Top 10 Soap Making Oils & Their Impacts On Soaps

TYPES OF SOAP MAKING OILS & THEIR QUALITIES

When it comes to soap making, oil is very important. The oil used in the soap will have a lot of impact on the soap quality.

When considering the types and quality of soap to be produced, the type of oil to be used becomes the next line of selection. 

Without a quality oil, it would be very difficult to make a quality soap that suits your expectations.

There different types of oils that are available for soap making, selecting the right one as your soap recipe and knowing the appropriate volume to add at any given time is a skill that can lead to the making of quality soaps.

Each of the oils is unique in its own way, it all depends on the quality the user wants to achieve in the soap during and after the production process.

10 Soap Making Oils & Their Impacts On Soaps

There are many types of oil that could be used in the making of soap, however, the few listed below are the most popular oils for soap making:

THE AVOCADO OIL

Avocado oil is a type of oil obtainable from the popular avocado fruit (known as English pear in Nigeria), it is an expensive oil but its quality makes it applicable in almost all areas that oil will be needed.

In its physical appearance, the avocado oil is heavy, green, rich, and very moistening.

It has a high percentage of unsaponifiables which are portions of the oil that do not react with lye to form soap, therefore it acts as a good oil to super fat the soap.

Avocado oil is good for the making of soap that will be used for sensitive skin, therefore very ideal for bathing soaps.

Due to its richness in vitamin A, D & E, it adds a good look to the skin when used from 5% to 30% in the soap making and it gives longer shelf lives and leaves a good feeling on the skin.

Soaps made with avocado oil are usually thick and good for the making of message bar soaps.

THE BABASSU OIL

It is a type of oil obtainable from the kernels of babassu palm (not common in Nigeria), the oil had been said to have a similar quality to the palm kernel oil and the coconut oil in terms of soap making because of the presence of fatty acid in it.

The availability of the oil to make soaps that can form a nice, fluffy lather foam is due to the high presence of lauric and myristic acids.

The oil melts easily at moderate body temperature, therefore, had been a good material for the making of butter, body balms, etc.

THE COCONUT OIL

This type of oil is less expensive and obtainable from coconuts. When it comes to soap making, coconut oil offers special advantages like other oils making it one of the most sort-after oils in the making of quality soaps.

Coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degree-Celsius while the hydrogenated type melts at 92 degree-Celsius. The liquid and stable nature of the oil have made its use in the soap making easy.

Using the normal coconut oil or the hydrogenated type will offer the same result in the making of bubbly lather soap coupled with hardness.

Besides, the coconut oil will make the color of the soap look sharper and make the soap to be very hard these features are mostly seen in white-colored soaps made with coconut oil.

According to David Fisher’s publication, he wrote “the collective opinion is that using more than 30% coconut oil in your recipe will be drying up to the skin.

Yes, the super-cleansing nature of coconut oil can strip oils from your skin, but I have often used it at 30% to 40% with great results, especially with a slightly higher (6% to 8%) super fat.”

THE APRICOT KERNEL OIL

This is a special oil similar to almond oil in terms of fatty acid quantity. It is good for making soap for sensitive skin because of the smooth and good luxury conditioning it offers to the skin.

Users said using 5% to 10% of Apricot kernel oil in the making of soap would produce a quality soap for skincare, massage soap, bath oils, massage bars, and bath bombs.

THE CANOLA OIL

Canola oil is a good economical oil obtainable from a kind of rapeseed called the canola. The oil had been found to be good in the making of soap and could act as a substitute for some of the expensive oils.

It is less expensive and has the good properties required to make quality soaps. A popular soap maker called it the oil for making soap with nice, low & creamy lather, and skin moisturizing.

The oil offers good hardness that could slow down the time of consumption.

THE ALMOND OIL

It is obtainable from the almond nuts, and reach in properties, with the ability to produce a low, stable lather, and moisturizing soap.

The oil can also act as a substitute for costly oils in the making of lotions, massage bars, bath oils, bath bombs, etc. however, the application of the oil had been limited from 5% to 10% according to the previous users’ experience.

THE COTTONSEED OIL

Though the oil is not popular as others, its use had been proven to be effective in the making of soap.

It is obtainable from the processing of cottonseed but its scarcity had placed the oil among the low and rarely used oils for the making of soap.

THE PALM KERNEL OIL

This is the most widely-used oil in Nigeria when it comes to the making of local domestic soap by those living in rural areas.

As a matter of fact, some industry uses the oil for the making of medicated and skincare soaps selling at a higher price than others.

The process of obtaining the palm kernel oil and its cost price made its use to become less than the palm oil.

The palm kernel oil can be obtained from the frying process of the palm kernel nuts above atmospheric pressure.

THE PALM OIL

It is the most popular and economically available oil for soap making in Nigeria. The oil has the advantage of making soaps that are less expensive and can compete effectively in the market competition.

It gives a rich creamy lather. When the palm oil is used alone in the making of soap, it produces good soap but when combined with other oils it produces great, hard, long-lasting soap.

THE OLIVE OIL

All the various categories of olive oils are good in soap making due to their antioxidants and vitamins. 

The extra virgin olive oil can be obtained from the olives through the gentle pressing technique. It is the most used and sort-after for making special soaps.

According to the source, 100% olive oil makes the famous “Castile soap” and “Marseille soap”.

Olive oil makes the soap be hard, moistening, attractive, and white bars soap, etc. the different types of olive oil that exist make it unique for combining either two types or one type with another type of oil to obtain any needed feature in the soap during soap making.