Coconut Milk Soap

[ClaraSuds]

For my batch #5 I gave coconut milk soap a go, unscented, uncoloured. I put the coconut milk in at light trace and am in love with how this soap looks already. It turned a lovely glossy pale cream and I hope cures into an ivory coloured loaf. I took photos but as I only have an iPad I don't know how to upload them or even if I can. Apple is so frustrating!

The soap is tallow,castor and coconut oil\milk. I wanted to keep it ultra simple with the extra unknown step. The coconut milk I used was pretty thick in consistency more like cream, it only had a 40% water content and an 18% fat content. I adjusted my water and fats accordingly and made the soap at 5% superfat, no water discount. I can't wait to cut it. The coconut cream did accelerate trace. I used 210gms of coconut milk in a 700gm loaf. It set up very fast after I added the coconut milk but I was able to get in a bit of a swirly top before it got too hard. It's pretty naff as far as swirly tops go but I'm hoping I can improve over time.

I won't know if its really worked or not until after I cut it and cure it. But as far as technique goes this is pretty simple for beginners. My next batch is to try a different milk. Maybe cow.

I cut this one 4hrs after making it. It was almost too hard to cut easily. The soap is smooth dense, even coloured with a velvety feel. No weird smells or anything unusual. Can't wait to give it a test run in a few weeks. It's almost rock hard. I expect this will become a very dense and hard bar. I love the ease of tallow soaps.

 

[museumchick]

That sounds awesome! I would think coconut milk + coconut oil would be heavenly.

I will say when I did goat milk soap I put the milk (pre-measured and frozen) in with the water when you mixed it with lye instead of at trace with the other additives. It turned into a super yummy soap.

 

[Hazel]

Sounds good! Personally, I'm not fond of coconut milk but I love buttermilk or cream in soap. If we're allowed to vote on your next batch, I vote for buttermilk - it not only adds creaminess, I think the little bit of sugar in it helps to boost the bubbles. Another bonus to using buttermilk is you can use the leftover amount to make old-fashioned sugar cookies. Buy some orange and black sugar sprinkles and you've got Halloween cookies!

The fat content in buttermilk isn't a big deal in my opinion. I calculated it once and I think it only made a 1% difference in the SF so I don't even change my SF when I use it. However, I don't use 100% in soap. I use water to mix the lye and then I add the buttermilk in after I've added the lye solution.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I love to use goat milk but then I get it free from my friend! And as Hazel said, I also like that it has it's own Cream and Sugar!

 

[FOhoarder]

Your soap sounds wonderful!

Hazel, I just had to buy buttermilk for my chicken and dumplings I made the other night and I have all this buttermilk left over and never tried it in soap yet. You have inspired me to give it a try. I love and use cream in most of my recipes. It really gives it some great qualities. I can't wait to try this!

 

[Hazel]

Don't forget the cookies! I'll have to dig out my recipe and post it but I've found some good recipes on allrecipes.com

Buttermilk Cookies

 

[Lindy]

I make a coconut oil, coconut cream soap scented with Coconut Cream FO and grated coconut on top. High SF but it is a nice soap....

 

[ClaraSuds]

I tried the scraps from this batch to get an idea of what the soap is like. It feels very rich and has more lather than my previous batch. So far it seems promising though. A silky feel with improved lather. Hopeful.

 

[ClaraSuds]

I'd run out of laundry soap and since this one was 2.5 weeks on thought I'd just use a bit to see what it's like. Beautiful soap I felt a bit guilty washing my flokati rug with it... It lathers up super easy although I can't say that the coconut oil really adds that much to the soap tbh, a few more larger bubbles but I like the lather just from tallow and castor anyway. I rinsed my hands off and let them air dry completely to get a feel for how the soap leaves my skin. I'm quite surprised my skin feels really soft and moisturised, not like I've had my hands in soap at all. It does add a certain something even if I can't quite put my finger on what that something is. Pleased with this one and since I've almost run out of my first batch now in a couple of weeks I'll start using this soon.

My next soap will be the same with the addition of some cows milk too. I'm liking the venture into milk soaps.

 

[booboo]

I put coconut milk in a batch with sunflower and coconut oil, hubby said it was the best soap for shaving he'd ever used He went on to say that not only did he like how the lather stayed on his face but his skin was soft afterwards He's my number one fan

 

[ClaraSuds]

Just an update with this soap. When I used it in the shower recently (cured 3 weeks) I was pretty disappointed. The lather seemed more watery and thin than my original soap and it didn't seem to have luxuriousness about it. I ran out of shampoo last night so thought, what the heck! It's pretty cleansing as a laundry soap and might be ok as a poo bar considering it's got 20% castor oil in it. Whoah! Is all I can say. After rubbing it on my scalp for a few seconds then lathering up I ended up with two big handfuls of what looks like shaving soap lather, thick and huge like meringue. I washed my hair in it, and my body did a vinegar rinse and I have to say this is an awesome poo and body bar. Leaves my hair soft, but with lots of volume, light and soft. I have oily scalp and dry ends owing to my curl so I was pretty surprised to see how well it cleaned close to my scalp which is usually pretty difficult. My hair when dried looked and felt like it had been shampoo'd with the regular stuff. The ends were a little dry but I rubbed a bit of pomade on them and they are fine.

My skin dried nicely moisturised by also no residue. I've got to cycle through 2 new recipes but I may definately come back to this one if for nothing else than as a poo bar.