Help! Coconut Milk Failure!

[Serene Cream]

Hi all, well I tried using coconut milk for the first time and I think maybe I am too much of a newbie at this to have attempted something so tricky so soon! I have read since that I should have chilled the milk first so that was my first mistake. When you put your recipe through Soapcalc do you just substitute the amount of water it says with the same amount of canned coconut milk? Here are the oils I used:
25% Castor Oil
25%Sunflower Oil
25% Coconut Oil
25% Cocoa Butter

the lye solution was really lumpy and when I mixed it in it went solid really quickly - I ended up having to spoon it into the mould.
24 hrs later I unmoulded it and it looked okay until I attempted to cut it and then it was all crumbly - the end pieces seemed okay - just the middle was crumbly and it also had a greenish tinge to it in the middle, the outside was a creamy colour. Oh and it smells foul too :cry:

Is there any chance that this batch will improve with age? did I unmould it too soon? Or have I totally stuffed up and got it all wrong??? Can it be rebatched - and how do I go about doing that? Oh so many questions....hope someone can shed some light..

Thanks Debbie

 

[eargirly]

hmmm...Well, i usually do the RTCP method like soapmakerman speaks of, so I have a mixture of 50% lye and 50% aloe vera juce to start with. Then I add just what is left of the water amount in a recipe and use coconut milk in that amount. So, in effect, not 'all' of the water is replaced with coconut milk, just a portion of it. I haven't ever seen anyone use cocnut milk for the entire water amount, but maybe someone knows more about that than I do. Sorry I can't be of more help...

~ear

 

[ilovedoxies]

I cut the water in half. Add the lye, let it cool cool then add the coconut milk slowly.

It gets thick and turns yellow butthe soap turns out fine.

 

[IrishLass]

You just discovered why I hate mixing any kind of milk directly with the lye. :wink: I'm telling ya, it's always turned out to be a sorry mess for me. I know that there are some wonderfully talented and patient soapers who make their milk soaps on a regular basis that way (and all power to them), but I just flat out refuse to mix anything with my lye except for water or aloe juice. It's not worth the heartbreak or trouble for me.

Instead, I split my liquid amount up into 1 part water (or aloe juice), and 1 part milk. I mix my lye in with at least 50% of my total liquid amount as water (or aloe juice), and then add the remainder as refrigerated or room temperature milk in with my oils/fats.

Granted, it's not a 100% milk soap, but it still lends a wonderful, creamy difference that can definitely be felt in the finished bar.

If I want to make a 100% milk soap, I still do it the same way by dividing up my total liquid amount, but with the difference that I add enough goat milk powder or coconut milk powder to the milk portion in order to boost my total liquid amount up to a 100% milk concentration.

IrishLass

 

[topcat]

You just discovered why I hate mixing any kind of milk directly with the lye. :wink: I'm telling ya, it's always turned out to be a sorry mess for me. I know that there are some wonderfully talented and patient soapers who make their milk soaps on a regular basis that way (and all power to them), but I just flat out refuse to mix anything with my lye except for water or aloe juice. It's not worth the heartbreak or trouble for me.

Instead, I split my liquid amount up into 1 part water (or aloe juice), and 1 part milk. I mix my lye in with at least 50% of my total liquid amount as water (or aloe juice), and then add the remainder as refrigerated or room temperature milk in with my oils/fats.

Granted, it's not a 100% milk soap, but it still lends a wonderful, creamy difference that can definitely be felt in the finished bar.

If I want to make a 100% milk soap, I still do it the same way by dividing up my total liquid amount, but with the difference that I add enough goat milk powder or coconut milk powder to the milk portion in order to boost my total liquid amount up to a 100% milk concentration.

IrishLass

IrishLass, that is wonderful information. Thank you for posting that. Now I will be soaping milk soon!

Tanya

 

[beachgurl]

i freeze my CM/GM/Yogurt mixture and make a slurry (making sure to leave quite a few bigger chunks about the size of quarters because it takes them longer to melt and it cools your solution off as you continue mixing) and add my lye mixture. This is my question: how long did the lye solution sit before you added it to the oils. Since there's fat in the CM, it could have started to saponify if you let it sit for awhile. I've had that happen before ... with GM and yogurt .. mix your lye/milk solution and get it right into the oils. i freeze my milk solution in plastic bags and slam them around on the table a few times to get it broken into pieces .... then i use a fork to start mixing the lye in .. because it isn't really easy to mix with a whisk at first because it should still be frozen and there should be quite a few bigger chunks that just get stuck in between the wires of the .. then it starts to liquify a bit and i switch over to a whisk .. the trick is getting all the lye in before the milk gets too hot ... it took me about three batches of burned milk to try .. quicker is better i've found

 

[Tam]

For hot process I use coconut milk from the can 13.5 oz (400ml) size and I put it in the bowl first then add enough water to equal whatever I need for 4 pounds of soap. It plus the scent (I use a vanilla type) turn the soap a very dark brown...BUT....I have had it turn very green and stinky first. Give it at least two weeks, it will darken and smell better during that time. You'll be amazed!

I've never CP'd my coconut milk recipe.

 

[pink-north]

Hi! I use coconut milk in my paradise soap at it turns out well. I don't dilute it, use it from a can. I use it the same way you would goat's milk. I freeze part of it and then mix it with the room temperature milk. When running the numbers through a soap calc, I always use a 4% discount (to account for the higher fat in the milk), but don't substitute anything or use water.

Remember to add the lye SLOWLY to the milk, to prevent curdling.

Hope this information helps.

 

[Serene Cream]

Hi all

Well here's an update on my coconut milk soap. It has been curing for 3 weeks now I have just cut a slither and used it - very subtle coconut milk fragrance and a tiny bit of the geranium eo that I put in. It lathers reasonably well - not as much as some other bars. However it is still really crumbly... i just tried to trim the bars I had cut on day one because they were really messy - but no luck - so now I have all of these misshapen pieces of coconut soap - I'm not sure what to do with them? Can anyone shed some light on which ingredient or process would have caused this soap to be so crumbly?

Hope someone can help...

Thanks Debbie

 

[topcat]

Hi Debbie - I can't help with the cause however I have read that many soapers rebatch a soap that didn't turn out the way they expected. If you use the search function here with 'rebatch' typed in you may find great ideas for 'the crumbly one'!

Tanya

P.S: Could it be the high amount of castor oil? I have read that many soapers don't go higher than 5% or so with it....? :?