Palm Stearin

About This Product

Palm stearin is separated when refined palm oil is cooled under controlled conditions and the crystallised fat is filtered from the liquid olein. Its slip melting point generally falls between 44 and 56 degrees Celsius depending on how far fractionation is taken, and it is traded across a range of iodine values, commonly 48 and below. For candle and soap manufacture its attraction is that it concentrates saturated palmitic chains cheaply. In a candle, saturated chains pack into a firm crystal lattice, so stearin raises the melting point and hardness of a blend, improves mould release through the shrinkage it produces on cooling, and gives an opaque white body; it is also the feedstock from which stearic acid, the classic candle hardener, is made. In soap the same saturation produces a hard, opaque, slow-wearing bar with low moisture pickup, which is why stearin is the standard hardening component blended against softer, faster-lathering lauric oils. Low unsaturation also means the material resists oxidation and does not yellow or develop odour in storage. It is used in candle and wax blends, stearic acid manufacture, soap and laundry bar production, margarine and shortening hardstock, and as oleochemical feedstock. Bio Green Wax supplies palm stearin to specification on iodine value, slip melting point, free fatty acid, moisture and colour, with RSPO certification available.