Going Palm Oil Free
The reason I'm going Palm Oil free is because of the environmental impact caused by its productions. Rainforest is being cut down to create land for the plantations and this is making the native people homeless, causing environmental damage and also leaving the animals who used to live in the rainforest with no food source. One of the animals that is being seriously affected is the Orangutan and that is something that lots of campaigners seem to be enthusiastic about. I've included a couple of links to newspaper articles at the bottom of this page that explains it better
Unfortunately most manufacturers hide the palm oil by calling it something else, there are also quite a few palm oil derived ingredients that can either contain Palm Oil or Coconut Oil and the only way of finding out is to ask the manufacturer.
After doing some research into products that I currently use that have Palm Oil in:
Definitely contains Palm Oil
Sainsbury's pure vegetable soap - definitely
Sainsbury's basics biological powder (barcode 01668100)- definitely (I emailed them)
Probably contains Palm Oil
Sainsbury's basics Toothpaste with fluoride - contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - often derived from Palm Oil
Sainsbury's basics Shampoo (barcode 01220032) - contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate - often derived from Palm Oil
Sainsbury's basics Washing Up Liquid (barcode 0163 5102) - contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate - often derived from Palm Oil
Could contains Palm Oil
Sainsbury's basics All purpose cleaner (barcode 00114 6172) - possibly - not sure about Alcohol Ethoxylate
No idea if it contains Palm Oil
Sainsbury's Dishwasher Powder (barcode 00364805 - not listed on http://www.detergentinfo.com)- unknown, but probably
Sainsbury's lemon rinse aid (barcode 0104 7509) - possibly - http://www.product-info.uk.com is a holding site - no info available
W5 Toilet Cleaner (barcode 2016 6410) - no idea - no information on www.lidl-info.com
Doesn't contain Palm Oil
Sainsbury's basics Cream Cleaner (barcode 0114 6196) - no Palm Oil, but some unpleasant chemicals in there
I did email Sainsburys asking about most of the above product, but their reply only mentioned the washing powder!
I have now found an online shop where I can purchase Bio-D brand cleaning products, whose products are Palm Oil Free:
http://www.earthlets.co.uk
As it wasn't clear on their website if all the Bio-D products were Palm Oil Free I've emailed the Bio-D company and they have assured me that there is no Palm Oil or Palm Oil derivatives in their products. This allows me to replace the following:
Bio-D Washing Powder
Bio-D Dishwasher Powder
Bio-D Dishwasher Rinse Aid
Bio-D Household Polish
Bio-D Multi-surface Cleaner
Bio-D Toilet Cleaner
Bio-D Washing Up Liquid
Bio-D Bathroom Cleaner Spray
I know with some of the products I've listed above the standard versions will also be Palm Oil Free, but as I'm being environmentally friendly I might as well go whole hog and replace other non-environmentally friendly items with the friendly equivalent.
As the toothpaste I have been using does have Palm Oil in and despite some Palm Oil Free versions apparently being available I thought I'd be better off going for an organic one - it might be more healthy, so I'm thinking when I need some more I'll order some Riddles Creek Certified Organic Toothpaste from:
http://www.mypure.co.uk
I don't tend to eat biscuits, crips or other snack foods and don't buy ready meals, so don't need to worry about those containing Palm Oil.
You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Soap or Shampoo, I have bought some soap, but at £2.50 a bar I can't afford to use that all the time, so am making my own, I haven't found any Palm Oil Free Shampoo, but as making Shampoo is basically the same process as making Soap I thought I would have a go at that as well.
After doing some research on the net I purchased some rapeseed oil(Sainsburys) and some caustic soda (also called lye or sodium hydroxide from Wilkinson's) - the Caustic Soda is made by Homecare Products, I telephoned them and was assured that it is 99.9% pure, so should be fine for soap making.
20/01/2010 (Wednesday) - I started the soap making. I had already used one of the online soap calculators to work out the proportions of water, caustic soda and oil:
Soap Calculator
The proportions I've used are:
900mg Rapeseed Oil (also called Canola Oil)
342mg Water (Rainwater)
114mg Lye - NAOH (Caustic Soda)
20/01/2010 (Wednesday) - 11am - After getting a jug full of water from the water butt (apparently tap water is unsuitable because of its mineral content) I measured it out into a saucepan and added the caustic soda.
20/01/2010 (Wednesday) - 12pm - The caustic soda had completely disolved and the liquid was cool - I checked by putting my hand on the outside of the saucepan, because I didn't fancy disolving the end of my fingers by dipping them in the liquid! I then added the Rapeseed Oil which was also at room temperature. I was then supposed to give it a stir every five minutes or so until trace started - i.e. when you run a knife through the liquid and you can see a line behind it which only slowly disappears.
20/01/2010 (Wednesday) - 8pm - I decided it just wasn't happening, so blended the liquid in my small blender a third at a time, only running it for a around ten to fifteen seconds with each batch - I then poured it into my home-made mould and left it.
21/01/2010 (Thursday) - 9.30am - I decided that it looked like it had separated out a little bit so stirred it round a bit and there was a very small amount of oil on the surface which I think was I guess from the small amount of mixture that didn't get blended. At this point it had definitely reached trace, because you could definitely see a line when running a knife through it, although after mixing in the seperated out oil it did make it a bit thinner.
21/01/2010 (Thursday) - 7pm - It still hasn't set, although it does appear to be gradually getting thicker - for next time I'll need to invest in a stick blender and blend it until it is getting nice and thick before putting it in the mold.
22/01/2010 (Friday) - 10.35am - The soap now has the consistancy of set custard, so it is definitely moving towards being set, I'm guessing I'll need to leave it a couple more days until I can cut it up into soaps and put it on the shelf to cure for a few weeks.
23/01/2010 (Saturday) - 11.00am - The soap looks solid, with some oil on the surface, but I think I'll leave it until tomorrow before trying to cut it up into individual bars, just in case I tip it out and it goes splat.
24/01/2010 (Sunday) - 9.50am - The soap doesn't move in the mold when shaken or tipped up, but it is still a bit squidgy on top - this is probably because it has now absorbed the oily residue that was on the top and so could be solid in the middle, as it is definitely getting close to set I'll have another look tomorrow.
24/01/2010 (Sunday) - 3.10pm - I believe the soap is just about ready to take out of the mold, but to make absolutely sure I'll leave it until tomorrow
25/01/2010 (Monday) - 5.45pm - The soap had a solid sound when I tapped it, so I unwrapped it, it is still a bit tacky around the edges and it appears that the cardboard mold I used drooped slightly in the middle as when I took it out of the mold it is thicker in the middle so it cracked. When I make the next soap with a wooden mold this won't be a problem. I'll leave it until tomorrow to slice it into individual soaps as it should be set enough by then.
25/01/2010 (Monday) - 10.05pm - I've now cut it up into individual soaps, they are still slightly soft - I now just need to wait 4 weeks for them to cure
26/01/2010 (Tuesday) - 11.00am - Soap should be ready on 23/02/2010, it is now just about set enough so the bars can be moved about without being too sticky.
31/01/2010 (Sunday) - 4.20pm - I've made a better mold, using the cardboard mold as a template, this mold is also made so that it can be dismantled easily so that the soap can be easily removed when set.
The plan is that the next batch of soap will be peppermint scented, so I ordered some essential oils to add in to the mix for next time, unfortunately it came in a big bottle, so I'll also need to buy a small bottle of peppermint essential oil as well to decant it into. I've also ordered a thermometer to use when making liquid soap, which looks to be quite alot more complicated to make.
03/02/2010 (Wednesday) - 5.20pm - I decanted some of the pepermint oil into a small bottle this morning and then this afternoon I've made my second batch of soap. For this batch I've only added 5 drops of peppermint oil per bar, giving a total of 50 drops. I'll have to see how minty the bars are when the bars are finished. Below is a photo of this next batch of soap along with the first batch of soap shown behind it.
04/02/2010 (Thursday) - 11.20am - I've taken another photo of the second batch of soap, this time after emptying it out of the mold. I've looked into the possibility of selling some of my soap online and it looks like if I want to do that I'll need trading standards approved scales (the cheapest I've seen online so far are £85) and also need to get my soap approved by a chemist, I gather this approval is of the ingredients, manufacturing process and packageing of the soap, including the labelling, I understand this can be quite expensive. After that it is just a case of making sure of keeping all the paperwork up to date.
Looking at the cost, I don't know if I'll ever sell any soap, perhaps I'll do a bit more research into what is involved before making a final decision on whether to just make it for myself.
Some other Palm Oil Free websites:
A Palm Oil Free Blogg
Another Palm Oil Free Blogg
A Palm-Oil-Free Shopping List (from Auckland Zoo), although quite a few of the brands are international
Newspaper article on the environmental Imapact of Palm Oil
Newspaper article on sustainable Palm Oil Free
Newspaper article listing Palm Oil used in Biritains Top Brands
If you have any suggestions, additions or improvements relating to this website please email me.
Send me an email at trev.g7pvs at ntlworld.com