Made my 1st 100% coconut oil soap

[Kaolin washer]

I finally, made my 1st batch of 100% coconut oils soap,and used 0.5% lemon grass oil anchored with Vee gum T momtmorillonite clay ,and the way i used the Bentonite was, 1% and added the lemon grass to the dry powder and then added some melted coconut to thin it out and then used a 150 mesh screen to screen it two times, in other batches of soaps i have been putting the clays in the lye water and then adding lye, but i wanted the essential oils to be the 1st thing to get into that bentonite so it would hang on to it , .Now i have been a potter, and all potters know that bentonites hold water and dry very slowly and can only be used up to 1 to 3% in a clay body , or you pot will not dry , now a kaolin clay is much more open and will dry a lot faster so that's why i wanted to anchor the scent with Vee gum T the recipe..I used 598 g of coconut oil,6.5g Vee gum T, And 32.5 g milled wisconsin granite dust screened thru a 200 mesh screen, 13 g honey, a lye discount of 20% so my lye ended up 87.54 g and i did a 2 to 1 water 175 g kept the oils 120f and mixed and mixed well , It took a long time to trace but got it in the mold and cut it in 9 hours. i was astonished at how it lathered up . just amazing and it has a strong lemon grass scent, But lets see if that holds so far so good

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Interesting that you experienced that recipe as slow-moving. Coconut (at high percentages) and honey are usually known as quick to accelerating ingredients, even with some serious volcanoing danger! Maybe the lemongrass EO calmed it down? Or the clays/mineral stuff? Idk.

And I admire your clay knowledge! For many it's just some kind of special dirt that is good for pottery, but without doubt it's a full-blown rabbit hole all by itself. Your baby steps in soapmaking are more than outweighed by your clay know-how!

Expect the lathering to only become even better with time.

 

[Kaolin washer]

after trimming the bars , i compressed together the shavings with difficulty into a small ball about 1" wide and the next day washed with it . and it just blew me away at how it exploded with lather , and i have been using it now for several days and its barley used up . I do wonder if the VEE gum T slowed it down but i do not know for sure

 

[Kaolin washer]

just some info on VGT

 

[earlene]

Where do you get your CO92? I've never used it as all that is sold in stores I frequent is the 76° Coconut Oil.

I wondered about the slow moving as well. That has never been my experience with 76°CO, especially when sugar was involved. I wonder what caused it to trace slow.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Where do you get your CO92? I've never used it as all that is sold in stores I frequent is the 76° Coconut Oil.

I always thought this is just the “coconut wax” sold for candlemaking?

ETA: Or, they call it “coconut butter” 😵

 

[Guspuppy]

I made a 100%CO salt bar once that was so slow to trace that I was able to do a ribbon pour with it. That was with 76° CO. It was definitely weird!

 

[Kaolin washer]

interesting I was using 76 co as well i got from Aldies . ya you could do some colors that's for sure

 

[violets2217]

Interesting that you experienced that recipe as slow-moving.

True that! My last 100% CO bar acetates and then volcanoed like never before! Fun times!

 

[Rsapienza]

I also have experienced slow moving CO recipes. So slow that I thought I had to have made a mistake somewhere. Weird. I’ve made salt bars with multiple color designs and had plenty of time to work.🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️