Teach Soap

I decided to do a little experiment and use coconut milk in my next batch of soap. I used 30% olive, coconut and palm, 5 % cocoa butter and 5% castor oil. I used half water and half coconut milk for the lye mixture. I hadn't planned on coloring it, but, true to my impulsive nature, I decided to add some blue dye that I bought at a craft store. The mixture went from light tan, to green, to gray to peach. Very weird.

After I poured it into the mold, I decided to go online and see what I could find out about using coconut milk (kinda backwards). After reading I got a little worried about the soap overheating, so I just uncovered it and took a look. This is what it looks like:





I had about 6 or 7 ounces left that wouldn't fit in the loaf mold, so I poured it into a rectangle mold I had. I took a look at that one and it looks like this:



The soap in the mold looks like it's got a partial gel going, and the one in the loaf mold looks like it has gone through a full gel. I wonder if it will lighten up with cure?

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It happens to me that the smaller silicone molds will go through a partial gel, or none, while a loaf mold will go through full gel. So that part isn't surprising. It's just an issue of mass. These days, I put a seedling heat mat under my molds to equalize things a bit, and warm up my cold basement.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
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I haven't found that my gelled soap lightens much with curing. Maybe a tiny bit.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I wonder why it went dark brown like that.

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Soap colors from the craft store are usually made for MP, not CP soap. I can see why the color went away. Looks like the first soap gelled as there is more volume. The bottom of the second soap looks like it's gelling in the middle. I would leave it be for now. If it doesn't gel all the way through, you could always put it in a low oven and take it out as soon as it's in full gel. Sometimes partial gel will cure out, sometimes it doesn't.

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

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

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

Is there anything you can do to keep the colour whiteish? I like the idea of using coconut milk. Does the fragrance of coconut come through? And is there any reason you couldnt use 100% coconut milk?
In fact, thinking about it, would keeping it cooler help the colour?

Adam

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

Ta muchly, I sense another soap session tonight. I'll keep it free of EO's to see how the coconut milk's natural fragrance comes through.

Cheers,
Adam

Here's the loaf unmolded, as well as the bar made from the leftover pour. It's REALLY smooth and creamy looking. It's pretty firm, but I'm going to let it sit unmolded for a few hours before I cut it.

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Coconut milk is great in soap! But the smell doesn't come through.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I think I'm going to put coconut milk in every batch! I used a sliver, and it was so creamy!!!!! OMG that's what I was looking for!!!!!

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Cool. I think the colour looks OK