coconut milk soap

[Sherry]

Hello, I am new to this forum and soap making. One of my many questions is what is the best coconut milk to use ? I bought Thai coconut milk and is was paste......also I have noticed in my lye/water mix there are floaters, any suggestions on either question? thanks! Sherry

 

[Lin19687]

I bought same one and the solids do settle and has water around it.
I too didn't know that coconut milk does this.
i think there are 2 different kinds from that maker. Which one did you get.

 

[earlene]

I have only used coconut milk in a can, which I normally buy for cooking. (I have only seen at most 4 different brands available, but not all 4 at the same stores.) I always shake the can really well, and then again some more for good measure, before opening the can. The liquid does seem to prefer to go off by itself, leaving the solids to intermingle on their own. A really really really good shake (before opening) goes a long way to re-incorporating them.

As for floaters, you can avoid them buy mixing your coconut milk into the oils instead of adding the dry lye to the coconut milk. Or you could pour off the liquid (without shaking the can beforehand) and just mix the lye with the watery part; and mix the thicker part into the oils. But I prefer to mix milks and milk-substitutes with the oils and not with the lye.

The other option is to strain the lye mixture through a strainer.

 

[Sherry]

thank you for your replies. To Lin, I bought the A Taste of Thai, and Earlene, as we speak, I am shaking the can and what do I hear? Liquid!!! Go figure, thank you so much. As far as the floaters, they where in my lye/water mixture as the lye was cooling. I came across this forum and that is how I joined, reading the responses to this particular question. Some say it could be from plastic container and others say the type of lye using. Again, thank you, I will shake the can from now on! Have a good evening

 

[KristaY]

The fat content in the coconut milk will begin to saponify which is the "floaters" you see in the lye mixture. When you SB that into the oils, it'll be fine. When I use coconut milk I usually SB it into my oils before I add the lye water to avoid those. Also, be sure to calculate the added fat the milk adds or just know it'll have a higher SF. I think the brand I usually use adds about 2% SF to my final recipe so I adjust my lye accordingly.

 

[Sherry]

thank you Krista. How did you come up with 2% increase in SF? do you calculate a certain percentage, depending on fat content in coconut milk?

 

[shunt2011]

I'm with the others. I use my little mini blender and mix the coconut milk up in the can pretty well and then add the milk to my oils and stick blend really well. I don't account for the fat in the milk though as I generally use a fairly low SF so don't worry about a little extra.

 

[soapmaker]

I'm with shunt

 

[dixiedragon]

I prefer to add my can of coconut milk to my melted oils (after I let them cool to about 100-110). I stickblend the coconut milk in the oils, then stickblend while I pour the lye water.

 

[Bann51]

You can also warm your coconut milk to incorporate it better.

 

[KristaY]

thank you Krista. How did you come up with 2% increase in SF? do you calculate a certain percentage, depending on fat content in coconut milk?

Yes, I use the nutrition info on the can to calculate the added coconut oil fat. I don't like a high SF soap so I increase lye accordingly. Here's a thread on how I did the math:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/can-someone-please-check-my-coconut-milk-math.51437/

 

[Sherry]

well, I successfully made my coconut milk with the freezing method. I froze my coconut milk, added the lye to the fr. milk 1/4 at a time, then proceeded with the batch. It came out perfect! my first coconut milk soap. I used 5% SF as well, thank you everyone for your advice......soap on!