Vegan and Palm oil replacement

[M M]

Hello there,
My working recipe is
45% palm oil, 25% coconut oil, 25% sunflower oil, 5% castor oil with 7% SF.
This recipe works best for me and I love it.

Lately I'm getting demand for Palm free recipe. So I tried the following with Soy Wax.
20% soy wax, 25% ricebran oil, 25% coconut oil, 25% sunflower oil, 5% castor oil with 7% SF.
Here the bars turned out to be brittle and also the soap stayed on skin for long and required more water to wash off.
What might have gone wrong here?

My question is
I need a palm and animal free oil substitute for my working recipe (45% palm oil, 25% coconut oil, 25% sunflower oil, 5% castor oil)
Also, I dont want to use butters as they are way costlier than palm oil.
Thanks in advance!

 

[AliOop]

The soap looks pretty! Since it isn’t washing off well, try lowering your superfat to 3-5%, and adding some form of dissolved sugar, which makes the soap more soluble. I personally love sorbitol, but plain white sugar dissolved in a bit of water works quite well. A good starting point is 1T PPO, or about 1-2% sugar per weight of oils. Other options are milks or milk powders, aloe vera juice, or powdered starches.

If that doesn’t make a bar you like, use the SMF search tool and look for “soy wax.” You will find at least one vegan palm-free recipe generously shared by @KiwiMoose. I do believe she uses a small percent of butter(s), and I seem to recall that it is hard to get a balanced vegan bar without them. She may chime in here to help.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I think your recipe looks fine, but try lowering the superfat. I think 7% is too high. Try 4% and see what you think. I always gel my soap and they are definitely not brittle. Please check that your soy wax is pure soy with no additives.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I would definitely lower your superfat, but that's just my own personal preference.
Something I don't see mentioned that might help you formulate a recipe that works/feels similar to the soap you like is to look at the fatty acid profile. Try different selections/conbinations in the lye calc to get the fatty acid numbers close to the numbers in your favorite recipe. This works very well for me.

 

[Soaper2024]

They (your 'customers?') do not want palm, but it also sounds like they're not willing to pay more for a quality substitute?

Is the reason behind it the palm itself, or is it an eco stance on how the palm is produced?

 

[Servant4Christ]

They do not want palm, but it also sounds like they're not willing to pay more for a quality substitute?

Is the reason behind it the palm itself, or is it an eco stance on how the palm is produced?

Quality is subjective. I personally don't use butters in my soaps due to allergy/sensitivities. Also, OP is on the other side of the world from you and I so preferences, availability, and prices could be different than here in the U.S.