100% Avocado Oil Soap

by Rosie Davis
(Southampton, UK)

My university society Enactus is looking to develop a business in a village in Kenya making 100% avocado oil soap as they have a lot of unwanted avocados.


I was wondering if you could make a soap with just avocado oil or is the 20% figure mentioned on this site the maximum?

They are not looking for premium quality soap only for basic clean hand washing and for cooking equipment.

Also I don't know if you would know the answer to this but if we are cold pressing the avocados to release the oil how much oil would we extract from say 100 avocados and how much soap would that make? Also does hot pressing bring about a higher yield?

Thanks

Answer:

Any oil can be made into soap and you can use any amount. The only reason we add recommended amounts is to show how much will typically produce the best results.

That said...soap makers constantly break those rules all the time!!! Through experimentation, new recipes are being made that do not follow the recommended guidelines at all and produce lovely bars of soap.

Most often a soap formula is best it if contains a couple of oils at least since there isn't really one oil that contains all of the qualities you would want. Avocado oil does seem to contain a few more of those desirable qualities than most though.

Avocado oil is unique for a liquid oil in that it contains quite a bit of Palmitic acid which is usually found in solid oils and gives soap hardness and a stable lather.

Avocado oil also contains plenty of Oleic and Linoleic acids which provide conditioning qualities to your soap.

As I have not made a soap with only Avocado oil, I did a quick 'Google' check for one oil soaps and found many instances that reported a 100% Avocado oil soap bar to be wonderful. I would definitely give this one a try, especially since it sounds like you will inexpensive access to large amounts of the oil.

I'm afraid I do not have any information for you concerning producing the oil from the fruit itself other than if the manufacturers tend to use the cold pressing method of extraction, it is likely the most productive and effective method.

If hot pressing produced more, I'm fairly certain they would be using that method.

It could also be that hot pressing has other effects on the oil that you do not want, such as degrading the oil so that it only lasts a short time...this is just speculation on my part of course.

Good luck,
Cathy

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by: Anonymous

Having planted an avocado orchard in Réunion Island (next to Madagascar) I press my surplus and bruised avocados to harvest the oil. To do this - first spread the mashed fruit (without the skin) onto some flat cleanable surfaces and let them dry in the sun for abour two days (I cover my sheets with an old French window turned into a solar dryer). When they have dried and become leathery sheets, you must find a way to press the oil out. I use an old cider press, but any mecanical press should be able to be adapted. I then filter the oil through coffee filters, though cloth would do it also.
The oil sells well, but after a year I turn it into soap to avoid any risk of it going rancid. I haven't tried a 100% avocado soap yet, I mix mine half and half with virgin olive oil to make it go further. But normally it's possible. You just have to find the caustic soda .... This is perhaps not too easy in an African village ?
Good luck. As the first step is getting the oil, I suggest you try to sell the oil directly, for cosmetic or cooking use

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