Fractionated coconut oil

[Miz Jenny]

Has anyone used this in soapmaking, in place of olive oil? It's clear and I'm thinking would create a white bar of soap. I love it for skin products.

 

[Lindy]

I haven't - I somehow only think of it as a skin-care oil....

 

[Hazel]

I did an experiment with it and I didn't really care for it except for in one batch. Regular CO is better in soap and FCO is better for B&B products, IMO. You could try rice bran oil as a substitute for olive oil but it won't add to the hardness like olive.

I posted about my experiment with FCO but I can't find the post. Fortunately, I kept some notes. Please excuse the choppiness of the following information.

“After all this time, my opinion is to stick with CO, PKO or babassu but if I was in a hurry for a bastile batch, I would replace some of the CO or PKF with FCO. It does seem to cut curing time.”

I made the FCO experimental batches February 20, 2011. I wrote “The 100% FCO just would not trace. I finally gave up and just poured it into the mold. The 70% FCO was a little slow to trace but the last two batches traced very quickly. For the 100% and 70% batches, I took 2 oz from each and added 2 oz sea salt to see if FCO would work as a salt bar.”


I tested all the soaps after 4 weeks and after 6 weeks is when I was able to post a little more info.

The blend batch I referred to below was 30% FCO/30% OO/30% Crisco/10% Castor with 10% SF. It was very soft but did get slightly harder later. The 70% I mentioned below was 70% FCO/30% OO with 15% SF.

April 3

The 100% and the blend batch had hardly any lather at all, the 70% wasn't much better and the salt bars were terrible. They felt draggy across my skin and didn't really produce any lather.

April 7

However, the 70% OO/30% FCO produced a really nice fluffy/foamy type of lather with little bubbles. It isn't slimy at all and is rock hard. I really like it. I thought it was much nicer than the bastile soap I made back in November. However, the bastile is OO/PKO. I have another high % olive bar I made back in January. It is 65% OO/25% CO/10% castor. Tomorrow I'll compare the bars when I take a shower and see if there is a difference.

Although the 70% OO/30% FCO turned out all right, I don't think I'd use FCO again in soap unless I was out of CO or PKO and really wanted to make a batch. On the other hand, I might consider another experiment. It might be interesting to try combining FCO with CO or PKO in bastile since the addition of the FCO appeared to eliminate the slippery feel of olive.

Two-three days later I posted

I used the 70% OO/30% FCO bar in the shower today. It does have excellent lather. It's not slippery and produces lots of little bubbles with a few larger ones. It's kind of a foamy lather and rinses off very easily. I've changed my mind and I've decided I really like it. I think I'll make this again. Also, it's not drying and it really cuts down on the curing time for a bastile.

Here's the info on the one batch that worked.

30% FCO/70% OO with 10% SF
Aloe juice
30% lye concentration
room temperature and set on heating pad to gel
Hardness - 40
Cleansing - 28
Conditioning - 57
Bubbly - 28
Creamy - 12

It's not drying so I think the SF is fine. However, I think I'll use cream, buttermilk or hemp milk if I try this again.

 

[Lindy]

Thanks Hazel!

 

[Miz Jenny]

Once again, this is why I love this forum. I'll stick with my regular recipe. I'll try using some TD for whiter soaps, when I want them.

 

[paillo]

Wow, Hazel, way to go on awesome note taking! I'm lucky to scrawl notes on a post-it

 

[Hazel]

It's not awesome note taking. I was posting in a thread about experiments which is the only reason I have such detailed info. I copied what I had posted so I'd remember what I had done while I was playing with FCO.

BTW, I also thought if I made this again, I'd lower the FCO percentage to about 20%. I never did make it again.

 

[doriettefarm]

Apologies for resurrecting such an old thread but it was one of the few I found when searching for FCO. I recently made my first batch of tallow soap and for some reason decided to add 10% FCO to the recipe. Soap is about 2mos old now so I finally tried a bar in the shower today.

WOWZA is all I have to say!!! The bar is creamy white, rock hard and lathers like a dream. I will definitely make this recipe again but I'm also tempted to try a batch without the FCO just to compare. Anyone else tried the tallow/FCO combo with similar results?

I'd like to determine how much the FCO contributed vs the other oils so I don't waste too many supplies trying to tweak the recipe. Here's my oil ratios in case anyone wants to comment:

50% Beef Tallow
25% Rice bran oil
10% castor oil
10% FCO
5% Babassu oil

 

[Lindy]

Tallow allows makes a creamy lathered soap that is amazingly conditioning.

 

[doriettefarm]

Thanks Lindy! I guess I'm really trying to figure out how much of the 'lathers like a dream quality' is from the tallow vs FCO vs babassu.

My skin really loves lard soap but I haven't been able to formulate an all veggie oil recipe that comes close to comparing. I've also noticed that anything heavy in coconut oil (> 20%) makes my legs itchy after a few days of use.

So far this tallow soap beats my lard recipe by a mile! That's really why I'm trying to determine how much of a player the FCO is in this recipe. If I can achieve a rock hard bar with explosive lather that doesn't make me itchy, I'm ALL about it! And I'm trying not to get hung up on the Soapcalc hardness & cleansing numbers for FCO plus the fact that babassu oil also contributes to those same properties.

 

[neeners]

If your skin loves lard/tallow, then you should stick with that. Have you tried really high OO soap that's been curing for a long long time?

 

[doriettefarm]

The batches I make for myself will continue to be predominately lard or tallow. I know what I prefer but still enjoy making a variety of recipes for friends & family that may not be as into the animal fats. I'm obviously a farm girl given my forum handle so I believe if an animal is slaughtered, we should try to find a use for every part of that animal.

Anyway I digress from the point of my original post. I really just wanted a sanity check on the recipe and thoughts on how much the FCO (and possibly babassu) were playing into the final result. Am I crazy to think those 2 oils could hugely influence the outcome? Given this is my first experience with tallow, I don't want to underestimate it's influence but feel like there's something 'magical' about this combo.

 

[neeners]

I would say the only way to know is to make a soap without those two oils, and one with one, one with the other, compare and contrast. . Yep....more soap making and showering!

 

[doriettefarm]

Totally agree with you neeners! Must have a mad-scientist style soapmaking frenzy this weekend! It will be an exercise in self-control to limit the number of variables changed per batch . . . you guys understand I'm sure :crazy:

 

[jules92207]

Completely agree - more excuses to make soap the better I say!

 

[Lindy]

Maybe experiment with soap with and without FCO.. see what difference it makes. Babassa adds to it as well but it will make an interesting experiment...

ETA: Okay it would be good to read the whole thread to see someone had already suggested it... DOH