Why Olive Oil and not others for base oil?

[PatrickH]

I notice many to most recipes call for Olive oil as one of the main oils, but what makes it so special compared to the other oils that are available? Is it because it's cheap? Easy to get? Been used for so long it's just the go to?
Or is there something special about it?

Why not use a main base oil like Apricot Kernel oil or High Oleic Canola oil or Sweet Almond oil or something else?

My last few batches have not used Olive oil and I think they might be some of the best ones made so far, and it's got me thinking, when I resupply, do I need or should I even resupply with Olive oil.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Good question! Off the top of my head... olive oil is stable (long shelf life), not prone to rancidity or DOS, has the unique ability to bring all the other oils into saponification; at 100% OO soap is mild and conditioning, good for sensitive skin, and lasts a long time once fully cured. Almond oil, HO Canola and HO Sunflower are good subs for OO. Specialty oils like Apricot Kernel and other liquid oils are best reserved for leave-on products like lotion where they can work their beneficial qualities on the skin. That's not to say they shouldn't be used in soap... have at it!

 

[MorpheusPA]

There's no reason not to use another base oil if you want. My go-to Summer Soap recipe doesn't use a drop of olive. It's a tallow base.

Tallow's easy, cheap, and lasts a long time, which is why I make it one of my more often-used base oils.

Olive does show up in my winter soap, though, for its conditioning properties.

 

[SaltedFig]

The reality is that olive oil is entirely unnecessary in a soap (as is any particular oil really). I like it and use it often, but not all of the time. Soap made from it will form a hard creamy white soap that literally last decades.

Commercial soaps usually use either tallow or palm as the main base fat/oil, as these make a hard, white, stable soap (and are cheaper than olive).

The soft oils that you listed, while nice in soaps, do not keep as well. For example, as much as I like sweet almond oil in soap, if too much is used it will become rancid very easily.

 

[PatrickH]

Good info, thank you.
With no additives, roughly how long you think a bar might last in a cool room that doesn't get too much light?
30% of 1 special oil or a combo of 10% x 3 of listed oils.
Are we talking 1 to 2 months or more towards 4 to 6 months?
I always wondered about that time frame. I'm sure there's no way to get a definite time frame, but roughly, how long you think?

Now I can see if storing and selling, you would want long life, but personal use and friends and family use, a shorter time frame might be ok.
But, if too short, of course, it's probably best to avoid oils that will give too short of shelf life.
And if the shelf life was 2 months. Is that from out of the mold or after cured?

Very important in soap making as it's such a long.. waiting... process. Would hate to make a soap you wait 4 month for and that was the time it started getting rancid and you got 8+ bars made from that batch or time frame.

I've heard keeping the Linolenic acids below 15 helps, but 1 persons short life could be another persons medium range.

 

[Obsidian]

For me, I was using it because it just seemed like the go to liquid oil plus it's easy to find.

I've stopped using OO completely as I don't much care for it. Now I'm using HO safflower oil.

There is a difference in lather but I can't really explain what it is. It not better or worse, just different.

 

[PatrickH]

Have you noticed any shelf life difference after switching to Safflower Oil?

 

[IrishLass]

Use whatever oils work well for you and your soap.

Olive oil is a staple oil for me. I use it in almost all my soap formulas.

I like sweet almond oil and apricot oil, too, but I reserve them for use in my small, modest batches of lip balm because they do more damage to my purse compared to olive oil where my soap batches are concerned. lol

Plus, I like the fatty acid profile of olive oil compared to the profiles of sweet almond oil, apricot oil, and some of the HO vegetable oils where soap is concerned, because it (olive) has a higher amount of stearic/palmitic and a lower amount of linoleic and linolenic acid (DOS-baiters) than the other oils mentioned.


IrishLass

 

[MorpheusPA]

Good info, thank you.
With no additives, roughly how long you think a bar might last in a cool room that doesn't get too much light?
30% of 1 special oil or a combo of 10% x 3 of listed oils.
Are we talking 1 to 2 months or more towards 4 to 6 months?

Do you mean a finished bar of soap? As long as it doesn't develop DOS--and that's so random it's ridiculous, although I avoid metal contact and high linoleic and linolenic oils--a year would be the floor.

And that's only because the scent fades.

I've used five year old soap I stored and forgot about. It was fantastic, if scentless.

Now I can see if storing and selling, you would want long life, but personal use and friends and family use, a shorter time frame might be ok.

Once made into soap, the clock stops. Olive might last a year or two stored well, but in soap? Decades to centuries.

And if the shelf life was 2 months. Is that from out of the mold or after cured?

Again, only the oil! That bar, made from a not-so-stable oil, might get DOS or might still be good in 2035. If you keep the percentages fairly low, the latter is likely.

If you use a lot of linolenic/linoleic acids (which you don't), then lifespans of six months to a year might be more common. But there are tons of exceptions to that rule.

 

[toxikon]

I have some 2-yr old soap that still has great scent... I only have a few bars left and I'm savoring them!

 

[PatrickH]

Thank you again MorpheusPA.

I just finished off the last of my oils and butters and thinking about which direction I wanna go when I resupply.
I'm not worried about oil cost since I don't sell as a business.
Experience from some of my finished soaps and ofcourse exploring soap calc, Olive oil just wasn't doing it for me.
I even bought a few home made bars from other soap makers from Wholefood stores and Farmers markets just so I can compare them to my own soaps and I was not impressed and lots of Olive oil in those recipes, even on my own bars in the begining.
Now I'm noticing with my bars with no Olive oil, it feels I reached another level in quality on how my hands feel 20 minutes after washing.
Now I'm not set completely on eliminating Olive oil and may just reduce it by half and replace the other half with some other oil, but it's got me thinking and a few questions I got answered here was very helpful and I greatly appreciate the responses.

 

[cmzaha]

I very seldom use olive oil and really dislike high olive oil soap, it always feels sticky to me. I use either HO Canola or Sunflower for my liquid oils

 

[Obsidian]

Have you noticed any shelf life difference after switching to Safflower Oil?

I've not seen any DOS but I've only made a few batches with the HO saff and its only been a few months. I need to tuck some away for long term testing. I use the saff at 20-25% max

 

[Soapmaker123]

I use a mixture of several different vegetable oils for the base. Olive oil can be a good choice for one of the oils in your mixture.

 

[MorpheusPA]

I'm not a fan of very high percentage olive soaps myself. The lather is not there. Even in a 3 year old bar I'm currently using that's only mostly olive, it's sticky and tacky and snotty.

I haven't made any lately, and have no plans to do so.

My current winter soap is 50% olive, and that (when counterbalanced with tallow and coconut) is pretty good. I also add oatmeal to everything I'm making lately, and that seems to enhance lather very well all by itself!

 

[penelopejane]

I love OO soaps. I make soap for family members and friends who have problem skin and 100% OO soap that's been cured for a year or longer is mild, hard and something special to me and them.

This experiment might help you:

http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-one.html

http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/hey-remember-me-i-baaaccckkk-single-oil.html

http://alchemyandashes.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/single-oil-soap-experiment-phase-3-one.html

 

[PatrickH]

Very cool, thank you for posting those links. I'm going to grab a snack and have a good read. Quick look shows alot of good info so far.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm another one that dislikes high OO soap. I keep it at 20% in my recipe currently, thinking of switching over to HO Sunflower once it's gone.

 

[DeeAnna]

In my opinion, it's the oleic acid amount in the recipe, not so much the oil used, that is valuable. If you can get your oleic acid content in the recipe high enough to suit your taste, it doesn't matter where the oleic acid comes from.

Historically, olive oil has been -- and probably still is -- the most readily available and cost effective high-oleic oil for soap making. There are other high-oleic oils, but some are regional or more limited in quantity (avocado, for example) or are a more modern type and not as well known (high oleic sunflower, safflower, and canola, for example).

In my experience, oleic acid above about 60% is going to make an olive oil type soap that has a stringy oleic gel (snot) needing a lot of aeration and mixing to build into a nice lather. Oleic acid from 40% to 60% works pretty well for me when coupled with a low to moderate lauric and myristic amount and a medium amount of palmitic and stearic acids -- a classic blend of soaping fats, in other words. If a soap recipe has oleic acid below about 40%, the resulting soap may still be very nice, but it will tend to not lather as freely unless there a higher amount of myristic and lauric acid in the recipe and the soap gets a longer than average cure time.

 

[MorpheusPA]

In my experience, oleic acid above about 60% is going to make an olive oil type soap that has a stringy oleic gel (snot) needing a lot of aeration and mixing to build into a nice lather. Oleic acid from 40% to 60% works pretty well for me when coupled with a low to moderate lauric and myristic amount and a medium amount of palmitic and stearic acids -- a classic blend of soaping fats, in other words. If a soap recipe has oleic acid below about 40%, the resulting soap may still be very nice, but it will tend to not lather as freely unless there a higher amount of myristic and lauric acid in the recipe and the soap gets a longer than average cure time.

Have we told you lately that we appreciate you? It's the new format, so it bears repeating.

My current beloved winter soap is 48% oleic (with tons of oatmeal to settle my itchy skin...and it really does work even in soap).

My summer soap is 30% oleic, plus 17% myristic+lauric. It wouldn't lather freely, but the oatmeal, again, really helps that out. To me, and to many others I've given it away to, this is practically the perfect bar of soap--but it does require a 2 month cure, absolute minimum.