Coconut Milk Soap - Oh the smell!!!!!!

[debbism]

I just made a new soap using mango butter and coconut milk. I knew there was going to be an ammonia smell to it but OH MY! What a nasty smell!!!! After unmolding and cutting a few days ago, the smell is starting to dissipate a little but it is still quite nasty.....like cat pee. ew.

For those of you who have made coconut milk (not animal milk) soaps, how long has the ammonia smell lasted for you? I have a small 2lb batch curing but I cannot imagine the smell of a 12lb batch curing!!!

Do other fragrances you use diminish or help cover up the scent during the cure process or is it just a "grin and bear it" situation until it is fully cured?

Oh I hope the smell goes away soon!!!

 

[RocknRoll]

wow, I use coconut milk in all my batches and have NEVER had any kind of smell. How are you adding it? Are you adding it to the lye? Are you using all coconut milk and no water or a mix?

 

[squigglz]

Are you sure you didn't accidentally burn it (if you added the lye to it, I mean)? That sounds awful I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, because I want to use coconut milk too!

 

[debbism]

In a 2lb test batch, I am adding 6 oz at trace. Since I added this to a mango butter soap recipe which usually traces ultra fast, this slowed things down to a workable level where I could swirl it if i wanted to. From all I have read, this ammonia smell happens with most animal milks too due to the proteins in the milk. How do you normally do it to avoid the smell?

The soap smelled fine as I poured it. Very nice. It was only when I unmolded it that there was the ammonia smell to it.

 

[lizflowers42]

Your avatar is a cat, which makes me assume you have a cat. Hopefully your cat did not mark this soap as theirs

 

[Gryfonmoon]

Wow! I'd added coconut milk to only a few batches (all at trace) and I really can't say that I've had this problem. I hope you manage to figure it out!

 

[2lilboots]

I make almost all my soaps with coconut milk adding it at light trace and I have never had it smell, ever.

 

[nebetmiw]

When I made my last batch of soap with coconuts milk it had no odor either. I mixed lye with very little water in a ice bath then used coconut milk for rest of water. It did not burn and when I mixed with rest of oils everything was room temp. It did heat up after wards in mold but I still did not have any odor.

 

[dudeitsashley]

I've soaped a couple of batches with coconut milk and I had no unusual smell. I used it as my full water amount. What I did was freeze my coconut milk and slowly add my lye to it. Could your coconut milk have been going bad?

 

[nebetmiw]

I had a thought might it be the brand of Coconut milk. Some add extras to the milk like agar. What brand was it and how long had you store it before using.

 

[debbism]

Your avatar is a cat, which makes me assume you have a cat. Hopefully your cat did not mark this soap as theirs

Hahaha! No, I do not own a cat...I just love the look on this little guy's face!

The coconut milk I use has only two ingredients: Coconut milk, water.
Nothing extra added. I used it within 2 days of purchase so I know the can was good.

On reading about this phenomenon, it is said to be due to the proteins breaking down from the milk. From other threads I have read, it happens only some of the time and it goes away but I have wonder how long it could take.

 

[2lilboots]

I had an apple cinnamon FO that when I added to a goats milk soap had such a smell that I couldn't stand it. I ended up throwing the soap out. I used that FO in my almond milk wine soap and it smells great.

 

[RocknRoll]

I had an apple cinnamon FO that when I added to a goats milk soap had such a smell that I couldn't stand it. I ended up throwing the soap out. I used that FO in my almond milk wine soap and it smells great.

That's what I was thinking... maybe the scent had a weird reaction?

 

[deirdreanne]

I've never had a bad smell with either coconut cream or goats milk. In both cases, I used the milk full strength, froze it in ice cube trays, and mixed the lye with the cubes. The only scent was a nice milky one.

 

[judymoody]

I've had stinky coconut milk soap before. If you use the divided method and dissolve your lye in water at a 1:1 solution and then add the coconut milk when you blend your lye solution with your oils, the chance of stink is reduced. It will likely cure out. Give it a few weeks.

 

[debbism]

Update....after 6 weeks of curing, the smell remained. I am perplexed on this one BUT I will try again. I will use it in a more basic recipe and not one containing mango butter since mango butter heats up more than other recipes and I won't insulate this time and I'll see what happens. This is an awesome challenge since we were getting a little complacent in our soaping routine. BUT since we are trying to replace our PKO with sustainable palm fruit oil, we are doing more test recipes as we go.

I so love how everyone just jumps in with their experiences and suggestions. With as much soap as we've made, the coconut milk element is THE challenge for us! Time to saponify!

 

[nebetmiw]

I am thinking it might be the mango butter that is reacting with the coconut milk. You will know more with the new batch that does not contain it.

 

[debbism]

FINALLY....we did a second go-round.

Ditched the mango butter (since mango butter tends to heat up more than without), chilled the coconut milk (resembled more of a coconut cream or yogurt) and added it at trace. We did NOT insulate either and it gelled anyway.

Just unmolded and cut. It smells mild and milky. SUCCESS!!!!!

 

[melstan775]

I made a chocolate soap with chocolate
Coconut milk that had sugar and stevia in it. No ammonia smell at all. I added it for half the water at trace.

 

[debbism]

I am wondering here....people use the coconut milk as part of the water. I add it as an extra ingredient. BUT the coconut milk I add is super thick like yogurt. The container is labeled as MILK but could this be more of a coconut cream? The ingredients are: coconut milk, water