Coconut Milk

[KCKblogger]

Hello everyone, I am a very new soaper and am having so much fun learning from all of you. I would like to know if we can substitute coconut milk with the water in the lye mixture. Can anybody give me a direction on how to do it or where to find out how to do it? Thank you very much.

KCK blogger

 

[osso]

Yes, you can. If you want to use coconut milk for 100% of the liquid, the best way I have found is to freeze it and add the lye slowly. It gets super thick.

Instead I usually use enough water to dissolve the lye and make up the rest of the liquid with coconut milk and stick blend into my oils. Less fuss than a 100% water replacement.

 

[KCKblogger]

Thank you Osso. With all the fuss about lye calculators, I am worried to try it. I will do as you say and see what happens. Thank you.

 

[osso]

If you do the split, make sure you use at least twice as much water as lye to dissolve all the lye, and a little more for good measure. You should be good.

 

[seven]

Yes, you can. If you want to use coconut milk for 100% of the liquid, the best way I have found is to freeze it and add the lye slowly. It gets super thick.

Instead I usually use enough water to dissolve the lye and make up the rest of the liquid with coconut milk and stick blend into my oils. Less fuss than a 100% water replacement.

i 2nd this

i much prefer the 2nd method, less fuss. so, lets say your recipe calls for 200 gr of water and 100 gr of lye. what i'll do is, i dissolve the lye in 110 gr of water (lye needs 100% of its weight of water to properly dissolve, but i like to be just a tad safer and add 10 gr on top of it). the rest of the liquid is then replace by coconut milk, so 90 gr.

if you much prefer to swap all liquid with the milk, make sure you add the lye very slowly (to prevent scorching) to the frozen milk till all is dissolved.
takes a bit of patience

 

[KCKblogger]

Thank you Seven. What a relief to know that you guys here share your knowledge to newbies like me.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I do same as seven.
I don't want to risk burnt milk or orangey colour so I just do half/half or close.
My recipes are always for 2lbs so if it needs 140gr of lye I dissolve it in around 200mls of water. Add lye water to oils, mix with the whisk and than add 130mls of coconut milk, mix again and stick blend to the trace. I like my liquid to be around 33% as I don't do fancy swirls, it sets up quickly. But if you are begginer you might use a bigger liquid %.
Coconut milk can sometimes have an unpleasant smell upon first cutting but it goes away within 24h. Don't let it scare you. I prefer coconut milk to other milks. It feels and looks really nice in soaps.

 

[MagicalMysterySoap]

I use full coconut milk. I freeze it into ice cubes and slowly add the lye. It has never burned or turned orange.

 

[seven]

Coconut milk can sometimes have an unpleasant smell upon first cutting but it goes away within 24h. Don't let it scare you. I prefer coconut milk to other milks. It feels and looks really nice in soaps.

oh yeah! i looooveee coconut milk as well. nothing beats the creaminess. goats milk is good also. but coconut win just a tad bit for me

 

[new12soap]

I use the split method, but I add enough powdered coconut milk to make it 100%...

If you do use all coconut milk, the fats in the milk will saponify almost immediately and your lye solution will get chunky and thick pretty fast. Don't be alarmed, it can all still be blended into your oils.