Substituting oils

[mavalia]

Help! I've run out of olive oil to make my soap - it is possible to use any of the ones from the supermarket? I use a cosmetic grade olive oil from this guy who sells soap making supplies.

Can I also use another oil to sub the olive oil, like sunflower oil?

 

[Sunny]

you can use olive oil from the store or another oil of your choice, just make sure to run it through a soap calculator first, like the one at soapcalc.net.

the qualities of the soap will change if you use a different oil but yes it is possible.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I buy my olive oil at Costco. No need to get it from a soap supplier.

 

[IrishLass]

Like Soapy Gurl, I buy my olive oil from my local Costco, too. It's one of the soaping oils I use that's not nessessary for me to buy from a supplier.

If you use sunflower oil, make sure it is the high oleic/low linoleic kind or you may end up with DOS (there are 2 kinds of sunflower oil). The regular sunflower oil is just the opposite- very high in the DOS-prone linoleic acid and very low in the more stable oliec acid.

No matter what you decide to use, run everything through a lye calculator first, as the others have already wisely mentioned.

IrishLass

 

[cheesenoodle]

Ok, I respect all of you here, you're all great & I appreciate your help so much,
especially those who have directly taken time out of their day to help me -
IrishLass, and, I think Sunny has, too. Thank you!!!

That being said I'd like to hop on my soap box for a second.
I don't mean to offend anyone at all, but would like to offer my view on this -

I feel that "Costco Culture" is the epitome of what has
destroyed local & small business in our communities.
We used to have local food, local shops, local businesses.
Now that's mostly wiped out, in part because of places like Costco.

Granted, most olive oil isn't local to begin with, but supporting a small
business that imports the stuff is better than doing otherwise, I think.

Part of why I like making soap is that it bypasses the chemical-laden
soaps we see being sold today. Making soap on your own is simple.
It works. It's even biodegradable depending on what you put in there.
Making your own soap bypasses the support of our consumer culture of
the western world in different ways. It's so great in so many ways, and
that's part of why I can't support places like Costco by making soap.

It may be a few bucks more expensive to go somewhere smaller, but that
makes me value my soap even more, waste less of it, and use it more wisely.

 

[mavalia]

Thanks for your helpful advice, guys. Costco doesn't exist where I'm at so I'll give the supermarket brands a go. I read somewhere that sunflower oil can be used to replace olive oil so I got a bottle of that from the supermarket - I forgot the name of the brand but it's the same brand as the olive oil my mom uses at home (clearly I'm not the one who does the grocery shopping at home ).

IrishLass, how do I know if the sunflower oil I bought is a high oleic or low linoleic kind? I used it in addition to what little olive oil I had left (and coconut oil, palm oil and castor oil) for a soap I just unmoulded earlier today. There's no DOS so far. Don't think I've seen DOS-es in any of my soap yet - does it usually appear much later?

I'm thinking maybe I should stick to the oils I can buy from the supermarket from now on since they are easier to get and probably cheaper than getting them directly from the soap supplier.

What of the smell though? The supermarket's olive oil has a really strong smell - would that smell come through in the soap if not fragranced enough?

 

[carebear]

DOS takes a few months to show up.

 

[xyxoxy]

...
I feel that "Costco Culture" is the epitome of what has
destroyed local & small business in our communities.
We used to have local food, local shops, local businesses.
Now that's mostly wiped out, in part because of places like Costco.
...
It may be a few bucks more expensive to go somewhere smaller, but that
makes me value my soap even more, waste less of it, and use it more wisely.

I can appreciate what you are saying and in some respects I would agree. However I have more of a problem with Walmart than I do with Costco. Walmart has a history of ACTIVELY planning to kill local businesses in smaller communities, putting people out of work and then hiring them at a much lower wage with little or no benefits. I won't go into detail here as this info is readily available online. But I have not spent a nickel in Walmart or Sam's Club in over a decade.

Costco has a much more respectable business model, especially in the way they treat their employees. They are also much more concerned with providing good values to the consumer and have explicit policies that help to prevent price gouging.

I do support local shops when possible. But in this case I prefer to get my olive oil at Costco. For one thing it would be MUCH more than just "a few bucks more" to buy the same quantity I use in smaller bottles at the grocery store. Not to mention the waste and other environmental impact of using all of those small bottles instead of the economy size. If I could find a small private grocer or supplier who could order the larger size for me I would be willing to pay a little extra. But sadly, even the local grocery stores are part of big chains now and just don't have that kind of flexibility or personal service.

 

[Healinya]

Sam Walton opened Walmart with a dream of having a great store where American products are sold... When he died, things changed. I worked for Walmart for a bit, they have a few strange quirks, but for the most part they r great for working class... Stock options, 10% employee discount. I don't know if sams club opened before if after the Mr Walton died, but they r pretty similar with employee benefits.

As said above, they have some devious marketing plans.. like buying out all hot xmas toys at competitors like target, so shoppers would get mad that they find nothing they want and leave the carts in the aisles... During a staff meeting, we were encouraged to hang out at Target on our lunch breaks, wearing Walmart apparel...

 

[IrishLass]

IrishLass, how do I know if the sunflower oil I bought is a high oleic or low linoleic kind?

The regular (or high linoleic) sunflower oil will probably just say 'Sunflower Oil' on the bottle, but the high oleic sunflower oil will specify 'High Oleic" right on the front of the bottle. It may be hard to find in most neighborhood grocery stores, but the Wholefoods Market chain has started selling it. Also, many online B&B suppliers sell it as well.

I just unmoulded earlier today. There's no DOS so far. Don't think I've seen DOS-es in any of my soap yet - does it usually appear much later?

Yes- as Carebear stated, DOS takes a few months to show up. I just wanted to be clear, though, that I'm not saying that your soap is guaranteed to come down with DOS from using regular sunflower oil instead of the high oleic sunflower kind. Chances are (depending on certain factors), that your soap may end up being perfectly fine, but I just wanted to give you the 'heads-up' about the fragility of oils that are high in linoleic acid and how they tend to make one's soap DOS-prone if too much is used.

What of the smell though? The supermarket's olive oil has a really strong smell - would that smell come through in the soap if not fragranced enough?

I've used the Extra Virgin OO once in my soap- my very first Castile batch- and the strong fruity/olive smell did not come through. All I could smell was my fragrance oil. Nowadays I use the Pure Olive oil from Costco for my soaps (which I believe is Grade A OO) as it less expensive, and my soaps come out just as lovely.

IrishLass

 

[mavalia]

Oh no! I hope the DOS won't show up then, although it's more of a cosmetic blemish than anything else, right?

I think it's really wonderful how it seems so simple to get involved in homemade crafts overseas. Getting supplies, especially in small quantities, and cost is a real factor here. I know of soapmakers who use food colouring to colour their soaps if they wanted something other than what herbs can provide, which is kinda sad, but ordering stuff online is really a killer when it comes to the shipping fees. I have to consider and re-consider more than a few times if it's really worth getting the stuff. :cry:

 

[BakingNana]

Oh no! I hope the DOS won't show up then, although it's more of a cosmetic blemish than anything else, right?

DOSsed soap smells off. Rancid.

 

[IrishLass]

BakingNana is right. DOSed soap= rancid soap. And since it can spread to other soaps nearby, it's always best to toss a DOSed batch.

IrishLass