butter, what its known as in most of the rest of the world, is a completely different tree, Shorea stenoptera, and is mostly native to Indonesia and a few other places.

Mahua, or mowrah, is from both Madhuca trees, very common in most parts of India and less anywhere else.

SAP values will vary, depending on where the tree is, when stuff is harvested, etc. I'm going through the same research difficulty with a local oil as well. You will need to do a lot of small batch testing once you get a supplier of a consistent product, otherwise you might need to test every single time (usually the problem with unrefined oils direct from source but I love using those lol).

Haven't tried either but I did lots of research because I wanted to try them, and because I'm trying to import the Indian butters and oils coz they're very hard to find where I am now.

Not sure price wise if it's feasible for you guys, but Veda Oils in Delhi has competitive pricing and they sell bulk, and they have a lot of info on their products, plus free shipping anywhere in India if you reach 999 INR. They have butters, carrier and essential oils, etc.

There's also Lime Art in Coimbatore, smaller company so somewhat pricier but they also have relatively good pricing (compared to here, even if I include shipping costs). My SO has been there to check out stuff for me, and they're very informative as well, and have stuff that maybe hard to find elsewhere too.

If you're buying in Bulk there's also Aarnav Global in UP, but they're an exporter so might not have in small quantities but you can check. They quoted for me mango butter as low as 7kgs so maybe they can cater. They have a lot of products, including essential oils, carrier oils, butters, etc.

If you're looking to sell your soap, by all means to help out the small time suppliers by buying straight from them, but make sure you've done your thorough testing....

 

[Pooja H.]

Illipe butter, what its known as in most of the rest of the world, is a completely different tree, Shorea stenoptera, and is mostly native to Indonesia and a few other places.

Mahua, or mowrah, is from both Madhuca trees, very common in most parts of India and less anywhere else.

SAP values will vary, depending on where the tree is, when stuff is harvested, etc. I'm going through the same research difficulty with a local oil as well. You will need to do a lot of small batch testing once you get a supplier of a consistent product, otherwise you might need to test every single time (usually the problem with unrefined oils direct from source but I love using those lol).

Haven't tried either but I did lots of research because I wanted to try them, and because I'm trying to import the Indian butters and oils coz they're very hard to find where I am now.

Not sure price wise if it's feasible for you guys, but Veda Oils in Delhi has competitive pricing and they sell bulk, and they have a lot of info on their products, plus free shipping anywhere in India if you reach 999 INR. They have butters, carrier and essential oils, etc.

There's also Lime Art in Coimbatore, smaller company so somewhat pricier but they also have relatively good pricing (compared to here, even if I include shipping costs). My SO has been there to check out stuff for me, and they're very informative as well, and have stuff that maybe hard to find elsewhere too.

If you're buying in Bulk there's also Aarnav Global in UP, but they're an exporter so might not have in small quantities but you can check. They quoted for me mango butter as low as 7kgs so maybe they can cater. They have a lot of products, including essential oils, carrier oils, butters, etc.

If you're looking to sell your soap, by all means to help out the small time suppliers by buying straight from them, but make sure you've done your thorough testing....

Thankyou for the information , especially about the suppliers. Since I've recently started out that too with melt n pour soaps, I bought the ingredients for that from jindeal.com, their prices were comparatively cheaper and I also checked that they do carry few of the common oils n Butters like olive, palm, shea, cocoa etc. Then I also found theartconnect.in where they have a wide variety of oils n Butters like sal butter n other stuff (but compared to the oils carried by jindeal, its a tad bit expensive if not buying in bulk not to mention shipping 59/kg i think whereas jindeal charged only ₹150 for 10kg that I've currently ordered).
I did look at the Veda oils catalogue for their fragrance oils n essential oils and I was a bit skeptical cz they had the cheapest price per 100ml and when I checked the reviews on Google, they were pretty bad so I didn't order from them but glad to know you've had good experience from them.
I suggest aromakrafts.com for fancy fragrance oils n micas, the small order that I placed came neatly wrapped n the fragrances smell really good. (Just putting it out there for any lost newbie like me.)

 

[Dawni]

Thank you too @Pooja H. I'll check those out too

 

[varshamanick]

Hey Dawni,
Thank you for such a detailed response.

So SAP values may vary based on different factors. Good to know that. So I need to make test batches and stick with a good supplier.

I have bought Carrier Oils, Butters and Essential Oils from Veda Oils. They even gave me more than the ordered quantity of butter. (Really surprised me when I weighed my freshly opened bag of 1 kg Shea butter and saw the machine show 1.25 Kgs)
Since they have a really cheap pricing and provide more than the ordered quantity, I had a doubt that they may be adulterating. And also their Tamanu oil was light green and not dark green.

https://www.suppliersociety.in/They are Erode, Tamil Nadu (near Coimbatore) based suppliers and wholesale soap makers. They have good quality products. Just check them out. They have excellent customer service.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmVHLSMb0lEDuKJ79271RXAThis is their youtube channel. It is mostly in Tamil language. (Just for information)

My friend buys from LimeArt and really likes them.
I will look into Aarnav Global, thanks for that.

 

[Dawni]

Thank you @varshamanick! More places for Karthick to call or visit for me nyahaha

Hard to determine adulteration though.... For example, I've bought tamanu from the same supplier several times, who gets from their supplier all the time, and it's never the same shade of green.

I'm thinking it's like what they've learned about shea or illipe butters for example (as I also mentioned earlier), that color and scent will vary depending on the location of the tree/plant, season harvested, harvesters birthday (kidding lol) and so on.

This further hammers down the need for a lot of testing. If an oil is indeed adulterated, you should be able to notice the differences when you make it into soap often enough.....

 

[varshamanick]

I wanted make my soaps palm free. Not having access to lard or tallow, I went to learn more about mahua oil/Mowrah butter.
This led to a lot of research, screen time, headaches and NO actual soap making.
So I didn't want to waste my time on Mahua anymore. Bought sustainable palm oil and started making soaps. Now one big rack is full of curing soaps this makes me stay motivated.
But will make my brand palm free one day.

 

[Dawni]

I wanted make my soaps palm free. Not having access to lard or tallow, I went to learn more about mahua oil/Mowrah butter.
This led to a lot of research, screen time, headaches and NO actual soap making.
So I didn't want to waste my time on Mahua anymore. Bought sustainable palm oil and started making soaps. Now one big rack is full of curing soaps this makes me stay motivated.
But will make my brand palm free one day.

I just found sustainable palm too. I think its a great oil, for lather n bubbles, and also hardness and longevity. Hits everything, and if its sustainable then great.

There are others to try. You get kokum and mango with very good prices where you are, and there's more info on those than mowrah. Mango is rarely unrefined so it'll be more or less consistent, kokum less so but more than mowrah. By the time those get here they are 4-6x the price so for me the cheapest is local cocoa butter and I use it a lot for the vegan soaps.

 

[MemphisJay]

Has anyone tried Interesterified Soy shortening?

 

[sri496]

I'm also learning on making hand made soaps. While I'm able to find palmolein oil, I''m not able to find palm oil supplier that can supply at reasonable cost. Palm oil costs from jindeals and theartconnect is very high. Can I know from where you purchased your Palm oil? That would help me a lot in starting my hand made soaps journey.

 

[sang90]

Hi, could someone please let me know if mahua oil in soap goes rancid quickly?

 

[TheGecko]

But you're right everyday some new information about this pops up and from one minute that I thought "I know everything and should just careful proceed at last" changes to "the understanding of soapcalc to a 5yr old" lol

I don't think that any soap maker worth their salt (idiom) ever stops learning because there are so many facets to it. There is the science of soap making, the magic of soap making, the creativity of soap making. I feel very blessed to be in the US because of the access and availability of a huge range of ingredients...oils, butters, additives, etc and the lack of overall restrictions (not always a good thing). But the other side of the coin, that lack of access and availability, and the restriction also lead to a great deal of creativity in producing quality soaps.

 

[Charmed Heart]

Has anyone tried Interesterified Soy shortening?

No I haven't, but I am very interested. Have you tried it yet?

 

[PlusNaturalCare]

I am new to soap making. But I have used this for quite a few batches now. The soap turned out great. Is this the colour of the Mahua oil you have?
View attachment 50481
There is refined and unrefined. Be sure to check that with your supplier.
View attachment 50483

Hello,
If this thread is still open, may I ask where you purchased the refined Mowrah butter please?
Thanks

 

[Relle]

Hello,
If this thread is still open, may I ask where you purchased the refined Mowrah butter please?
Thanks

This person hasn't been here for 2 yrs, the thread is 4 yrs old. Ask in the shopping recommendations thread to see if someone can help.