Table of Contents
- What Is The Soap-Making Oil?
- What Is The Substitute With A Similar Oil/Fat For Soap?
- What Can Replace Oil In Soap-Making?
- What Is A Good Substitute For Palm Oil In Soap?
- What Is A Good Substitute For Coconut Oil In Soap?
- What Is A Good Substitute For Oat Oil In Soap
- Final Thought
Would you want to know about oil substitute for soap? My own experience has led me to conclude that palm kernel oil and palm oil are not interchangeable.
They come from separate portions of the same plant, though.
The only oils that I am aware of that will function similarly in soap are coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and basassu oil.
Know that any oil can be used to make soap. A lot of people love castile soap, which is made from only olive oil.
You can use olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, or any other carrier oil instead of almond oil when making soap.
Because each oil has its properties and can give the soap different qualities, it’s essential to consider what you want the end product to have when choosing a replacement.
The change could change the soap’s smell, color, and structure. But that’s not all. As you read on, I’ll teach you more about making soap without oil.
Now, let’s get started.
What Is The Soap-Making Oil?
Let’s look at the oils now:
1. Peanut butter
Peanut butter is made from almond oil and processed soy oil. Almond butter has a lot of natural fats and critical fatty acids that are good for your skin and make it feel soft.
Up to 20% of your soap recipe can be used.
2. Butter of Aloe
When added to your soap recipe at 3 to 6 percent, aloe butter makes the lather light and lotion-like.
Aloe juice and coconut oil are mixed to make this butter, which is soft and solid but melts on touch with the skin.
3. Golden Aloe Vera Oil
The aloe plant is mixed with soybean oil to make this oil. If golden aloe vera oil is not mentioned, use the SAP value of soybean oil when making soap.
I do not suggest Clear aloe vera oil because it is mixed with other oils that contain mineral oil, which does not saponify.
4. Oil from apricot kernels
A lot of linoleic and oleic acids are found in apricot kernel oil. It makes little bubbles. In your recipe, use 15% or less. If you use too much apricot kernel oil, the soap will become soft and melt quickly.
5. Oil of Argan
The oil from Morocco, called argan, is rich in vitamins A and E and feels smooth and soft on the skin. You can add up to 10% of it to your soap recipe.
What Is The Substitute With A Similar Oil/Fat For Soap?
1. Tallow or lard
This can be used in place of palm oil in a recipe up to 25 to 35% of the time. Some people might not like that tallow or fat are used in soap because they come from animals.
On the one hand, using things you usually throw away is good. On the other hand, it goes against what some cults and vegans believe.
The main reason I don’t want to use it is that animal fats often contain a lot of medicines and other harmful chemicals.
It was hard for me to find in the past, but now that we raise our pastured animals, I know they have clean food, good living conditions, and are treated with care.
Other options are made from vegetables if you want to avoid animal goods.
2. Cocoa or Kokum Butter
This makes a bar that is hard and foamy. When making soap, be careful not to crack it if you use more than 15%.
I haven’t had this happen to me, but I’ve heard of other soapers who have. Why soap cracks
I like to use cocoa butter that doesn’t have a scent because I don’t want the smell to stay in the soap.
But if you like the smell of it as it is, you can still use it. (Peppermint and coffee essential oil mixed with raw cocoa butter is also great!)
3. Shea Butter
It keeps the skin moist and healthy. It won’t make it as hard as cocoa butter, but it will still feel great overall. Aim for around 10 to 15 percent in a recipe.
4. Coconut Oil
Perhaps you won’t need to add more coconut oil if it’s already in the mix. Don’t use more than 25 to 30 percent of the recipe.
If you do, it could dry out your skin. I reviewed that amount and added more superfat and moisturizing oils to compensate for it.
5. Babassu Oil
This is like coconut oil in that it has similar qualities. This oil can also be used instead of coconut oil if you are allergic to it.
In addition, These other things can be used instead of oil to make soap:
- Avocado and hazelnut oils are natural sources of hemp seed oil.
- Meadowfoam oil is jojoba oil.
- Apple butter, shea butter, and mango butter
- Oil for meadowfoam: jojoba oil
- Canola, grapeseed, and rice bran oil are all types of olive oil.
- It has Babassu, tallow, and palm kernel flakes in it.
- Shells from palm trees: coconut oil and palm oil
- Canola oil or olive oil for peanut butter
- Canola oil or olive oil can be used to make rice bran oil.
- Soy oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil
- Avocado butter and mango butter are both shea butter.
- Olive oil and safflower oil are both types of sunflower oil.
- Apricot kernel, avocado, and chia seed oil are all sweet almond oils.
- Neem oil and pumpkin seed oil are both types of tamarind oil.
What Can Replace Oil In Soap-Making?
Here is a list of popular oils used to make soap and similar oils in how they work. Remember that different oils may have different use rates, even if they soap up the same way.
For instance, palm kernel flakes can make soap without coconut oil. They clean and firm the soap.
However, palm kernel flakes aren’t used as often as coconut oil. Even though these oils can be used instead of others, some oils, like castor oil, have unique qualities that mean they can’t be switched out.
Also, don’t forget to use the Lye Calculator on every recipe! If you change something, you should make a small batch of soap to see how it works.
So you can test how the soap feels with the new ingredient and make changes if needed.
Oils that are often used instead of soap:
- Honey almond oil and hazelnut oil are apricot kernel oils.
- Apple oil, chia seed oil, and sweet almond oil
- Shea butter and mango butter are made from avocados.
- Canola oil: rice bran oil and olive oil
- Castor oil: nothing else works
What Is A Good Substitute For Palm Oil In Soap?
If you don’t want to use palm oil but still want to make soap, these work well.
The SAP value of palm oil is 141. On the same table, you can see different oils. You could use any of the following without changing the recipe:
- Honey and almond oil
- Cottonseed Oil (which is a central part of shortening)
- Oil from grapes
- Veal fat, lard, tallow, and olive oil
- Oil from rice bran
- Using Safflower Oil for Cutting
- Flaxseed Oil
- Oil from sunflowers
Many oils, like jojoba oil, have a lower SAP value, which means you need less lye to make soap from them.
On the other hand, other oils have a much higher SAP value, which means you need more lye to make soap from them. If you don’t change the recipe much, you only need to make a few points to the original SAP number.
There are other fats you can use instead of palm. They both make cold-process soap in the same way.
Adding up to 33% more coconut oil is another choice. If you find too much coconut oil drying, you can add more superfat or oils that keep your skin soft, like avocado and sweet almond.
Add up to 15% hard butter like cocoa, shea, mango, and cocoa. This will make the bars harder and add moisturizing ingredients that your skin will love.
What Is A Good Substitute For Coconut Oil In Soap?
Palm kernel flakes can help you develop a recipe that doesn’t use coconut oil. I suggest using 15% or less of palm kernel bits in your cold process method.
Instead of olive oil: Olive oil is very gentle, making soap lather up softly and smoothly. Plus, you should know that palm oil is not the same as coconut oil because they are not the same.
The oil is the same as palm kernel oil. You can use Babassu instead, but it cleans better, so I’d suggest using a little less.
I cut it by 2% to 3%, so it’s not by much. You might have to try different amounts to find the correct number.
I don’t remember the proportion because I haven’t used it in a long time. You might, however, like a soap that cleans better and would instead use it at the exact amount you usually do for C.O.
What Is A Good Substitute For Oat Oil In Soap
Modern Cosmetics says that rice bran oil is a good substitute.
Castor oil and evening primrose oil are quickly absorbed, but their fatty acid profiles differ. It works great in body butter bars, soap, and other items for people with acne or dry skin, which I love.
This is the honey oatmeal soap recipe I’m going to use:
- 26.5 ounces of olive oil, which is 50% of all oils
- 10.6 ounces (20% of all oils) of coconut oil (76 degrees)
- 6.4 ounces of sweet almond oil is 12% of all the oils.
- 5.3 ounces of avocado oil, which is 10% of all oils
- 4.3 ounces of castor oil, which is 8% of all the oils
- 2.5 ounces of honey
- So 6 ounces of almond milk
- Two ounces of whole oats
- Oil of orange and sweetness (45 grams)
- Thirty grams of clove bud oil
- For 12 ounces of distilled water,
- lye is equal to 7.281 ounces (206 grams).
*This recipe has 5% extra fat. *None of the measures are for liquids; they are all for weight.
Final Thought
Now that we have established the oil substitute soap, going back to the basics is what we should do. Before palm oil, rich oils like tallow and lard were used because they were easy to find and came from animal products.
These qualities of fat and lard make them common ingredients in old soap recipes.
This might not be a good choice for everyone since vegan items are becoming more common than animal products. Again, we’re just listing all the options so you have the most to choose from.
You may need to try a few different things to find a mix you like.
If price is important to you, you could compare it to olive oil pomace. This olive oil isn’t as good, but it works the same way in the soap bar. The only bad thing about it is that it makes the trace faster.
