Single Oil Swap Results - www.zensoaps.com

Single Oil Swap- 4/15/03

Swap was conducted at Crafttalk forums. Hosted by Xavalyss, suggested by Emiflo. Thanks to both, without whom this swap would never have occurred.

Full swap group

Rating Scale- 1 to 5 with 1 being worst and 5 being best

All photos taken when soap was wet. In many cases, wetting made the soap look better than when dry because it evened out color to a degree.

1. Palm Kernel Oil
color 5 translucent white
hard 5 very hard
texture 5 smooth shiny, like white marble
odor 5 none
lather 5 strong med bubbles
conditioning 4 nice. Soft. Squeaky clean
Impression 5 best bar of all

2. Palm Oil- Excellent bar, somewhat waxy texture. Very fast drying soap
color 5 light cream
hard 5 no shrinkage
texture 5 nice, waxy shiny texture
odor 5 none
lather 5 big bubbles fading quickly into cream. Feels like lotion
conditioning 4 very nice. Squeaky clean
Impression 5 - Fantastic soap, Perfect.

3. Rice Bran Oil - Excellent bar
color 5 cream
hard- 5 no shrinkage
texture 5 very nice, smooth
odor 5 - no smell
lather 4 - creamy, no huge lather but no slime.
conditioning 4 not drying, but not moisturizing. Squeaky clean
Impression 5- Great soap. Nearly perfect.

4. Crisco - amazing. I'm stunned at how nice this is right now. Must test over time
color 5 pinkish light tan
hard 5 very hard
texture 5 smooth, shiny
odor 5 none
lather 4 good creamy
conditioning 3 bit hard to rinse off, left skin bit dry
Impression 5 shockingly good. Must see over time. Near perfect now. Rotted in shower in blended soap.

5. Soy Wax - Excellent bar
color 4 light tan, smooth and beautiful
hard 5 - so hard, the edges are SHARP
texture 5 smooth, shiny - like polished stone
odor 4 faint
lather 2 very faint, clear gel like lather
conditioning 4 not drying, squeaky clean.
Impression 5 near perfect bar

6. Peanut - Beautiful near perfect bar
color 5 white translucent
hard 5
texture 5 flawless
odor 4 faintly earthy
lather 3 creamy but not bubbles
conditioning 5 left skin feeling very nice
Impression 5 near perfect bar, but the allergies...

7. Sesame Near Perfect bar
color 5 evenly tan
hard 5
texture 5
odor 3 earthy
lather 5 strong lather
conditioning 5 feels just fantastic
Impression 5 smell and problem with allergies maybe.

8. Sweet Almond - Excellent bar, fast drying
color 4 cream
hard 5
texture 5 shiny
odor 5
lather 5 strong lather, clear bubbles
conditioning 4 nice, not drying
Impression 5 excellent soap problem with allergies maybe

9. Lard - fast drying - excellent bar
color 4 - medium cream - bit of yelllow discoloration in 1 corner
hard 5 - no shrinkage
texture 5 smooth/slick surface
odor 4 faint odor from cocoa butter? (odor absorber)
lather 3 medium bubbles, vanishing to cream
conditioning 4 nice soft not drying
Impression 4.5 near perfect bar

10. Tallow - like lard but whiter - fast drying
color 4 grey white, bit translucent. Not 5 because the center was not translucent.
hard 5 no shrinkage
texture 5 very nice smooth
odor 4 faint odor
lather 3 medium bubbles, creamy
conditioning 4 - much like lard feel
Impression 4.5

11. Olive Oil - Very nice bar Near perfect (of course, this is Castille)
color 4 white, with some yellow discoloration on edges
hard 5
texture 5 smooth, shiny
odor 5
lather 3 kind of thin, small bubbles, slimy and sticky
conditioning 3 squeaky, not drying but not real nice either
Impression 4.5 of course, this is Castille

12. Coconut Oil - not very surprising, excellent bar
color 5 cream
hard 4 bit shrinkage
texture 4 nice, waxy, shiny
odor 5 none
lather 5 fast medium lather, foaming into thick creamy
conditioning 2 drying afterwards
Impression 4.5

13. Castor Near perfect bar bar
color 5 translucent cream, not totally even tho
hard 5 very
texture 5 smooth, shiny
odor 5
lather 2 small bubbles at first, vanishing into a 'gel'... almost oily. slippery.
conditioning 2 bit tight. squeaky clean drying
Impression 4.5 excellent bar, too little lather

14. Avacado Unrefined - Near Perfect bar, but slow drying
color 5 medium green... looks like jade
hard 5 perfect
texture 5 perfect
odor 3 earthy pleasant, like cocoa butter
lather 4 creamy, sticky, bit slimy, small bubbles
conditioning 4 nice feel, not dry
Impression 4.5 Excellent bar

15. Shea Butter - much ash, dries very fast
color 5 snow white but very ashy
hard 5 very hard
texture 4 bit warped from shrinkage
odor 4 earthy like cocoa (or am I smelling a carry over?)
lather 2 like lotion, VERY creamy, almost no bubbles tho
conditioning 5 nice, hard to rinse, but of course feels great
Impression 4.5 would be perfect if not for the ash and no lather

16. Cocoa Butter - Excellent soap - dries FAST
color 4 light tan
texture 5 smooth slick
hard 4 rock hard but brittle, piece snapped off like chocolate
odor 3 earthy odor, but not chocolate
lather 4 creamy bubbles medium. nice lather
conditioning 5 felt soft, great.
Impression 4.5 Excellent soap. Brittle and so expensive tho.

17. Corn -Good bar
color 4 cream, off white
hard 4 not rock hard
texture 5 ok
odor 4 faint rancid
lather 4 surprisingly robust, creamy
conditioning 4 hard to rinse off, left hands feeling pretty good.
Impression 4 Great bar. Need to see rancidity.

**photo a bit over exposed

18. Apricot Kernel Good bar
color 4 white, bad ash
hard 4 dentable
texture 4 not very smooth due to softness
odor 4 faint pleasant
lather 2 bubbled then got creamy like lotion. Lotion feel
conditioning 5 hard to rinse clean. But very very soft
Impression 4 Excellent soap, but the ash and dents don't look good. Reminds me of CPHP

19. Fractionated Coconut - lotionlike
color 5 snow white - looks like refined shea, no ash tho
hard 5 no shrinkage
texture 5 nice, not waxy, matt finish
odor 5 none
lather 3 little bubbly creamy lather
conditioning 4 the soap feels like lotion- squeaky clean
Impression 4 excellent bar

20. Hemp - very slow drying
color 4 yellow green translucent. Pretty
hard 2 squishable
texture 3 sticky when wet, too soft to get smooth looking
odor 3 hemp. When wet, smells like hay
lather 4 BIG bubbles
conditioning 5 very nice feel.
Impression 4 good soap.

21. Canola Not good
color 4 medium yellowish white, with ash.
hard 5 very hard
texture 4 ashy, brittle, bit sticky when wet
odor 4 faint stink
lather 3 decent lather, but sticky and slimy. Cream lather.
conditioning 3 hard to rinse clean, not dry but yucky and slippery
Impression 3 Good bar except for bad appearance.

22. Sunflower - not good
color 3 white, with yellow edges
hard 2 soft, moldable
texture 3 ok, but shrunk
odor 4 faint yuck
lather 5 great lather, clear bubbles, not creamy
conditioning 4 not drying, squeaky clean
Impression 3 not impressed. Add to short shelf life, no good

**photo over-exposed, color not true (it did whiten more when wet, but color not as good as shown)

23. Safflower - VERY slow drying
color 2 mottled yellow, unattractive
texture 2 severe shrinkage
hard 2 not runny but very soft
odor 2 rancid
lather 4 big bubbles, fast lathering
conditioning 3 smooth, hard to rinse clean, left skin bit dry
Impression 2 wouldn't be so horrible cept for smell and color

24. Soybean - Gross. I made this. Phew. Yucky. Never dries
color 1 nasty. Was cream, turned yellowish mottled nasty
texture 1 sticky. gross.
hard 1 not hard. so soft had to be scooped out with spoon
odor 1 stink rancid puke
lather 4 lather out the wazoo, but 'hairy' lather.
conditioning 3 not bad, but makes soap 'hairs'
Impression 2 forget this. Lather is not bad tho. 2 words, sticky, slimy

25. Grapeseed - No good
color 2 green - lime/white uneven with spots of rancid yellow
hard 2 soft
texture 2 blotchy rancid spots
odor 1 strongly stinky
lather 3 large bubbles becoming clear gel like
conditioning 3 kind of 'oily' feeling, but still not nice. long rinse
Impression 2 ick. forget this.

**much prettier when wet

It's been roughly 6 months since the swap - 9-28-03

I stored all my single soaps in individual ziplock baggies, and all the baggies in a plastic storage box. Here's the results (arranged in order of rancidity):

No detectable change:
Palm - perfect. No evidence of any change at all since I got it.
Fractionated coconut - no change
Castor - flawless. No change. Hard as rock.
Soy Wax - no change
PKO - no change. Still same color, texture, look
Sesame Oil - was tan to begin with, so not sure how you can tell it's ok, no change noticeable
Sweet Almond - 2 small DOS spots. Otherwise no change.

No rancidity, color change (useable):
Avacado (unrefined) - paler green, otherwise no change. Beautiful bar
Shea Butter -hard as a brick... discolored to a light yellow... you could pound nails with this soap. No evidence of any rancidity.
Tallow- turned pinkish... (was always a bit pink, now pinker). No other change.
Lard - orange but not rancid - hard as a rock
Olive Oil - discolored to a yellow orange... not rancid. Hard as a rock.
Coconut - darkened a bit to off white, otherwise no other change

Some rancidity/DOS (unusable as soap):
RBO- off white now (vs white) hard as a rock, 1 rancid spot in corner
Cocoa Butter - one orange dos spot on the top, otherwise perfect
Apricot Kernal - bit of yellowing rancidity but intact
Crisco - no longer pinkish white, it's now orange all over - looks like DOS evenly over the entire bar, but still hard and firm.
Canola - I got 2 pieces of this- 1 is same as it was when I got it, that is, ugly white. Other is orangy rancid. Neither smells bad, hard as rocks.
Peanut oil- random discoloration from rancidity, still hard as a rock tho, but this one's going

Noticably rancid and disgusting:
Sunflower - orange rancid, soft, not real greasy
Corn oil - orangier and rancid.
Safflower - SOFT orange rancid
Grapeseed - orange rancid, soft, greasy.
H emp - oily, greasy, rancid (we knew this, it started going when we got it). No trace of green now, it's orange.
Soybean - putrid orange wet greasy smelly mess (this hasn't changed much)