Teach Soap

Hi All -

I'm seeking some advisement as to how to calculate the naturally occurring oils in coconut milk into a cp recipe. Is there a standard? I've just been replacing my water with the coconut milk, then crossing my fingers hoping the soap isn't too soft. Love to have a more pragmatic approach. Thanks for your help in advance.

--Sydney

Welcome!
I use coconut milk straight across as if it was water. I superfat as normal. I have not had my soap come out too soft.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thank you, Irena! I was guessing since there's additional oils from the coconut milk, there would be a way to account for them in the recipe. Guess I'll just have to be more patient unmolding - perhaps wait longer than my standard 24 hours.

--Sydney

You're welcome.
Unless you are making very large batches or your soap is soft to begin with, there should not be much difference whether you use water or coconut milk. You can try adding a small amount of salt to your lye water after it has cooled off for a harder bar. Do you gel? If you don't, normally those batches do take longer to get harder.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

What about coconut water? Can that be substituted for the water also? Its "milk" from super ripe coconuts (after the fibrinogen has solidified into coconut meat =D).

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

For milk recipes, I never gel because I want to maintain that "creamy" essence. I pop the mold right into the freezer overnight. Take it out in the morning to thaw for a few hours before attempting to slice into bars.

The recipe was for 44 ounces and I used canned whole coconut milk for the whole water portion. With water (no gel), this recipe is ready to slice as soon as it thaws. Whenever I use any type of fatty milk, it seems to take longer.

Next time I will try salt. How much, would you suggest?

Thank you SO much for your help!

--Sydney

It depends which oils or butters you use. I don't gel. My soap goes into the fridge or the freezer; up to overnight. If I make a batch of soap in the morning, I can usually cut in the afternoon. My soaps get pretty hard pretty fast.

I would use 1 tespoon of salt per lb., (so that would be for about 2.2 kilo batch).

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

This recipe was mainly coconut & palm with almond, sunflower & castor (5%). Would that combo add to softness with coconut milk?

The coconut milk was frozen into cubes, put into an ice bath and lye added slowly with continuous stirring (so it never gets beyond a light cream color). The only heating it does is to melt into a slurry.

Will definitely try the salt.

Thanks so much for your assistance, Irena! I am glad I found this forum!

--Sydney

You're welcome Sydney. I don't use almond in soap as I find it too soft. Try your soap without it and see how you like it.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you think olive would be a good almond substitution to counteract the softness? Or perhaps up the coconut and add shea?

--Sydney

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.