Switching Oils in a recipe

by Hayley
(UK)

Hello I'm wanting to make my FIRST EVER BATCH of soap and I'm sooo excited! Your website has really inspired me!

I've read so much without actually having any expereince, I think I've overwhelmed myself! I've got a soap recipe & she said that you can use vegetable oil (solid form) instead of coconut oil. But since then I've read that you can't just swop oils in a recipe. I've tried to work it out using the lye calculators you suggested, but they dont have 'vegetable oil' as an option. Should I forget the veg oil idea, and use sunflower or something instead?

Thank you for inviting silly questions, it made me actually ask you! I will be so grateful for any help and your time in replying.

Answer:

Hi Hayley,

You definately can't just swap out one oil for another.

As for what oils you can replace coconut oil with...palm kernel and babassu oil will provide the same function in a soap bar.

The vegetable oil you're talking about should list somewhere on it what type of vegetable it is. Once you know what type of vegetable it is, you should be able to find it on SoapCalc.

For more info on how to make oil substitutions in recipes try this link and read below the table of soap making oils.

Good luck,
Cathy