preventing gel with water discount

[bizarrebunny]

I just read somewhere that you can use a water discount to prevent gel. Does the same apply if I'm using coconut milk instead of water?

Thanks
Zoe

 

[Dean]

Didn't work for me. The only thing that I found to prevent gel is putting it in the freezer after pouring.

 

[shunt2011]

If you use a 33% lye concentration it can slow the ability to gel. Don’t insulate and you may want to put it in the fridge or freezer. Milk soaps tend to heat up more than just water. I gel all my soaps.

 

[SaltedFig]

Hi Zoe,

Using water discount to prevent gel also works with water substitutes, but as other's have pointed out, coconut milk has sugars that increase the heat of the soap, so for this particular water substitute you may also need to cool the soap.

Auntie Clara describe the effects of water in soap in a series of experiments she did in 2015:
https://auntieclaras.com/2015/09/the-ghost-swirl/
https://auntieclaras.com/2015/10/ghost-swirl-soap-follow-up/

 

[earlene]

Well, it does also depend on the oils and other ingredients used. Anything with a high CO and high sugar content will probably gel on its own, even if you put in the freezer. Add alcohol to that and you could easily have a volcano in the fridge. I've seen pictures of overheated soaps in the freezer, so the formual makes a lot of difference, not just the water or temperature alone. All things need to be considered.

With coconut milk, if you use a lower lye concentration (more liquid to lye) you still have sugar so preventing gel would require additional action as previously mentioned. Also soaping cooler helps slow things down as well. So soaping at the lowest temp you can to keep your hard oils clear should help a little, too.