Sunflower Oil

[Malvar62]

Greetings to all, I am a newbie to soap making... I did all the reading and research and videos ... I found a sunflower and olive oil blend for $3.49 its 27.2% sunflower and 8.6% olive what type of soap would this produce and can I add other oils to it..

Thank you

 

[dixiedragon]

The SAP value of olive and sunflower is very close, .134 on the chart I consulted. So when entering it in a lye calculator, you could choose either value.

I have read that sunflower oil and olive oil work together to create better lather. I haven't done a blind test, but I use 5% sunflower and 30% olive oil in my soaps and I am very pleased with it.

You can get some good recipes at millersoap.com.

Here's my basic recipe:

Coconut 20%
Olive 30%
Lard 40%
Castor 5%
Sunflower 5%

So in this case, you could use your oil as 35% and use the rest of the percentages as is.

 

[Dana89]

What are the other oils in the blend? You can put the percentages through soapcalc if you know what else is in there, I am guessing soybean oil? To a good guideline for what your soap will be like you need to know every oil you are putting in it. (At least I do). I would add more olive oil, but I am going to wait for more experienced soapers to come along and better answer your question.
Yes you can add oils, you may want to add a hard oil such as lard, Palm, coconut, or tallow.



ETA: Dixie, I think we were writing at the same time, I don't want you to think I was calling you inexperienced, I was just calling myself that.

 

[Susie]

I'm with Dana- what is the other 64.2%? You need to know before you run it through a lye calculator. Otherwise you are just guessing.

 

[Malvar62]

The oil blend is a 34oz bottle i did the math as per the label that it has 27.20 oz of sunflower and 6.80oz of olive oil... No other oils
Soap Calculator gives me a high conditioning bar but not very hard bar.. And my research says it makes a soft bar and takes longer to cure... Not sure then if I should us this blend or mix other oils for a firmer bar..

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I would use this mix as 30% of the recipe, with 20% CO and 50% lard.

 

[Malvar62]

Thank you for all the great advice

 

[Dahila]

Btw does sunflower oil has to be high Oleic or can be the one available in stores; mid-oleic?

 

[MorpheusPA]

Btw does sunflower oil has to be high Oleic or can be the one available in stores; mid-oleic?

You can use either, but "regular" sunflower is usually recommended at no more than ten percent of the total oils or so. It can develop DOS.

High oleic sunflower could theoretically be a moderately large percentage of your soap. Due to the softness, I'd probably limit to 30% and make sure I have enough hard oils to counter it. And I'm one hundred percent sure that plenty of people get away using a lot more than thirty percent. 8)

 

[Dahila]

Thank you Morpheus ) so high oleic would be more resistant to DOS, and not more than ten. I like sunflower oil in lotions it goes right into skin)

 

[Malvar62]

Hi again this is my recipe this made 3 cans of Pringles 5 bars each
water 22.8 oz,
lye 7.99oz
olive oil 12.8 oz
sunflower oil 27.2 oz
coconut oil 8.00 oz
castor oil 12.00 oz

I let you know how it turned out

Thank all you guys are great!