Do you always use coconut oil in your soaps??

[TuxedoKat]

I have some more affordable coconut oil on order, but have been using the health food store variety up until this point (I've only made 3 lbs. of soap so far - so it's not too bad). But! Because my order didn't arrive before the long weekend (sniff), and I hate to use anymore of the expensive coconut oil, I started playing around in soap calc to see what I could come up with. And now here's my question ... are you all always using coconut oil in your soaps? I see that coconut oil is really the only oil listed with "cleansing" properties. Well, except for the animal based oils, but I'm a veggie so I wouldn't be using them.

I know there are castille soaps out there and I thought of making a batch tonight, but if it doesn't have cleansing properties ... do you all just use it when you're clean already? lol

 

[Sunny]

yes I do use coconut in every batch.

castille soap still cleans... any soap will usually clean. Low cleansing numbers mean the soap is less stripping.

 

[Soaplady22]

I use coconut for up to 1/3 of my recipe for bubbles and hardness. I don't worry about those silly cleansing properties in some soap calcs - soap is soap.

 

[TuxedoKat]

yes I do use coconut in every batch.

castille soap still cleans... any soap will usually clean. Low cleansing numbers mean the soap is less stripping.

Ah! Less stripping sounds like it would be especially nice in the winter. I always get super dry skin in the fall/winter. Maybe I will make more soap this weekend after all. Thanks!

 

[TuxedoKat]

I use coconut for up to 1/3 of my recipe for bubbles and hardness. I don't worry about those silly cleansing properties in some soap calcs - soap is soap.

Soap is soap. I like it! I'm off to play in soap calc again.... :wink:

 

[Cuckoo Bananas]

Yep - Castille still cleans just fine. And no I don't always use CO.

 

[IrishLass]

Yep - Castille still cleans just fine. And no I don't always use CO.

Same here.

IrishLass

 

[Bukawww]

I do try to incorporate it in all of my products but my store is named 'the Coconut Crush' because I think coconuts are magical

I also don't love castile AT ALL...the slime factor icks me out big time so even my 'gentle' formula has a wee bit of coconut in it. None of my soaps dry ME out and so far, so good on everyone else who have tried it lol.

 

[tlm884]

I have made soaps without CO but I prefer to use it. I liked the increased lather and the increased hardness it brings to the table. The soaps I have made without it are always soft despite having a high percentage of hard oils.

 

[Bigmoose]

Yes I use some in every batch.

Bruce

 

[Hazel]

I use coconut in almost every batch I've made plus I love salt bars!

 

[ToniD]

I don't use it in every batch--almost every batch though. But a nice castile made with buttermilk and a long cure is lovely.

 

[TuxedoKat]

I do try to incorporate it in all of my products but my store is named 'the Coconut Crush' because I think coconuts are magical

I also don't love castile AT ALL...the slime factor icks me out big time so even my 'gentle' formula has a wee bit of coconut in it. None of my soaps dry ME out and so far, so good on everyone else who have tried it lol.

Awww! I think coconuts are magical too! I keep opening my health store cocunut oil just to sniff it. It's so delicious.

 

[carebear]

I use either coconut or PKO (or sometimes both) in every soap except my castile which is 100% olive oil.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I use CO or PKO. I have a soap with cocoa butter and PKO instead of CO and it is a wonderful recipe. But I wouldn't make one without those ingredients. I usually use both!

 

[bluehouse]

Soapy Girl: Would you mind sharing your recipe? I've had a request for a coconut free soap from someone who is allergic to coconut.

 

[carebear]

You can take all the coconut oil out of a recipe and replace it with palm kernel oil to get the same result (or pretty damned close). Just be sure to run the new formula through the soap calculator.

 

[IrishLass]

I'm not Soapy Gurl, but it's very easy to get a nice, bubbly soap without coconut oil.

The substitutes for coconut oil are:

-Palm Kernel Oil (not palm oil- big difference)
-Babassu Oil

Coconut oil is commonly used more often because it's easy to find locally for many (Wal*Mart sells it as well as ethnic markets and health food stores) and it is less expensive than PKO and Babassu, but both have very similar properties to coconut oil in soap (All 3 are regular supplies in my soaping closet).

Just substitute PKO or Babassu (or a combo of both) for the coconut in your recipe, but make sure to run it through a lye calculator first because the SAPs are slightly different.


IrishLass


Edited to add: Woops! Looks like Carebear and I were posting at the time time, but she beat me to it!

 

[Soapy Gurl]

bluehouse - it's actually a very special recipe that is over 1/4 cocoa butter, not a traditional soap at all. That was the focus of it and using soap calc, the numbers with pko were just better. But as carebear and IrishLass have said, you can use it as a replacement for CO very easily. I usually blend the two because I buy them both in bulk and want to use them at the same speed.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I mostly use CO but have made some without. It's still usable soap without CO. No PKO either. :wink:

EVOO, Almond, Castor, Grapeseed (5%), Palm.