Teach Soap

Good day,
Please tell me that it is not correct that more than 10% Canola oil in a recipe makes it prone to rancidity?
My favourite recipe has at least 30% Canola oil in it.
Kind regards
Carol-Ann

Canola is prone to rancidity and has a short shelf life. 10% might be ok. I no longer use it due to DOS issues.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Hi Carol-Ann
I agree with Soapbuddy. Canola or rapeseed is a hybrid plant. If I remember correctly, the raw oil has such a stench that it's heated at ~ 300 degrees to deodorize it. If you're using it for yourself and don't mind risking DOS, that's one thing. But for anyone else - I personally wouldn't go over 5%. JMHO.

I'm subbing some oils at times with 5-10% cold pressed Safflower- which is about as unremarkable in its fatty acid composition as Canola and also has a shorter shelf life than some other oils, but the Safflower I'm using has 20% Vitamin E as a preservative so I feel better about it than I do Canola.

Hello,
Thanks for that information - the recipe I got off the 'fromnaturewithlove' site and there was no mention about Canola and rancidity. I read that briefly on the About.com site. I would have thought they should have warned about that, don't you?
What can I substitute the Canola with then? Safflower? The rest of the recipe is very little Olive, Castor and Crisco. Maybe I should reduce the Canola and increase the Olive? I love it because it is a lovely white soap and is relatively inexpensive and available on the supermarket shelves here.
I don't know whether Safflower is available here in South Africa.
Thanks for your help.
Kind regards
Carol-Ann

Hello JustKate,
Thanks for your mail. I have read coconut can be drying so will keep it at 20% if I use it at all. I will investigate the Safflower but have not seen it on our shelves anywhere. Would Avocado be the wrong oil to add to this recipe? I could reduce the Canola to 10%, and to make up the balance substitute Coconut and Avocado and increase the Olive Oil? I am looking for a Nourishing, Moisturising, Hard, Bubbly bar of soap.

Am I on the right track?
Kind regards
Carol-Ann

Can you post which oils are available to you? That might help me in suggesting a recipe.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Good day,
Thanks for your replies.
Oils which we get here in South Africa are Olive, Palm, Coconut, Sweet Almond, Canola, Castor, Cocoa Butter, Olive Butter, Evening Primrose, Lanolin, Peanut, Shea Butter, Vegetable Shortening, Sunflower, Wheat Germ, Avocado and Avocado Butter, and Grapeseed Oils. I would prefer not to use Lard which I can get from the butchery.
Considering what your advise with regards Avocado as a soft oil is, would I use no more than 5% and what percentage Shea and Cocoa butter - also 5%? Coconut no more than 20%? Castor oil I usually only use 5% as recommended by David Fischer.
So it looks like we have a fantastic recipe in the making - I look forward to your suggestions.
Thanks once again.
Kind regards
Carol-Ann

Ok, here are the oils/butters that I would use: Olive, Palm, Coconut, Castor, Cocoa or Shea Butter, & Vegetable Shortening. I would not use more than 20% coconut, no more than 5-7% of the butter, 2 to 3% castor, shortening at around 25 to 30%, Palm at 10% and the rest with olive.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

If it were me, I would stay away from the vegetable shortening since that can have different SAP values depending on what oils are in it (sometimes it's a blend - sometimes, it's just soy, sometimes it's hydrogenated canola) unless you know exactly what's in it.

I've heard of Canola have DOS and rancidity problems but I've never had issues with it and I use it up to 35% in recipes pretty routinely since it has the same SAP value as Olive. But, I also keep my superfat to around 3% and we're not in a very humid climate in Washington state so that could have something to do with my luck with no DOS.

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I've never used Crisco in soaping, which is what Carol-Ann said in a previous post that she uses, but I happen to have a can in the pantry. My DH is longing to make soap with Crisco ever since he watched that TV show about the TN women who do.

Ingredients are: Soybean oil
Fully Hydrogenated Palm oil,
Partially hydrogenated Palm and Soybean oils
Mono and Diglycerides
TBHQ and Citric Acids (Antioxidants)

Summer Bee Meadow's Lye calc has a Crisco/Vegetable shortening category. SoapCalc has a category for Crisco. Would those not include these blends? And could Carol-Ann use those soap calcs if the ingredients in her South African Crisco are the same?

Once I ran out of coconut so I used Soapcalc to work out a recipe using Crisco, Palm, and olive oils. I also added sugar to improve the suds. The Palm was quite a bit higher than usual for me but the recipe produced a surprisingly hard, bubbly, and long lasting soap. My sister-in-law calls it the "everlasting soap cake".

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- Mickey!

Good day,
Thanks for all your replies - it has really helped me a lot.
Our vegetable shortening here is called Holsum and on the wrapper it says ingredients are 'A blend of refined and deodorised Palm Oils, Vit. A and D". I like using it because it is relatively cheap and easily accessible.
I am getting myself all ready for the new soap recipe as set out by 'Soapbuddy' and watching and smelling my beautiful Canola soaps and hoping that they will not begin to smell bad.
Will keep you posted.
Thanks again
Kind regards
Carol-Ann