Why more than one oil?

[glasscityandy]

My question is: I notice most people include coconut oil, crisco, shortening, butter, or another firmer oil in their recipies. Is it a bad idea to only use one fat/oil per recipe? Is it worse if that one oil/fat is a thin consistency?
I'd like to be able to do just olive oil, just canola, etc if this works; just for simplicity.

I tried to make a batch with neatsfoot (motor oil consistency) as the only oil and it doesn't seem to be hardening; it's like fudge (it's only been a few hours, and I hope I just need to wait). The last batch I did was only Coconut oil and it hardened in minutes which make me think it has to do with the firmness of the fats.

Thanks for the help, this is my first post.

 

[Tegan]

There's nothing wrong with one oil soaps, but some will behave much better then others. In fact right now I have a 100% Olive a 100% Lard and a 100% Coconut curing on my rack. I can't remember if it was here or another board I'm on where there was a thread about a "Single Oil Swap" that the members of some group (or other) had done. Very interesting results. I'll try to dig it up and come back with the link.

Edit: Found it! http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

 

[Fragola]

Coconut is a firm oil and people include it or other firm oils to produce a harder bar and a more cleansing bar.

Or to give another example, cocoa butter - it's very expensive, but I heard somebody using it regularly at 5%, for the extra hardness it adds to the bar.

Each oil brings different qualities to the soap. Some of them are found in soap calculators or tables like this one:
http://www.soapnuts.com/indexoils.html

Neatsfoot soap ... that's a new one. What is the SAP value - was it on the label ?

 

[glasscityandy]

Wow! Very helpful tegan! I found some other info since I put that post up and I would have to say that it sounds like your coconut only is going to be pretty harsh. I have a coconut only sitting out right now too. Smells great though. Did your coconut only batch want to harden way too fast? Mine did :?

 

[glasscityandy]

Neatsfoot soap ... that's a new one. What is the SAP value - was it on the label ?[/quote]

I have no idea what the sap value is, I just used a calculator from the sage that had a space for neatsfoot oil. The soap smells great, like a saddle or an old tack store. I'm very new to this and haven't started looking at SAP values yet. The link you put up is very cool. I've been looking for something that shows the quality of soap yielded from different oils. Thanks!

 

[Fragola]

The harshness of the coconut can be compensated by increasing the superfat.

I would probably make more coconut soap, if I could find it cheaper.

 

[Tegan]

Heheheh yeah my coconut is a 20% superfat....so it's not harsh (IMO). I have a feeling if I did a MUCH lower superfat it would harden faster, but I haven't ever done that, so I don't know for sure.

Single oil soaps, depending on the oil used, can take a short amount of time or a LONG amount of time to be ready to unmold. (I do my castiles in a PVC pipe with no water reduction and they take a good week to be ready to come out of the mold.)

 

[glasscityandy]

That's great! Coconut oil is so good for your skin!

 

[judymoody]

I see from your introductory post that you shave the old fashioned way. Do a search for shaving soap on the forum and you will get lots of information about what different oils bring to the table.

BTW, for shaving soap, castor, tallow, cocoa butter, and stearic acid are good starting points.

 

[glasscityandy]

Thanks for the info Judy. I know that I wanted to look for oils that would yield a lot of glycerin, but hadn't looked too far into it yet. I'll have to cruise the site for shave soap stuff. That's why I put that bit in my profile actually.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

Different oils bring different properties into the soap. One oil can't bring them all. I like at least a three oil soap. I go to the olive, coconut, palm as a basic recipe. It is a great soap. If you are making a shaving soap don't for get a little clay. I used rose clay, but you can research the different ones and pick the type based on the skin of the user. It adds a "slip" to the lather. A must for a shaving soap!