coconut oil allergy??

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Messages
16
Reaction score
2
Can someone without any problems consuming coconut food be allergic to coconut oil?

After a Week of use of my soap (around 30% of CO), my son started to feel itchy at his back, but no rash. Is that CO allergy?
 
Hi Invalid, probably not allergic. 30% CO is kind of high, so the soap is over-cleansing. What is superfat? How long has the soap cured? What is the recipe?
Roy
 
He tried 2 of my soaps, both recipes are similar withalmost 70% olive oil. SF@6%, cured for 5wks. My younger son and all other family members have no problem at all.
 
I am going to second the request for the recipe in weights. It is probably too high a percentage of CO, but we will not know until we see the recipe. Also, how long did they cure?
 
Some people are just more sensitive then others and need a gentler soap. 30% coconut oil would make my skin crack and bleed, I use 20% max and even that can dry me out some. Try lowering the coconut down to 15%-20%.

Also, 5 weeks is a short cure for a soap with so much olive oil, it would be better with a 4-6 month cure. Its also possible that your sons skin doesn't like olive oil, more then 30% or so and I get tight itchy skin.

What are you using for hard oils? You really need a good amount of hard oils, at least 30% but I like to use 50%. Lard is best, palm is good too. If those are not acceptable then you can use shea butter or coco butter but they are pricey. You do use less though, 20% max is recommended since butters can really reduce lather.
 
Thank you all.

my recipes:

71% OO
29% CO

OR
71%OO
26%CO
3% Castor

His itchiness goes even worse after stopping to use my soap for two or three days, it's spreading to his chest and tummy. He scratches so hard that bleeds.

:cry:
 
Then try
50% palm, lard or tallow
15% coconut
5% castor
35% olive

Tweaking between the hard fats and olive. You're co is way too high for his skin, and will cause itching and such to many at those levels. I get tight skin at 20%.
 
I would even go to this recipe:

Lard-65%
Olive Oil-20%
Coconut Oil-10%
Castor Oil-5%

Also, have you changed anything else? Laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, dryer sheets, clothes that have been stored without rewashing, etc? This sounds a lot like eczema, and those are usually the culprits.
 
I'm another one that can't tolerate CO at more than 15-20%. Do you have any palm kernel or babassu oil? If so you could try substituting one of them for CO in a small batch.

If you aren't averse to using palm/lard/tallow, the recipes lionprincess & Susie posted are both good ones. You could also tweak your recipe to up the hardness and conditioning with a butter:
65% OO
15% CO/PKO/Babassu
10% castor
10% shea or cocoa butter
 
If your son can eat coconut oil, he is definitely not allergic to it. You would have found that out much sooner. That coconut oil is way too high for a young child's skin. Have you considered not going over 15% with the coconut oil?

I'm going to sound horrible, I'm sure but have you ever applied a dot of coconut oil onto your son's hand? That would definitely tell you if something is going on. In the mean time, let's see what we can come up with in your other thread.
 
I just made two new batches with 15% of CO. will see if he can tolerate.

Arimara, I actually did put CO directly on his hand the other day. nothing seems to happen on that applied area, but the itchiness seems to spread from his back to his chest and tummy after that day.
 
If he is like me, you may need a recipe with no coconut OR "bubbly" oils. My skin can't seem to handle CO or PKO and I won't try babassu at this point. I seem to be ok with 5% and less of CO and lots of conditioning oils. I do well with no coconut oil at all. At anything higher than 12% CO/PKO I'm super itchy after the bath. It does go away when I add lotion or moisturizer after bath though.

I imagine if you live in a dry climate, a high CO soap can dry the skin out so badly that you can see the effects days later. I used to have a 30% CO soap and my hands actually peeled 2 days later from a mix of cold weather and dry hands. I also thought I was allergic although I'm just fine with eating/applying. I now know I'm just very very sensitive to CO soaps.
 
Penelopejane, i actually posted on my other thread asking for recipes without CO, animal fats and palm. I know its lots of restriction. Will see what come up, i definitely will try
 
Penelopejane, i actually posted on my other thread asking for recipes without CO, animal fats and palm. I know its lots of restriction. Will see what come up, i definitely will try


I have the same restrictions! Don't worry there are lots of good recipes that are suitable I'll look on other thread.

If you just make some 100% first cold pressed OP soap and add 1 tablespoon of honey per 2 llb and put it away For 9 months + i think you will love it. The dermatologist think it is great for skin and my DH has bad eczema and can use it.

I think the type of OO used and the honey make the difference as it is not slimy.
 
Last edited:
I just made two new batches with 15% of CO. will see if he can tolerate.

Arimara, I actually did put CO directly on his hand the other day. nothing seems to happen on that applied area, but the itchiness seems to spread from his back to his chest and tummy after that day.

That's odd. What other products are you using for him? Was your soap the only new thing you used? In the mean time, have you tried and oatmeal bath for him? I can't remember what else helped me out with my daughter when she has super eczema but oatmeal helped quite a bit..
 
Back
Top