Why is olive oil /vegetable oil not good in soaps?

[JBlaze]

Good day friends, I was looking for my next artisan soap and some of them have olive oil or vegetable oil and I read on here to stay away from soaps that contain such oils. However as curiosity is one of my major flaws, I would be appeased greatly if an explanation can be given why I should I stay away from these particular soaps. Thank you all for your wisdom ahead of time.

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[Ad Astra]

Olive oil (OO) is referred to as a "lather killer," usually.

I am NOT a soapmaker, but have used some that contained OO and had "vanishing lather syndrome" - before you can shave, suds are gone.

However. It's said that some makers can use OO if they know what they're doing ... don't know the technical prerequisites, but there are some.

I really like OO in a bath soap, FWIW. Greek market has great, long-lasting OO soap.


AA

 

[JBlaze]

Olive oil (OO) is referred to as a "lather killer," usually.

I am NOT a soapmaker, but have used some that contained OO and had "vanishing lather syndrome" - before you can shave, suds are gone.

However. It's said that some makers can use OO if they know what they're doing ... don't know the technical prerequisites, but there are some.

I really like OO in a bath soap, FWIW. Greek market has great, long-lasting OO soap.


AA

Oh yeah that does make sense thanks friend!

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[Sketcher]

Olive oil was used way back in ancient times for bathing but not in soap. You slathered your body in it, stood around naked until it caked up, then scraped the dried up oil off your body. The oil exchange would allow the OO into your pores while pushing out the dirt.

OO in soap could help moisturize, but as was already said, it doesn't help lather.

 

[bdehne]

I make soap with olive oil but the soap also has tallow, lard, coconut oil, she a butter and caster oil. Mixed in the correct amounts the lather is fine and does not fade. Olive oil is good for the skin, or so I have read.

 

[psfred]

Olive oil is almost completely oleic aicd, and oleic acid salts make slimy lather that foams up with water -- feels nice, but in high amounts will NOT produce the sort of lather one expects in shaving soap. It is far less slick than lather with high stearic acid as well. Nice in bath soap, but I've never gotten a good shave from bubbly lather without much slickness.

I aim for less than 30% oleic acid in my soaps (of total fatty acids, not oil content), and tallow and the shea butter contain enough. Most often they have 20% or less oleic. You can put some olive oil in, but once the oleic acid content goes up (and stearic and palmitic go down), the lather becomes more bubbly and less slick.

 

[ajkel64]

I bought a shaving soap here in Australia that had Olive Oil in it. I could not get a good lather out of it. I contacted the soap maker and he told me what to do and after trying his method I still could not get a decent lather out of it. I tossed in the ice cream container full of soaps that I have in the bathroom vanity. I will try again another day but I found it too much effort for a poor result in my case.

 

[Ad Astra]

Olive oil is almost completely oleic aicd, and oleic acid salts make slimy lather that foams up with water -- feels nice, but in high amounts will NOT produce the sort of lather one expects in shaving soap. It is far less slick than lather with high stearic acid as well. Nice in bath soap, but I've never gotten a good shave from bubbly lather without much slickness.

I aim for less than 30% oleic acid in my soaps (of total fatty acids, not oil content), and tallow and the shea butter contain enough. Most often they have 20% or less oleic. You can put some olive oil in, but once the oleic acid content goes up (and stearic and palmitic go down), the lather becomes more bubbly and less slick.

Great answer and thanks; I need to go to school on soap ingredients!


AA

 

[BigJ]

Olive oil is almost completely oleic aicd, and oleic acid salts make slimy lather that foams up with water -- feels nice, but in high amounts will NOT produce the sort of lather one expects in shaving soap. It is far less slick than lather with high stearic acid as well. Nice in bath soap, but I've never gotten a good shave from bubbly lather without much slickness.

I aim for less than 30% oleic acid in my soaps (of total fatty acids, not oil content), and tallow and the shea butter contain enough. Most often they have 20% or less oleic. You can put some olive oil in, but once the oleic acid content goes up (and stearic and palmitic go down), the lather becomes more bubbly and less slick.

Thanks for the explaination!

‘Olive oil is a lather killer,’ UNLESS the soap maker knows how to make a shaving rather than bath soap.

 

[rockviper]

 

[JBlaze]

Thanks alot so oleic acid is 8n olive oil and Shea butter? So basically it kills lather and reduces slickness?

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[psfred]

It's not the olive oil per se, but the oleic acid. Stearic and palmitc acids produce that fine textured, thick lather that holds lots of water, oleic acid tends to make fluffy, bubbly lather, or with a very small amount of water, slime.

For some extra virgin olive oils, there may also be some non-saponifying constituents that interfere with lather formation as well.