Two base oils that are dirt cheap at the supermarket

[John Harris]

Corn Oil and a jug called "Vegetable Oil" (They are like 5 dollars for 3 liters.)

I never hear corn oil mentioned by anyone - is there a reason?

And with the Vegetable Oil, how would you plug that into Soap Calc? Would you have to know (or estimate) its SAP value and then select an oil close to it? (If I remember right, DeeAnna once told me that a number of base oils have similar SAP values.)

Or... should we shun these oils cuz they come from the "wrong side of the tracks"?

 

[DawninWA]

The one that is just vegetable is probably soybean. These aren't used much in soap because they go rancid easily and can contribute to DOS.

 

[RogueRose]

I'll bet it lists the type of oil on the back of the bottle. I've never seen one that doesn't list it.

 

[GML]

Vegetable oil is usually soybean oil.

You may find this useful:

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...s-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/

 

[Saponificarian]

I am experimenting with Corn and sunflower oil right now at 40% simply because I can and see how it does over time without citric acid or EDTA. I am loving them in soap and even if it DOS’ed, I can junk them or make smaller batches but I will be using them in soap. I plan to make batches with EDTA and Citric acid combined and see how that fare compare with batches without both.

 

[Dahila]

I do not use cheap oils cause corn one is full of pesticides. Corn is sweet so a lot of pests get to it, It must be heavily sprayed to get the harvest, I do not use any corn at all Soybean I use in lotions of serums cause is an awesome oil but I buy organic so it is not gmo

 

[Dawni]

I've seen soap recipes that use soybean and apparently the lather is great with just a little of it. Now I have no idea how long those soaps lasted before they got DOS but there are ways to store your oils to keep them from getting rancid quickly.

 

[shunt2011]

I don't use soy anything and I've never thought to try corn oil. Probably won't either. Haven't check the numbers but both may be suspect for DOS. Soy is at to high of use from what I've read.

 

[lovinglife]

I have a recipe that does use soybean oil and just saying it makes the best soap. This recipe has a lot of different oils so not a huge amount of the soybean.

 

[The_Emerald_Chicken]

I'm curious what the general opinion of sunflower oil is. My go-to recipe is lard, coconut, & sunflower oil--cheap, but works great for our family. I've gotten a little DOS but not bad overall. Anybody else have experience with sunflower oil?

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, I use sunflower as a replacement for olive oil. But I'm using high oleic sunflower, not conventional (high linoleic) sunflower. A lot of sunflower in the grocery store is HO nowadays, so it's not particularly unusual, but you do have to read the labels to know which is which. https://classicbells.com/soap/highOleic.asp

I don't typically use high linoleic fats in my soap. I don't mind a little bit of linoleic and linolenic acids in the fatty acid profile, but not a lot. I like my soap to get fairly hard fairly soon, and I want soap that is not overly prone to rancidity.