sunflower oil

[patrice]

Hello, I am totally new here and pretty new to soap making. I live in colorado surrounded by sunflower farms and am developing body care recipes using the readily available sunflower oil, along with other oils. Anybody out there with experience regarding sunflower oil? From my research so far I have understood that 25% is as high as you should go with the sunflower oil and I have followed that advice successfully....anyone play with a larger percentage with success?

 

[Hazel]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum!

It's interesting that you've used sunflower oil in your soaps. I was just working on a soap recipe because I want to use sunflower oil in it. I was only planning on adding about 10-15%.

I'd also like to hear about other people's experiences with using it in soap.

 

[Hazel]

I just stumbled over some info that stated sunflower oil produces a soft bar and is hard to saponify. So, that might be why it said not to use over 25%.

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/s ... r-oil.html

 

[patrice]

thanks for the info....i have a 5 gallon bucket of sunflower.....it was the smallest amount i could buy at the processing plant....so far my 25% sunflower oil soap is pretty satisfactory.....i was sorta hoping someone out there had had success with higher percentages and could save me the time and trouble of doing a bunch of research and development...but i think i shall proceed slowly with adding bigger amounts.....the sunflowere oil is only 8 dollars a gallon , no shipping and politically correct being local and all....plus the stuff smells great. p

 

[Hazel]

Maybe you could experiment with a small batch and add beeswax. I was just reading an article that mentioned adding 1 oz per lb of oils would make the soap harder. It also said beeswax smells like honey so maybe you could come up with a Honey Sunflower bar for spring/summer. You could show a bee on a sunflower for the label.

It might make a nice theme for a spring/summer line. Do you also do lotions and scrubs? It also would make a nice foot care kit. Honey Sunflower in foot scrub, foot balm, etc.

 

[patrice]

thanks for the great ideas ....I shall try the beeswax....it will make a great smell combo with the sunflower oil.....I already use it to make lotions and salves....haven't played much with scrubs yet...still trying to figure if i really need to use preservatives.....i used some wonderful sugar scrub a friend made and didn't have any issues with it going bad...she doesn't use perservatives in any of her products....but from what i am understanding from reading this forum there can be things growing in products that aren't detectable.....p

 

[Hazel]

Yeah, mold is easy to spot but not bacteria. Anything which has water added needs a preservative. If the sugar scrub is made up of all oils, you don't have to add a preservative. However, if you're using it in the shower or some water drips off your hand, then water is in it and bacteria will start growing. Better safe than sorry. :wink:

I'm glad you liked the idea. It was good timing that I had just read the info about beeswax. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come up with it.

 

[patrice]

I have played with using beeswax and have had great results....made a final experiment using just sunflower oil and got a really soft bar....which I shall do a rebatch with...it should make a great conditioning bar when rebatched with a harder soap....have tried this with a pure olive oil soap with great success. p

 

[Hazel]

So, the beeswax did work. Good. I'll have to give it a try, too.