Coconut free recipe

misskat22 · Nov 18, 2013

Hi all! I haven't been around for a while because I've been taking a bit of a break from soap making, but I'm back at it and would like to develop a coconut free recipe. I had done one (and took notes!) but I managed to lose my notebook (think my little one might have accidentally thrown it out) I know I used cocoa butter, olive oil and may have had castor oil in it. It was a decent bar, but was wondering if anyone can help with some suggestions. I don't use palm, but am not against animal fats, just haven't experimented with them yet. I was thinking maybe lard/cocoa/olive. I've had a friend ask me about a coconut free recipe as she's allergic to coconut oil and all the store bought soaps make her red/itchy/scaly and she'd like to try something without coconut. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hazel · Nov 18, 2013

I think lard, cocoa butter and olive would make a nice soap. It would be very mild. What percentage of cocoa butter were planning on using?

Also, have you considered substituting babassu oil for the coconut?

judymoody · Nov 18, 2013

Palm kernel oil and babassu are good substitutes for coconut oil. Chemically, they are very similar.

user 12568 · Nov 18, 2013

I make a conditioning bar without coconut oil. It's 50% Lard, 33% Olive, 10% Canola (or just increase the olive to 43%), and 7% Castor. It is a softer bar, but it does eventually harden quite nicely. I tend to leave it in the mold for a few days, and then let it sit for another day or two before cutting. I can definitely tell the difference between this soap and others with coconut oil; this one is really one of my favorites. SoapCalc numbers are below... most of the numbers do not fall within the "suggested" range, but don't let that stop you from trying it. (Of course, you could always try adding Sodium Lactate to make a harder bar, sugar for greater lather, etc.)

Hardness: 27
Cleansing: 1
Conditioning: 69
Bubbly: 7
Creamy: 33
Iodine: 74
INS: 116

misskat22 · Nov 19, 2013

I really have no idea Hazel, I'll have to plug some numbers into soapcalc and see what it looks like. I would like to use a fair bit, although lard is quite a bit cheaper, so I might make that a bigger number than I was originally planning on. I really like the way cocoa butter moisturizes and make a nice hard bar, though I have started putting salt in my lye/water and it's making pretty nice firm bars. I just wasn't sure if this was even a good direction to go in, so thanks

I've not considered babassu because a)I don't know anything about it yet (or what it does for skin) and b)I've heard it can be pretty pricey and right now I'm trying to keep cost more affordable. I'll go play around now that I know there's a chance this might actually work!

judymoody · Nov 19, 2013

Palm Kernel oil is priced comparably to coconut and is cheaper than cocoa butter, if cost is a factor.

Hazel · Nov 19, 2013

As judymoody already mentioned, you could use palm kernel (I didn't mention it because I didn't think you'd want to use it). Enjoy playing on SoapCalc. :grin: