Where to Find Coconut Oil

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AustinStraight

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I've been looking everywhere for coconut oil, and it looks cheap at first but I calculate the shipping and wow - it goes from $14 to $21! Essential Depot has two one-gallon jugs of coconut oil for 44.45 with free shipping, should I grab it? I have Amazon Prime but there's hardly any coconut oil cheap enough to use in soap on Amazon, and none of it's Prime...
 
I use soapers choice $65 for a 50lb pail. That's 1.30/lb shipping isn't too bad and I order several oils at a time
 
Thanks for the suggestions. As for palm kernel oil, ould I replace half of the coconut oil in a pure coconut bar with palm kernel oil?
 
On amazon Snappy Popcorn coconut oil is a great price, around $18-20 for a 9lb jug. I believe it qualifies for Prime also.

You can also get this with subscribe and save. The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't have the yummy coconut smell.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. As for palm kernel oil, ould I replace half of the coconut oil in a pure coconut bar with palm kernel oil?


They don't have quit the same SAP values so make sure you run it through a lye calc. Is there a reason you are doing 100% CO? Is it a salt bar?
 
If you have any Indian stores near you or any fruit/vegetable stands with an ethnic store of some sort attached to it, check those out. Before I found a great cyber Monday deal on a big bucket of coconut oil, I used 16oz bottles that I found at Indian stores/markets for about $3.50 each. But, I'm also a coconut oil snob, in that it has to be unrefined and unbleached. This particular oil is mostly off-white with brown mixed in at the bottom. So, if you're not going for pure white soap, it's a great find. And it's the most wonderfully smelling coconut oil ever :)
 
They don't have quit the same SAP values so make sure you run it through a lye calc. Is there a reason you are doing 100% CO? Is it a salt bar?

I'm fairly new to soapmaking, so I've only done two recipes (though I've made multiple batches of each): a bastille soap with coconut, olive, and castor, and a pure coconut soap with a 20% superfat. The bastille soap came out with an OK lather but it was a little bit too soft even after a 6-week cure, and olive oil is expensive compared to coconut oil. The coconut oil soap makes a big bubbly lather (which I prefer to the denser lather of the bastille soap, though the dense lather might be nice as a facial soap), and it's more cost-effective. It also makes a really white bar.

I ran it through soapcalc and it came out slightly different. With 50% PKO and 50% CO, it has higher hardness and creamy numbers than pure CO, but the conditioning is a little lower. Palm kernel flakes and palm kernel oil have different values in soapcalc even though they're supposed to be the same thing (besides the shape), why is that?
 
You may be able to find some at a cash and carry. I still think Columbus foods is the best price, but if you don't want to get a 5 gallon bucket, cash and carry may ahve some. It may be colored, though! Which is how i ended up with tons of orange soap.
 
Soapers choice aka Columbus foods has 7lb plastic jugs as well. If you are looking for smaller quantities
 
I get my coconut oil at my local Sam's Club. 56 oz jar for like $14. Pretty good deal compared to the online suppliers when you factor in shipping.
 
On amazon Snappy Popcorn coconut oil is a great price, around $18-20 for a 9lb jug. I believe it qualifies for Prime also.


Osso, thank you so much for that tip! I live in Alaska, and shipping for oils is outrageous. I paid for an Amazon Prime membership, and I was about to order several Qt containers of coconut oil from Essential Depots Amazon account. I was not sure how to get the oil out of the small tops tho! That's actually what I was about to ask when I read your post! The Snappy Popcorn is such a great deal! Thanks again!

April
 
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