Oils used for soap making around the world
(hearing from you via Youtube, Facebook and Instagram in August 2020)
In early July 2020, I asked my viewers and supporters on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram what oils they use for their soap making, and what oils they would like to be using or would like to try in their soap recipes.
I was delighted with the response! I received 86 responses from soap makers in 31 countries across the globe, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the types of oils people can get commonly in their country, and what is less available or too expensive.
Given the effort people went to tell me their local information, I was keen to collate it for future reference, for anyone to read and enjoy. In future I hope to develop a resource on soap making oils and how to choose them, that can be of benefit to anyone, anywhere! In the meantime, check the resources provided on this page.
So, without further ado, here are the responses, summarised and in alphabetical order by country. The points with quotation marks are excerpts of direct quotes.
Algeria
Olive
Pistachia lentiscus oil
Raw African shea butter
“I thought I’d have troubles finding good quality oil, but curiously enough it’s lye that’s impossible to find where I live (eastern part)! People do not seem to use it for anything, that’s why it’s not available in stores! As for oil, it’s easier to find olive oil here than any other kind (not including industrial sunflower oil of course). However, good quality olive oil is a bit expensive for regular use.”
“There are local companies that produce oil from barbary figs too (very common plant in Algeria).”
Australia
Palm
Olive
Coconut
Castor
Avocado
Apricot kernel
Canola
Sunflower
“Canola and sunflower oils help to keep costs down and have great soaping qualities.”
“I do use coconut, olive and sunflower but I think waste animal fats from the butcher would be even cheaper.”
“From Sydney. I use coconut, sunflower and olive oil. But a good idea is to ask the local butcher for beef fat scraps and pork fat scraps. Cheap as chips. Render it down yourself at home and it's good to go. Fat scraps would otherwise end up in the bin. Wasted.”
Bangladesh
Mustard
Palm
Sunflower
Soybean
Canola
Brazil
Beef tallow
Sunflower
Olive
Coconut
Palm
Red Palm oil is widely available (no comment about expense)
Extra virgin olive oils are very expensive
Affordable – beef tallow and sunflower
Expensive – olive, coconut and palm
Canada
Olive
Coconut
Palm
Castor
Shea butter and cocoa butter are highly priced
Caribbean
(country unspecified)
Coconut oil used to make soap for bathing in salt water
Denmark
Locally produced organic Canola
Olive
Coconut
Castor
Avocado oil, cocoa butter, shea butter and other oils are more expensive
France
Grapeseed is affordable
I presume olive and many other oils are widely available and affordable as well (Elly)
Germany
Sunflower
Rapeseed (canola?)
Pumpkin seed
Grapeseed
Olive
Coconut
“Sunflower and rapeseed are probably the cheapest and most common here, and I prefer them to olive oil. Olive oil is more expensive and discolours the batter a lot. I also use coconut oil...It is about as expensive as olive oil. But I love shea butter and most of my soaps have between 30-50% of it! It is very pricey and mostly available online, but if you buy in bulk, you can lower the price to just a bit more than olive oil. The same goes for cocoa butter and mango butter. So I use those a lot as well. An occasional small amount of rice bran, jojoba and castor oil...”
Ghana
Palm oil
Palm kernel oil
Shea butter
Coconut oil
India
(has some wonderful oils available!)
Coconut
Sesame
Peanut
Palm
Mustard seed
Sunflower
Castor
Almond
Refined rice bran oil
Corn
Cotton seed
Soybean
Neem
Karanja
Black cumin seed
Avocado, oil and butter
Kokum butter
Mowrah butter
Mango butter
Walnut oil
Wheatgerm oil
Pomace olive oil
Tamanu oil
Southern India “...out here olive oil and almond oil are very expensive. What is local is coconut, sesame, peanut, sunflower and castor oils. Kokum and mango butter is indigenous too. Ghee which is clarified butter is ubiquitous in Indian kitchens.”
“In India commonly available and affordable oils are coconut, sesame, peanut, sunflower, mustard and castor. Not so affordable but available is almond oil.”
“...yes olive oil can be an expensive affair. The most easily available oils are groundnut (peanut) oil, sesame oil, castor oil and mustard oil...We don't get raw cold-pressed rice bran oil easily here (though the refined version is easily available).”
“Hi Elly! I am from India and so thrilled to write to you! It's such a happy coincidence that just two days back, I compiled my list of locally available oils and butter. So here it is: Coconut oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, mustard oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and ghee are used for cooking purpose. Hence, easily available. Sweet almond oil, castor oil, neem seed oil, karanja oil, black cumin seed oil and sesame oil are used for specific, sometimes medicinal use. They are easily available too in medical shops. Avocado butter and oil, kokum butter, mowrah butter, mango butter, walnut oil and wheatgerm oil are kind of specialist items wherein the average rate is RS. 1000/kg.”
“I use Coconut Oil, Olive Oil (P), Castor Oil, Palm Oil and Rice Bran Oil for my soaps. Coconut Oil is quite cheap here. Even castor, canola, sunflower and Rice bran Oil. Olive Oil is on the pricier side.
“I know a lot of people here make 100% coconut oil soaps especially the ones who have coconut farms.”
“I am from South India and many have listed the affordable oils available here. I would like to add Tamanu oil in that list.”
“I'm from Southern part of India. Here we get Coconut oil, Neem oil, Sesame oil, Castor oil, Groundnut (peanut) oil, Mustard oil. Also palm oil.”
“I’m from India, Mumbai... In India olive oil, Shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, avocado oil n butter, sweet almond oil and are very expensive. It’s affordable at least to use olive oil but butters are very expensive. I used rice bran oil substitute olive oil. Coconut oil, palm oil (I’m very doubtful it’s palm oil which is using in other countries? Sunflower, neem and so on.”
“Yes coconut oil is available here easily, but it's cheaper in southern part of India. In other parts of India more easily available oils are mustard, sunflower, peanut and soybean oils. But to get virgin oils is very very hard here. All are available in refined form. Lard and tallow are near to impossible to be found here. Olive oil is very expensive here... obviously it is imported from other countries. I think palm oil and coconut oil is popular here for soap making... Castor oil can also be available here.”
Iran
“Every kind of oil are available here in Iran, but they are expensive. Actually everything here became expensive because of our awful regime.”
Kuwait
“Here from Kuwait middle east, I usually use three oils olive oil, sweet almond oil and a little coconut oil for lather, I would love to use more shea butter and cocoa but it's a bit expensive here.”
Malaysia
“Sunflower oil, canola oil are readily available and much more affordable than olive oil and coconut oil.”
Mexico
“I would like a soap with some calendula oil for its healing properties since I'm in the tattoo business but here in Mexico I haven't had any problem finding different kind of oils.”
Morocco
“We grow organic olives in Alkanz so I want to learn to make olive oil soap and found your page. The Moroccan countryside around us is filled with argan trees, so argan oil will be one to add too.”
Netherlands
Olive
Coconut
Almond
Castor
Cocoa butter
“Here the cheapest oil is sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. For soap I add coconut oil + cocoa butter too, otherwise it takes forever to harden. Palm oil I would never use ... so I don’t know the price.”
New Zealand
“Kia ora from NZ. I started off with product I could source from the local supermarkets - coconut and olive oil. I now source majority of oils (coconut, palm, avocado, jojoba) and butters from NZ websites with supermarket purchases of olive oil and beef/duck fat when they are on special.”
Nigeria, West Africa
Palm kernel
Palm
Animal fats
Shea butter
Coconut
Grapeseed
Olive
“Here we make use mostly of palm kernel oil, palm oil and animal fats. Shea butter is relatively cheap here too. We have lots of red palm oil not bleached and deodorized. Coconut oil is not so cheap here, it's affordable but just a little pricey. I make soaps with palm kernel oil as my main oil, it forms at least 50% of my batch and a great substitute for coconut oil. Olive oils are quite pricey here.”
“I use coconut oil, grape seed oil and olive oil but they're very expensive here.”
“You can find almost all the oils here at every supermarket, but most are a bit expensive because they're imported, like organic coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil and some other exotic oils. Shea butter, palm oil, red palm oil, palm kernel oil is readily available, but the major issue is getting good fragrance oils... Essential oils are extremely expensive.”
Oman
“I use olive oil, rice bran, sweet almond, castor, sunflower, argan, coconut, canola and balm oil... Not all of them affordable some are expensive.”
Pakistan
“I use sunflower oil and coconut and castor oil along with olive oil.”
Portugual
“Real olive oil from Portugal. It’s cheap with awesome quality.” (Lucky Portugal!)
Qatar
“I live in Qatar, Doha precisely. We have olive oil, lots of coconut oil from India to choose from, sweet almond oil, argan oil, rice bran, hemp oil, sunflower, corn oil, shea butter, cocoa butter from Ghana and a whole lot more.”
Romania
“To my country the cheapest oils can be sunflower, canola, corn and pig lard. Rest of the oils from the soapcalc very expensive here and essential oil also.”
“I made the one with coconut, olive oil and castor. I am at the beginning and I would be happy if I could help with a recipe in which sunflower oil is in a large percentage.”
Spain
"Olive oil over all, but almond oil, karité (shea butter), castor oil, cacao butter too.”
“In Spain castor oil is expensive.”
Thailand
“I like to use coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil (can be expensive), canola oil, rice bran oil... We have many more different affordable oils to choose from to but those are my go to's. Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter, we do have. But I wish we had more butters to choose from such as Mango Butter and Kokum Butter that is impossible to get... We also have limited fragrances and micas compared to the States.”
Trinidad and Tobago
“I started looking at your videos so I use mostly olive oil with coconut and castor also. There are no cheap oils where I'm from so I use what's best for the skin when I'm making soap.”
Uganda
“I hope to use sunflower oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and palm oil as is available in my mama land. Buh hey what's your say about sunflower oil?”
United Kingdom
Olive
Castor
Sunflower
Coconut
Shea butter
Palm
Lard
Neem
Argan
Jojoba
Black seed oil (Nigella seed)
“The most SPECIAL soap I've made so far was 70% black seed oil, and I must tell it's great! Expensive but very unique. Normally I use palm oil or lard as base oils and then some special oil in little proportion e.g. Argan oil - because of saponification values.... I also used Neem oil in little proportion.”
“Olive oil, Shea butter, Coconut oil are equally priced, then Palm oil...slightly cheaper. Black Seed oil is good for nutrition. It's even considered medicinal... I also experimented with Hazelnut oil... Ever since I discovered lard I'm hooked! It's so cheap and proper.”
“Jojoba oil is gooooood.”
United States of America
Olive
Coconut
Sweet almond
Castor
Palm
Palm kernel
Tallow
Cocoa butter
Shea butter
Sunflower
Rice bran
Soybean
Rapeseed
Hemp
Borage
Apricot kernel
Rice Bran
Avocado
Meadowfoam
“Santa Fe I, only have used the coconut oil, olive oil and castor. They're very affordable and easy to access at the store.”
“Michigan, I use olive, coconut, sustainable palm oil.”
“Wisconsin Borage and Rice bran oils.”
“Meadowfoam oil. It is a very stable oil and helps other oils to remain stable. Fresh out of the container it is kind of thick but it is wonderful for dry skin and soaks in well.”
“Pacific Northwest and have availability to olive, avocado and coconut oil at pretty decent prices.”
“I live in Florida in the southeastern US, and my two primary oils (plain olive and organic coconut) can be purchased quite reasonably at a warehouse store; they also carry avocado oil at a decent price. Other oils (safflower, canola, corn, soy, peanut, etc.) are available at the grocery store, but the only one I buy there is high-oleic sunflower. I order castor oil, sweet almond oil, rice bran oil, and butters (cocoa, shea, mango, kokum) online. The only palm oil I've bought is also from the grocery store (the "health food" section): organic, fair-trade vegan shortening (for cooking) sourced from South America. I don't use it a lot, as it's pretty pricey, but have found it does make a nice soap when blended with olive and coconut... So far, my favorites to use in soap are babassu oil, murumuru butter, and cupuacu butter. also have lovely unrefined cocoa butter, Brazil nut oil, rosehip oil, and so much more. I hope you hear from soapmakers and skin care crafters in South America. I would love to know how they use some of these ingredients that seem so exotic to me: andiroba oil, pequi oil, buruti oil, tucuma butter, ucuuba butter, bacuri butter, and more...”
“I'm in the states, and I use all sorts of oils like olive, coconut, palm kennel, palm, tallow, sunflower, rice bran, soybean, rapeseed, shea butter, cocoa butter etc, depending on the recipe. I usually have the palm kennel oil sent to me from back home Cameroon.”
“I’m in the US. I soap with coconut, Shea, soybean, cocoa butter. I can pretty much get most of the oils. I’m soaping with more economical oils and SF with more nourishment oils.”
“I have a large bottle of Baobab oil. Can I incorporate this into soap? Or at least a couple of Oz/Gm's of this?”
“Oklahoma here. Good olive and coconut oils are easy to find in the supermarket. Shea butter and palm I order online for quality. Special oils (avocado, sweet almond, hempseed, jojoba) I order online and use sparingly. Haven’t used castor oil yet.”
“I’m in the northeastern part of the US. Here, coconut oil is the cheapest oil, next to lard. I use coconut oil, palm oil, & olive oil. I like cocoa, shea butter, & castor but they are pricey.”
[Using animal fats] “At my local US supermarket, you still have to pay for the fat waste then render it down. Might actually come out cheaper to buy tallow or lard from Amazon or E bay when you take pricing and time to render the waste into consideration.”
“I also use olive oil as a main ingredient, I am here in Utah.”
Yemen
“I started to make soap in order to save money as it's difficult here. So just to cut on expenses. Right now I use commercial soaps to double the amount. I really love it. I'm thinking of using veg oil if I am to do the real work. Can't afford olive oil or so now.”
What a wonderful list! Thanks everyone for your contribution.
I’ll be putting together more resources on choosing and using oils for soap recipes when time permits, but in the meantime, as mentioned above, check out Lovin Soap’s superb interactive soap oil chart here https://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/
This chart will give you a great introduction to many commonly used oils for soap making, their qualities and usage rates.
Have fun!
Elly 🌼
