Hey, remember me? I'm baaaccckkk! SINGLE OIL SOAP RESULTS - PHASE 2

Man, time flies...
Has it really been 8 weeks since my Single Oil Soap Experiment Results - Phase 1 post? How did that happen?
Anyhoo...there have been a few dramatic results, and more than a few expected results. It will be interesting to see if that tide changes over the coming months...but for now, here are the results you've been waiting for!

THE AWARD FOR MOST DRAMATIC OVERALL CHANGE GOES TO:
GRAPESEED!
Total DOS (Dreaded Orange Spots - the Soapmakers term for "Eww"). Rancidity City. Discolored.
Both soap samples from Group A (dry cure location) and Group B (damp cure location) are darker colored with definite DOS and smell really rank. An interesting find was that Grapeseed lost the least amount of weight during this 8 week period at only 8% (Grapeseed and I must have the same metabolism). Could the lack of weight loss, assuming that weight loss is excess water, contribute to DOS? Definitely something to ponder.




THE WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE:
The BIGGEST LOSER IS: CASTOR at 20% of total weight loss, with OLIVE as the runner-up at 19%
The LITTLEST LOSER IS: A tie! GRAPESEED and SOYBEAN both lost 8%
The AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS was 15%
(This calculation took into consideration the 2 grams removed from each soap for pH testing to be more accurate)

THE BEST LATHER GOES TO:
COCONUT!

Not a big surprise here, eh? Even at 5% superfatting, I didn't feel that my skin was tight or dry after rinsing even though my hands are dry by nature, but I do have a water softener so that may make a difference.
 

AVOCADO, CORN, and CANOLA all had a nice foamy lather with small dense bubbles.
 

 
 


 
TALLOW and LARD both had scant lather and little bubbles, and while my hands felt soft after rinsing, TALLOW left a bit of a greasy feel, and LARD was a little waxy.





 
RICE BRAN and OLIVE had next to no lather, no bubbles, and were more like lotion when wet. RICE BRAN was my favorite of the two as it left my skin soft and smooth afterwards, whereas OLIVE left my skin soft but a bit tight.
 


 
 
Strangely enough (in my opinion) PALM oil had a pretty decent lather and my hands felt soft after rinsing. In PHASE 1, I noted that it left a waxy feeling, and I did not experience that in PHASE 2.
 

SUNFLOWER & PEANUT both had decent lather, though SUNFLOWER made a quite soft bar and the sample from Group A (dry) did have 2 spots of DOS. And in another strange turn of events, the SUNFLOWER sample in Group B (damp) did NOT have any DOS. The SUNFLOWER sample is set next to the GRAPESEED sample, so we can either infer that DOS does indeed spread to soaps near or in contact with an "infected" soap...or that this is an anomaly of sorts. Time will tell!
 
 
 
 



 
 
SAFFLOWER, SOYBEAN, and CASTOR all had a tacky or gummy lather and feel.
SAFFLOWER had little to no bubbles and a very tacky lather that left a drag on my skin after rinsing. SOYBEAN was more gummy with very little lather but left my hands soft after rinsing. CASTOR was tacky and hard to rinse, but my hands were very soft and smooth after rinsing. CASTOR and its reputation of adding lather has me stumped. Perhaps it contributes to lather when added to other fatty acids, because it doesn't seem to have much lather or bubbles on it's own. However, I will attest to it's moisturizing capabilities.




 

 
 
Poor, poor GRAPESEED...rancid, slimy, and actually had an average lather, but it was hard to rinse. I personally never use GRAPESEED in my soap formulas, and now I'm glad I don't. I would be interested to hear from soapers that do use it and their personal results with it on a long term basis.


 
THE ODOR CHALLENGE:
The only soaps with an obvious odor were LARD and PEANUT, though they only had very slight odor. LARD definitely lost most of the odor it had after unmolding. PEANUT had also lost most of its original odor and only had the faint scent of peanut oil.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE AWARD GOES TO:
AVOCADO!
I'm impressed with Avocado's lather and the way my skin felt afterwards. I've shied away a bit from using AVOCADO oil in my soap formulas because it can be a bit expensive, and its chemical composition can lead one to believe it may have a short life-span, so to speak. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one! I recently ordered 7 lbs of Avocado oil from SOAPER'S CHOICE and will definitely use it in my next soaping marathon. I've used it in serums and lip balms before, but I'm excited to try it in cold process!

I will post again with pH results, though they may not be quite as accurate because I am only using pH testing papers and not some awesome electronic pH meter.

So did you learn anything new today? Any results that surprise you, disappoint you, or otherwise intrigue you?