Can Someone Please Check My Coconut Milk Math?

KristaY · Jan 13, 2015

I'm going to make a CP batch using half coconut milk, half water. Here's my recipe:

35% (357 gm) OO
25% (255 gm) PO
20% (204 gm) CO
15% (153 gm) Avocado oil
5% (51 gm) Shea Butter

33% (340 gm) water
5% SF
141 gm NaOH

I divided the water in half which gives me 170 gm water which I'll use to dissolve my lye. 170 gm of coconut milk will go into my oils. The label tells me there are 22 gm fat in 80 gm of coconut milk.

170 gm divided by 80 gm = 2.125
2.125 x 22 (gm of fat) = 46.75 (I rounded this up to 47 gm)
So by my calculations I'm adding 47 gm coconut milk fat to my recipe. Does that look correct?

From there I took my original CO volume of 204 and added 47 which brings my CO up to 251 gm.

Now I have a few choices. I can leave the lye where it is or add lye to keep my SF at 5%. By playing with Soap Calc I found if I leave the lye at the original amount of 141 gm, it brings the SF up to about 10%. If I want to keep it at 5% I need to increase the lye to 150 gms. Or I can pick a SF in between.

I appreciate anyone willing to take on this math assignment! :crazy:

boyago · Jan 13, 2015

Well I'm dyslexic and tend to do things how they make sense to me so I took the 22g of fat in you 80g of milk 22/80= .275g of fat per oz of milk and multiplied by your 170 of CM and came out with 46.75. So we're either both right or both exactly wrong.

CaraBou · Jan 13, 2015

Your math looks right to me. Good job displaying it so well. Heck, I even feel a little proud of myself for following along :thumbup:

girlishcharm2004 · Jan 13, 2015

Ha, CaraBou -- that made me laugh.

KristaY · Jan 13, 2015

boyago said:
Well I'm dyslexic and tend to do things how they make sense to me so I took the 22g of fat in you 80g of milk 22/80= .275g of fat per oz of milk and multiplied by your 170 of CM and came out with 46.75. So we're either both right or both exactly wrong.

Thanks for that boyago! I had a feeling someone would go about it from a different aspect, but as long as we both got the same number, I'm good. Like you, I have to look at it how it makes sense to me so good for us!

I agree with girlishcharm, thanks for the giggle CaraBou!

fuzz-juzz · Jan 13, 2015

My recipe is pretty close to yours. NaOH with 5% is actually same for my recipe, 141gr.

I also use 33% water (of the amount of oils) but do about 2/3 water and 1/3 coconut milk. There's about 270ml in can of CM I use, so about 125ml (or close in gr) go in one batch and I top it up with anything from 180 to 230mls of water. Depending on FO I use, weather, etc.
It says on the label there are 24gr in 100mls, so if you are putting 170gr in your recipe, 47gr sounds pretty much right.
Now, with SF, it is your personal preference, whether you want to keep it that high with CM or drop to 5%. I've been doing 5% since beginning of using CM in my recipe and realised it is way to high, CM was probably pushing it to 7-8. I didn't fiddle with all the extra fat added, etc. I just dropped my SF to 2% and it works great. My bars are harder, bubble more and just the overall feel is better (they are not slippery, greasy, etc). I guess SF is sitting at about 3-4 and that's fine for me.

KristaY · Jan 13, 2015

fuzz-juzz said:
My recipe is pretty close to yours. NaOH with 5% is actually same for my recipe, 141gr.
I also use 33% water (of the amount of oils) but do about 2/3 water and 1/3 coconut milk. There's about 270ml in can of CM I use, so about 125ml (or close in gr) go in one batch and I top it up with anything from 180 to 230mls of water. Depending on FO I use, weather, etc.
It says on the label there are 24gr in 100mls, so if you are putting 170gr in your recipe, 47gr sounds pretty much right.
Now, with SF, it is your personal preference, whether you want to keep it that high with CM or drop to 5%. I've been doing 5% since beginning of using CM in my recipe and realised it is way to high, CM was probably pushing it to 7-8. I didn't fiddle with all the extra fat added, etc. I just dropped my SF to 2% and it works great. My bars are harder, bubble more and just the overall feel is better (they are not slippery, greasy, etc). I guess SF is sitting at about 3-4 and that's fine for me.

Thanks for that, fuzz-juzz. That's exactly what I was thinking too. I could either add in the extra fat and recalculate lye, or drop the SF. Either direction will get me where I want to be. I usually just go with it without the math calculations but finally broke down and did it so I'd know exactly where I sat, SF wise. In the past I always added CM at 50% to salt bars, set the SF at 15% knowing it would get me in the neighborhood of 20%. But with a non-salt bar recipe I wanted to get a bit more specific.

Thanks everyone for the double check! Now I'm off to make the soap. My favorite part of the day! :grin:

Extreme_Soaping · Jan 14, 2015

so, how did it work out?

KristaY · Jan 15, 2015

It came out great! I just finished unmolding and cutting. The mix moved along without a hitch. The only interesting thing that happened is the color. I scented it with BB's Papaya Coconut which is supposed to D/C med brown. I divided off 1/3, added Coconut Cream and TD, Papaya Coconut in the other 2/3. I was hoping for a med brown with a bit of white swirl. The Coconut Cream portion turned a pale peach with the TD and the Papaya Coconut hasn't darkened at all. It'll be fun to watch and see if and how it changes with cure. But the bars feel very smooth and creamy right now!

TRBeck · Jan 22, 2015

I think they're beautiful as is, but I'll be interested to know how they morph. That color actually works pretty well. Do post follow-up pics. Good-lookin' soap!

KristaY · Jan 23, 2015

Here you go! I'm re-posting the first pic so the difference can be seen more easily. 1st pic is right after cut, 2nd pic is one week old.

TRBeck · Jan 23, 2015

Nice! Those are lovely. Thanks for posting the second pic. I really love those swirls and colors.

Can Someone Please Check My Coconut Milk Math?

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