plant vs animal soap for insecticidal

14 years ago

I've been reading up on insecticidal soaps. I've been using an organic plant based dish soap in my mix.

I was just reading all these posts about animal soap having fatty acids that are missing in plant soaps, and that's just not true! plant soap is also made from fatty acids and lye.

So, are people just spewing out falsities, or are all of my chemistry books and wikipedia wrong, or is it more complex than that. And if it is more complex than that, let me know why. I try not to use any products from dead animals.

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Comments (5)

organicguy
14 years ago
I don't know much about soap making, but I thought that ALL soap was made with rendered lard and lye as the foundation ingredients. If you are using an organic product made without these ingredients, I wonder if it's actually "soap".

I did a search on the Internet, and from what I found, "organic soap" is still made from these same ingredients, but without other manmade chemicals added. If you have other information that says otherwise, please share it. I think you are probally wrong about your organic soap not containing animal products.

Ron
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wildflowermama
14 years ago
Hi,
I'm actually a soapmaker so hopefully, I can help a little bit.

Soap is basically oil combined with lye. They lye saponifies the oil and creates soap.

You can make soap with pretty much any oil - animal and veggie oils alike.

However, a good soapmaker studies the fatty acid profile of each oil (and they're all different) to come up with a soap recipe that has the qualities they want - conditioning, bubbles, cleaning, hardness etc...

Commercial soaps are typically lard or beef fat (sodium lardate or sodium tallowate) and have added colors, scents, hardeners, detergents etc....

Homemade or organic soaps are typically nothing more than saponified oils - either animal fats, veggie fats or a combination of the two. They may have fragrance added but, if it's an organic soap, the fragrance will typically be in the form of essential oils.

So, back to the question about fatty acids - yes, true soap, whether made from animal or vegetable does contain fatty acids, the fatty acid composition will be completely different depending upon the combination of oils used.

Hope this helps!
Michelle
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wildflowermama
14 years ago
Oops! I meant to add, do you know which fatty acid is said to be present in animal fat soaps but, missing from veggie soap?

I can check my list and see if there is actually a veggie oil with a comparable fatty acid profile.

The problem may be in finding soap with that fatty acid it in.

For example, here is the fatty acid profile of Lard:
Oleic 46%
Palmitic 28%
Stearic 13%
Linoleic 6%
Myristic 1%
Iodine 43-45

And here is the fatty acid profile of olive oil
Olive Oil
Oleic 63-81%
Palmitic 7-14%
Linoleic 5-15%
Stearic 3-5%
Iodine 79-95

They are quite different.

So, if I know which fatty acid is touted as being an important component of insecticidal soap, I can research and see if there is a veggie oil with a comparable fatty acid profile. The problem will be, if it's not a common oil used in soapmaking, it might be difficult finding a soap to use.
organicguy
14 years ago
Thanks Michelle,
I learned something new today! I didn't know soap could be made out of vegetable fat. That is interesting. Thanks again!

Ron
The Garden Guy

** See link below
Informative Articles, ongoing garden journal,
and interactive message boards!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Guy Website & Blog
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
My husband and I are users of an excellent real soap. I've attached a link to how soaps are made ( and with what ingredients). We used the liquid and bar soaps. The manufacturers live right in our City.

I don't use the liquid version in a homemade version of insecticidal soap, wicked 1. I've yet to find the directions for such a use on the bottle, lol. The commercial products are so effective and safe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for information

plant vs animal soap for insecticidal

Comments (5)

organicguy

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