Can I substitute water with coconut milk?

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Hi

I'm pretty new to soap making and I was wondering if I can sub water with coconut milk with the recipe? Thanks!

Neem Soap.jpg
 
Welcome StephanieLeong! :wave:

Yes- you can substitute water with coconut milk (or any other kind of milk for that matter).

I was looking at your recipe, and I just wanted to mention that if it were me, I would lower the castor oil to no more than 10% tops for this type of formula. I love castor oil in soap and use it as high as 23%, but only if I have at least 60% hard fats/butters in the formula. Too much castor in a formula with more soft oils than hard can make for a rather sticky/tacky feeling soap. I would add the remaining 8% to the olive oil, but that's just me.

Also- I just wanted to mention that milk soaps can be rather tricky animals to work with, especially for a beginner. I recommend that you use the 'split-method' of milk soaping to make your coconut milk soap. I find that it's the easiest, most hassle-free way to make milk soap.


IrishLass :)
 
One little thing (you're probably aware, but I just want to make sure), Neem has a very strong scent that some people find unpleasant. And even used at a small percentage, that scent often comes through in the final soap. To me, it smells like rotten chicken soup. It's unfortunate, since it's a wonderfully healing oil when applied topically.
 
I have cut the neem smell a bit with one part tea tree oil and two parts lavender. To me, the three scents worked really well together. It was in a lotion and I didn't find the neem smell repulsive by itself, so your experience may vary.
 
I've been away for awhile again but I'm soaping again so I thought I would resume my soaping education with friends here. I have extensively used coconut milk, coconut water in my soaps and love what it brings to the party. I have tried every commercial brand and even made my own from store bought coconuts - do not recommend; very time consuming and plan for a lot of cuts and scrapes.....

For me, the best product to use is coconut milk powder. You don't have to go through the process of freezing, risk scorching your milk and the extra time involved. I add 1-2 tsp ppo depending on the recipe when my oils are heated and use my immersion blender to mix before I add my lye water. Easy peazy and less expensive. I can also add as little or as much as I want this way. Also - if you decide you want to add a massive amount of powder, reduce your super fat accordingly. I soap pretty much exclusively for fragile, elderly skin and my cleansing numbers rarely exceed 7 so I keep my super fat usually at 3%.

Hope this helps - you will love going cuckoo for coco!
 
I have cut the neem smell a bit with one part tea tree oil and two parts lavender. To me, the three scents worked really well together. It was in a lotion and I didn't find the neem smell repulsive by itself, so your experience may vary.

Thanks for the tip! I have neem in my lotion bar and I've used the oil so much that I can withstand the scent, but maybe those EOs would be a good investment.
 
Neem oil don't smell offensive to me either. I'm curious now cos I have heard that it's not very pleasant. Is my oil actually real neem? :think::think:

As I'm from Malaysia (tropical country) we can actually get fresh pressed coconut milk from the market easily all year round. Coconut milk powder, I've yet to see in our local stores... haha. I can't wait to try it out!
 

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