# Using Coconut Cream in Soap



## ShelleyW (Nov 14, 2014)

Good morning!

I have some coconut cream that my hubby accidentally bought for soaping instead of coconut milk.  I figured I would give it a whirl in my next soap batch.  Should I discount the water with the cream evenly, like replace 2 ozs. cream for 2 ozs. of water removed?  Since it is so thick I am wondering if I shouldn't discount the full 2 ozs. of water.

Thanks!


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## cmzaha (Nov 14, 2014)

When using purees, milks, any liquids you use it as a equal water replacement. Coconut cream can thicken the batter quicker so do not water discount severly. Look on the can and see if it contains any gums, if it does and you are a new soaper I would only slightly water discount if any discount.


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## fuzz-juzz (Nov 14, 2014)

I would add a little bit more water just in case. 
What's the % of fat in it. 2 oz is not much, but in case you end up using more, I would lower SF by maybe 0.5-1%.


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## Jstar (Nov 14, 2014)

Funny this question was asked, because I just bought some coconut cream when I went to buy my regular coconut milk..I had seen a recipe somewhere where the lady doing the tutorial was making whipped cream from the coconut cream instead of the regular dairy whipping cream for a pie..I thought..hmmm how would this be in soap? 

Soaping101 has a video for pumpkin pie soap, and she just adds a good squeeze of whipped topping to her batter and stirs it in....

Now, I use 100% coconut milk in place of my water...but since coconut cream is actually condensed, Im wondering if I should 'hydrate' it a bit with water and use it as I normally would use my milks {100%} or if it would be better to just add some condensed cream into my oils when I add my clays and FO's....


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## ShelleyW (Nov 15, 2014)

Thank you.  Since it is so thick, I just added it after the cook (HP) and did not discount the water.  It came out amazing.  I will let it sit for a week to dry but I used a small bit left over in the pot and it was really creamy and bubbly.


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## Caged Raven (Aug 7, 2019)

Thanks all for this discussion. I am planning an all coconut soap, using coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut cream. I will be adding the cream as a super fat when I add my coconut fragrance oil. Although this is high in saturated fats (89:11 ratio) and will make a very hard bar, I am still hopeful (as I tried to raise the super fat amount to help the balance). Trial and error, that's the fun in soap making.

LOL! This turned out to be my first botched batch of soap. The batter went from pour-able to dry and crumbly in SECONDS. In fact my stick blender got stuck in it, while I was scraping the last of the fragrance oil into the mix....lol. I just had to laugh. Experience really is the greatest teacher.


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## Grizzthegreen (Mar 9, 2020)

Did anyone come up with a successful recipe using coconut cream?
Do i substitute oils, or discount any water?





Caged Raven said:


> Thanks all for this discussion. I am planning an all coconut soap, using coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut cream. I will be adding the cream as a super fat when I add my coconut fragrance oil. Although this is high in saturated fats (89:11 ratio) and will make a very hard bar, I am still hopeful (as I tried to raise the super fat amount to help the balance). Trial and error, that's the fun in soap making.
> 
> LOL! This turned out to be my first botched batch of soap. The batter went from pour-able to dry and crumbly in SECONDS. In fact my stick blender got stuck in it, while I was scraping the last of the fragrance oil into the mix....lol. I just had to laugh. Experience really is the greatest teacher.


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## DeeAnna (Mar 10, 2020)

_"..Do i substitute oils, or discount any water?..."_

It depends. Without a nutrition label, there's no way to say yes or no.

Coconut cream may be high enough in fat that you should calculate the actual fat content and include that fat weight in your recipe calculations. Here's how to do this -- https://classicbells.com/soap/nutritionLabel.asp


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## cmzaha (Mar 10, 2020)

The Coconut cream I use is high enough in fat that I calculate the fat content.


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## penelopejane (Mar 10, 2020)

^^^so is my coconut cream so I do the same and adjust for extra fat. I like low SF soap. I only use coconut cream or milk that has not additives at all. No gum, thickners, sugar etc.


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## Liesel Atwood (Mar 3, 2021)

What brand of coconut cream do you buy?  Where I live (NS)  I can get coconut milk,(I get it in a can) but there is nothing with "cream" on the label.


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## Liesel Atwood (Nov 1, 2022)

*update:*  I have been using the solid "cream" portion of the coconut milk and my soaps have been amazing!  Although I have been using an ounce for ounce water replacement (2 oz coconut cream, 2 oz less water) I have been considering not discounting it at all.  I know it increases the super fat ...probably by quite a lot.  But, I have yet to find a soap calculator that includes coconut cream as a fat, so I can't calculate how much SF I'm actually adding with an oz of C.C. per pound of oils.  That said, if my recipe has a superfat of 5-8 %, and I add the coconut cream with the oils, I end up with a super creamy batter and a hard bar of soap. I keep the soap cold, rather than gelling it, and have had no problems. I can unmold anywhere from 8 to 24 hours later.  I would like to know exactly, or even approximately, how much S.F. I'm adding with the C.C.   If anyone has something to add, or suggestions, I would love to hear them!  On a side note, my recipes usually have INS of 158-163, and iodine in the low 40's to low 50's.   So the extra S.F. from the coconut cream is a welcome thing.  I use a water as % of oil weight at 38 % for these recipes.  If I am using a softer recipe with more liquid oils, I would likely use less C.C., or choose powdered instead. The C.C. works best for me with high coconut oil recipes.  This is just my experience.  I would enjoy learning from your experiences!


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## cmzaha (Nov 1, 2022)

You might be quite surprised how much extra superfat you are adding to your soap. Also keep in mind high superfatted soaps are not great for plumbing, especially old plumbing. Here is a great article to read about how to figure out how to allow for extra fat in milk. Nutrition labels | Soapy Stuff. There is a wealth of information written by our local member DeeAnna.

It is working for you with high CO soaps because normally you would superfat higher with high CO soaps to cut the cleansing/stripping value of the CO. Do remember high CO soaps are highly water soluble so they tend to melt away much quicker than a well-balanced soap. This is why they lather in salt water and are considered the Sailor's Soap, or Boater's soap.


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## Liesel Atwood (Nov 1, 2022)

cmzaha said:


> You might be quite surprised how much extra superfat you are adding to your soap. Also keep in mind high superfatted soaps are not great for plumbing, especially old plumbing. Here is a great article to read about how to figure out how to allow for extra fat in milk. Nutrition labels | Soapy Stuff. There is a wealth of information written by our local member DeeAnna.
> 
> It is working for you with high CO soaps because normally you would superfat higher with high CO soaps to cut the cleansing/stripping value of the CO. Do remember high CO soaps are highly water soluble so they tend to melt away much quicker than a well-balanced soap. This is why they lather in salt water and are considered the Sailor's Soap, or Boater's soap.


Thanks so much for the link you provided !  I will read it ASAP.  I am going to guess that the SF of coconut cream might be as high as 10- 13 %.  LOL  It will be fun to see if I'm anywhere close.  Thank you for the reminder about the high solubility of coconut oil soaps.  I tend to use about 30 % coconut, a fair bit of tallow or sustainably sourced palm or both, shea butter, olive or sweet almond oil, and often cocoa butter.  I start out with a balanced recipe, but adding the coconut cream as an "extra" kind of blows that right out of the water, doesn't it !  LOL  Maybe I should just consider using less coconut cream.  8)  I'm anxious to read DeeAnna's article and hopefully pin down a way to include C.C. in my recipes as an ingredient with an SAP value, instead of an additive.  Thanks again for the helpful and useful information....it is greatly appreciated!  God Bless!


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## cmzaha (Nov 1, 2022)

Liesel Atwood said:


> Thanks so much for the link you provided !  I will read it ASAP.  I am going to guess that the SF of coconut cream might be as high as 10- 13 %.  LOL  It will be fun to see if I'm anywhere close.  Thank you for the reminder about the high solubility of coconut oil soaps.  I tend to use about 30 % coconut, a fair bit of tallow or sustainably sourced palm or both, shea butter, olive or sweet almond oil, and often cocoa butter.  I start out with a balanced recipe, but adding the coconut cream as an "extra" kind of blows that right out of the water, doesn't it !  LOL  Maybe I should just consider using less coconut cream.  8)  I'm anxious to read DeeAnna's article and hopefully pin down a way to include C.C. in my recipes as an ingredient with an SAP value, instead of an additive.  Thanks again for the helpful and useful information....it is greatly appreciated!  God Bless!


It is easy to calculate in the Coconut Cream with DeeAnna's instructions. You will actually replace some of your CO and water usage.


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## AliOop (Nov 1, 2022)

I would add that you might consider changing from _water as percent of oils_, to _lye concentration_. That will make sure that the viscosity of your batter stays the same even when you change batch sizes. Water as percent of oils was originally developed for hot process, where much water is evaporated. For cold process, using 30-33% lye concentration can be a nice place to start. You can adjust up and down to suit your needs, such as making swirls and gelling more easily (more water), or unmolding sooner, preventing ash, and avoiding glycerin rivers (less water).


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## Liesel Atwood (Nov 2, 2022)

AliOop said:


> I would add that you might consider changing from _water as percent of oils_, to _lye concentration_. That will make sure that the viscosity of your batter stays the same even when you change batch sizes. Water as percent of oils was originally developed for hot process, where much water is evaporated. For cold process, using 30-33% lye concentration can be a nice place to start. You can adjust up and down to suit your needs, such as making swirls and gelling more easily (more water), or unmolding sooner, preventing ash, and avoiding glycerin rivers (less water).


Oooh, that's a great suggestion!  With my non milk soap, I like 33% lye concentration, but confess that I don't always stick to the same thing for every soap.  When I first started making soap, the only lye calculator I could find was MMS.  That one gives a range of water amounts to use, but no explanation of lye concentration etc.  I like MMS, but other soap calculators have more detailed information.  I'm also grateful to learn from other members like yourself, cmzaha and others....thanks for all your awesome suggestions !   I'm off to read DeeAnna's article.  Have an awesome day!


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## Liesel Atwood (Nov 5, 2022)

update:   After reading DeeAnna's article, I feel so relieved!  Finally, I know how to calculate the SF of coconut cream, and make adjustments in the coconut oil and water.  Even though the "other way" was working for me, I'm so much happier knowing exactly how much to add.  I don't like surprises in my soapmaking when it involves recipes.  A huge thank you to DeeAnna for writing the article, as well as cmzaha for linking the article and advising me, and AliOop for her awesome suggestions.  One can never learn too much!  Thank you for the assist!


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