Islandsoapgal
New Member
Will HO sunflower oil make a hard bar of soap like olive oil the longer it cures?
sunfllower oil
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Try looking at the fatty acid profile in Soapmaking Friend. It shows that High oleic sunflower oil is high in oleic acid and low in palmic and stearic acids. The bar will be soft and won't last very long. The following link might also be helpful. The info in this link indicates that 100% sunflower oil soap is still soft after 6 months.
https://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
https://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm
Last edited:
You made me look @lsg and @Islandsoapgal. 
I’ve switched to using High Oleic (HO) sunflower or safflower instead of olive oil. I noticed the study at zensoaps was done in 2003 and did not specify HO for the safflower or sunflower soaps. So for curious minds like mine, here are comparisons from the soap calculator.
Olive oil:
HO Sunflower oil:
HO Safflower oil
Look at the palmitic and stearic numbers added together to see the hardness value. Olive oil has a total of 17% compared to only 7% for HO sunflower or HO Safflower oil, so a pure olive oil soap will be harder than either of the other two oils by themselves.
You can create a hard bar of HO sunflower oil soap by adding an oil high in either/both palmitic or stearic acid. I add soy wax and Shea butter to increase the hardness numbers.
I’ve switched to using High Oleic (HO) sunflower or safflower instead of olive oil. I noticed the study at zensoaps was done in 2003 and did not specify HO for the safflower or sunflower soaps. So for curious minds like mine, here are comparisons from the soap calculator.Olive oil:
HO Sunflower oil:
HO Safflower oil
Look at the palmitic and stearic numbers added together to see the hardness value. Olive oil has a total of 17% compared to only 7% for HO sunflower or HO Safflower oil, so a pure olive oil soap will be harder than either of the other two oils by themselves.
You can create a hard bar of HO sunflower oil soap by adding an oil high in either/both palmitic or stearic acid. I add soy wax and Shea butter to increase the hardness numbers.
akseattle
Well-Known Member
@lsg thanks for that link to Zensoaps. That was an interesting comparison.
It wasn't clear to me if the oil being referenced was 100% of the soap (like a 100% sunflower bar or a 100% safflower bar?) or if there were other oils and the referenced soap was the only variable.
Other than Castile which is commonly made with 100% olive oil, I thought generally, the idea was to make a balanced bar. As @AliOop says, she increases the hardness of her bar by adding oils high in palmitic and/ or stearic acid.
I don't know if Zensoaps will answer my question, but I have written to Zensoaps to ask them about that soap swap/ comparison they did.
Besides the rancidity results in Zensoaps study, I'm not understanding how the majority of the soaps could have come out so white!!!
Zen's tallow bar, apparently had a pink tint that got pinker after six months. I thought using tallow (and lard) is the key to a white, white soap !!!
This is a very confusing hobby .....
It wasn't clear to me if the oil being referenced was 100% of the soap (like a 100% sunflower bar or a 100% safflower bar?) or if there were other oils and the referenced soap was the only variable.
Other than Castile which is commonly made with 100% olive oil, I thought generally, the idea was to make a balanced bar. As @AliOop says, she increases the hardness of her bar by adding oils high in palmitic and/ or stearic acid.
I don't know if Zensoaps will answer my question, but I have written to Zensoaps to ask them about that soap swap/ comparison they did.
Besides the rancidity results in Zensoaps study, I'm not understanding how the majority of the soaps could have come out so white!!!
Zen's tallow bar, apparently had a pink tint that got pinker after six months. I thought using tallow (and lard) is the key to a white, white soap !!!
This is a very confusing hobby .....
@akseattle these were single-oil soaps, which means that no other oil was used except for that single named oil. 
akseattle
Well-Known Member
It wasn't clear to me because when she described the Lard bar, she saidthese were single-oil soaps, which means that no other oil was used except for that single named oil.
"odor 4 faint odor from cocoa butter? (odor absorber)"
I now see that it said "single oil soaps" at the top of the page.
So, she was thinking that lard is an "odor absorber" that picked up the scent of other bars.
Generally, not a good report card for sunflower oil.
@akseattle I can see where that would be confusing.
The sunflower oil in her studies was regular sunflower oil, not high oleic sunflower oil. Regular sunflower oil is high in linoleic acid, which would make it very prone to DOS. I have been using HO sunflower oil and have not had any issues with DOS.
If using regular canola oil or safflower oil, you can expect DOS. Be sure to purchase only high oleic versions of these oils for making soap.
To answer your question, no it will not make a bar of soap the same as OO soap even with a long cure. I did testing a few years ago with single oil soaps using SAO, HO Sunflower, HO Canola, and Avocado. The only oil that made a decent, in my opinion, was SAO because it did actually lather after a long cure of at least 6 months but it became much better after 8 months if my memory is working. I do remember the other I tossed after the long cure time. I still have a few bars of the SAO and I love them, they just keep getting better and better with no dos at 4 yrs old.
akseattle
Well-Known Member
@cmzaha, I'm curious. What was the objective of your test?
Not speaking from experience but just looking at the properties of the 4 oils you tested, it looks like all of them have excellent conditioning qualities, but not much else as a single oil bar.
Did you toss the three other soaps because they had DOS or because they were too soft for your liking, or because you just didn't like how they felt?
On SoapCalc, it looks like the Avocado Oil would have made the hardest bar. So, just curious.
Not speaking from experience but just looking at the properties of the 4 oils you tested, it looks like all of them have excellent conditioning qualities, but not much else as a single oil bar.
Did you toss the three other soaps because they had DOS or because they were too soft for your liking, or because you just didn't like how they felt?
On SoapCalc, it looks like the Avocado Oil would have made the hardest bar. So, just curious.
They had 0 lather. I hate pure OO soap and was looking for a replacement, plus I just always liked to test different scenarios. I found I love 100% SAO soap for my skin.
What is SAO? Safflower oil?
Sweet Almond Oil
. Yeah, that's kind of a deal breaker. I didn't realize SAO was Sweet Almond oil! I assumed it was Safflower oil. Guess I'll need to look at properties for sweet almond oil now...
