Sunflower Oil 101
Ah, the sunflower, the Kansas State flower. I grew up in Kansas so you would think I would know all about this flower but all I could really tell you before I did more research is that it's a beautiful flower with bright yellow petals, and its seeds are proudly sold as a roasted salty snack all over the world. Other than that, I didn’t know a whole lot about this flower, until now.
Since this flower is the Kansas state flower, is this where it originated? Technically yes, the sunflower is native to North America but surprisingly commercialization of the plant took place in Russia. It wasn't until late in the 19th century that sunflowers came back into the US to be mass produced and commercialized.
The Native Americans are believed to have cultivated sunflowers clear back to 3,000 BC. They used sunflowers for a variety of purposes including extracting the oil to use in cooking, ointments, or other things.
Fun Sunflower Fact:
Sunflowers obviously aren’t just for food, but did you know that they are also popular for making a natural purple dye? Not a yellow one as one would think but a deep luminous purple!
…but I’m curious, how were Native Americans able to extract the oil from a seed before the creation of industrial machines? Apparently, sunflowers can be hard-pressed for oil. A very tedious method, I would assume. This method recovers about 25% of the oil from the seed. Now days, other methods include prepress solvent extraction where the seeds are prepared then pressed, then solvent extraction is used to separate additional oils from the remaining solids. This method recovers about 40% of the oil from the seed.
We have been squeezing the oil from sunflower seeds for thousands of years now. Why? Does this oil have health benefits? Specifically skin related benefits? Upon further research, I discovered that sunflower oil won't clog your pores; it is non-comedogenic. It's a non-irritating oil which is highly absorbent and can be used on all skin types. That’s amazing! Sunflower oil contains the antioxidant vitamin E, making it a good choice to combat premature aging and wrinkles. Again, amazing! Sunflower oil has been proven to help maintain the skin's natural barrier, alleviate symptoms of eczema, improve skin hydration, and protect the skin against bacteria and germs. Wow! That was enough to convince me to include this oil in our soap blends but that’s not all it does.
In regards to how this oil affects soap, it can make a bar of soap more conditioning along with adding a good amount of suds creating a creamy lather but add too much and it'll soften your bar. Not good for a hot shower.
To combat the “soft bar” issue, we only add sunflower oil to our massaging bars that contain both coconut oil and palm oil, both excellent for adding extreme hardness to a bar of soap. This combination makes your bar last longer and work better at relaxing sore muscles because it'll retain its massaging shape longer.
In the end, sunflower oil has many benefits, a whole lot more than I ever expected. There is definitely an obvious reason why this oil has been used for thousands of years, and not just one reason. If you would like to learn more about the sunflower and it’s many uses, I invite you to take a look at our sources below. There are some good links loaded with more history and uses for this amazing flower.
Back to basics, back to real.
Sources:
National Sunflower Association. History. 1997. www.sunflowernusa.com/all-about
Le Clef, Etinne. Kemper, Timothy. Sunflower Seed Preparation & Oil Extraction. 2015.
Whelan, Corey. What’s Good About Sunflower Oil for Skin? (healthline.com) 2019.
