Coconut oil

[Sweetie J]

I am new to soap making & I would like to make coconut soap. I'm not decided if I want to do HP or CP, but my question is, when making coconut soap do I need to used organic unrefined or refined or any type???

 

[Obsidian]

Any type will do. I generally use the cheaper stuff for soap.

 

[esheh195]

From my understanding you can use any type depending on your recipe, though 76 degree, unrefined is what I just used with great results.
If you're looking for a good, bulk buy, I purchased 50 pounds for about $80 with shipping from Soaperschoice.com. Got here in 4 days and sure beats paying $15 for 26 oz at the store.

 

[AustinStraight]

Any type works. There's really no difference in soapmaking between the various types of coconut oil except for smell (though I'm not sure of the smell of unrefined coconut oil survives through to the end product) - unrefined has a light coconut smell & taste, refined (which is much cheaper) is scentless and virtually flavorless. There is, however, 92 degree coconut oil, which is different from 76 degree coconut oil in that its melting point is 92 degrees instead of 76. They aren't interchangeable. Most recipes call for 76 degree, which is far easier to find, too. As far as CP vs. HP goes, I've done both and they were fairly easy. It's up to you, but HP might be a little easier for a first try because it's pretty hard to screw up HP. Just be sure not to let it sit for too long before you cut it, or it will be very difficult to cut!

 

[dixiedragon]

It can be confusing, b/c in the toiletries craft you'll see people talking about virgin coconut oil, fractionated, etc. For your first batch, you can just get it at Wal-Mart. The brand is Lou-Ann.

When you say you want to make coconut soap, do you want to make soap that's 100% coconut oil? If so, why? If you are hoping that it will smell coconutty, sorry to disappoint you, but it won't.

 

[new12soap]

100% coconut oil soap is great, but I would superfat it at 15-20%

 

[pamielynn]

Any coconut will work except "fractionated" coconut oil - that kind won't give you what you want in soap.

 

[esheh195]

I'm not saying that the OP should or shouldn't make a 100% coconut oil soap. But I do have to say that I'm a big fan of it. Made a few batches in the past with a few variations--usually olive oil, castor, coconut with either palm or vegetable shortening--and while I quite liked them, my favorite soap so far has been the newest batch I made of 100% CO soap with 20% superfat. I couldn't wait to use it--held out for 5 or 6 days until it was "zap free" and it's already great. Gave a great soapy lather with nice creamy texture to it, felt very smooth on the skin and while definitely high on the cleansing scale, the superfat percentage ensured it left me feeling very moisturized. Plus, from what I've read, a 100% CO soap will have a very good shelf life and turn into a pretty hard bar..pretty much everything I'd look for in a soap only with one oil instead of 4 or 5.

 

[moonbeam]

I have a customer who works for a company that has organic, fair trade coconut oil and he gives me the product that's out of date, it's perfect for soap but can't be sold for consumption. It TOTALLY smells like a Mounds bar! It doesn't come through much in the finished product other than my unscented soaps, there's a hint of it.

 

[seven]

fortunately, over here, we only have 1 type of coconut oil. and that's one used for cooking. it is bloody cheap as well, less than 2 bucks a liter. never failed me.

 

[Happysoap]

I would not go with HP with coconut oil especially if you have not made coconut oil soap before. It can seize very quickly making it very difficult to work with and cook. To spare you frustrations, I would do a CP first and later figure out if you want to do a HP.

 

[Happysoap]

Seven, you are so lucky. Coconut is about 20bucks per litre here. I envy you.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It's between 4 and 6 euros per kilo here, so not too bad. Cooking fat, so quite easy to come by.

I don't know if I'd make a 100% CO soap. Maybe if I found myself just looking to make a smaller batch to play with.

 

[seven]

Seven, you are so lucky. Coconut is about 20bucks per litre here. I envy you.

wowza, that is bloody expensive! we have 2 things here that are cheap: palm and coconut. palm is even cheaper, 1 dollar per litre. and when the stores have promos, the prices went even lower

 

[Zelda Rose]

It's 100% coconut all the way for me

I've been making 100% coconut soap with 20% SF this week and just love the way it turns out!!! I made it HP first and then CP. Need to watch out of false trace. Barely got my HP in the molds. CP went alot better for sure. I can't get over the lather and it's perfect on my skin. It's by far my favorite soap. I scented it with "Sands of Morocco" and that just makes my head spin!! ohhhh la la !!:clap: