Liquid ratios

[dwolanin]

Hi all,
I'm new to soap making and will be making my first batch soon. I made up a recipe and ran it through soapcalc and it looks good. I do have a question on water,lye and total liquid amounts.
I would like to use coconut water and coconut milk.
As I understand it I would discount the amount of water for coconut water in the lye mix. but what about the c.milk? Doesn't that go in at trace? And I'm not sure how much to use.
Depending on the amount of C.milk shouldn't more water/coconut water be discounted?

Thanks!
You will be seeing a lot of me as I have a million questions

 

[Obsidian]

What is the total amount of water? I would use the 50% coconut water to dissolve the lye and 50% of the coconut milk. You can add the milk at trace but I like to blend mine into the oils before adding the lye solution.

 

[cmzaha]

I would really recommend that you use water only for your first few batches of soap, at least until you are reasonably comfortable with making soap and your recipe. Milks add quite a lot of sugar that can cause heating up and some coconut milk has added gums that can cause your batter to thicken quicker. Quality soap made with water will really feel as nice as any soap and actually lather better. Just my recommendation...Coconut water will most likely turn your lye water yellow
You are not discounting the water you are using the alternative liquids as replacement. Any milks, purees etc are used in place of water

 

[shunt2011]

I too highly recommend doing simple recipes until you get a feel for it. There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you start adding things like milks, EO's and FO's. Use water and make small batches. Once you've got a few batches down then you could add something else to the game. Welcome to the forum, there is a lot of information here. I also recommend you read past posts as you will learn a lot just doing that.

 

[dwolanin]

Thanks for your replies

I think your right about starting my first batch small and simple. I'll hold off on the coconut for now. I have so many ideas and can't wait to start! Waiting for one last shipment then Ill make my first batch. Kinda excited and scared too lol. :wink:
But now I'll know how to replace the water when that time comes.
Thank again to all y'all

 

[CaraBou]

Don't worry, it won't take long before you'll be ready to start exploring ideas. Welcome to the addiction, and have a lot of fun!

 

[seven]

keep it simple with your early batches. i made the mistake of having too many ideas at once and ended up with a disgusting first batch, lol!

that said, i've also seen some ppl made their first ever batch with complicated techniques/additives.

when it is time to do the coconut stuff, i would do what Obsidian said, that is to do a 50-50. dissolve the lye in the coconut water, and let the rest of the liquid be coconut milk (which you can add to your oils before the lye). don't be surprised when the lye water turns bright orange, it won't affect the color of the soap later on. also, i suggest soaping cool (RT) coz the sugar in milks can cause the soap batter to get hot.

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome! I see your "all y'all", so glad to see more southerners!

 

[Obsidian]

My first batch was 100% goat milk, didn't have any trouble at all.

 

[dwolanin]

I didn't see where milk sugars would come into play here. I was going to make the coconut milk with fresh coconut and water in a blender then wring it out in cheese cloth. No additives. But then I found this..
Carbohydrates
Amounts Per Selected Serving%DV
Total Carbohydrate13.3g4%
Dietary Fiber5.3g21%
Starch0.0g
Sugars8.0g

8.0g PER CUP. So I see sugars are natural to it not bad though!

 

[Susie]

Sugars of any kind affect heating of your soap, so they bear watching closely. If you have room in your freezer, and don't mind missing the soap gelling, you could freeze this immediately and avoid the whole overheating issue altogether.
This is not difficult, and as long as you understand how to avoid burning your milk, will still give you a lovely soap. Oh, and don't freak out when your soap smells like ammonia/perm solution/blech when you cut it. This fades completely away.

I, personally, would use water 1:1 with lye to dissolve the lye and add the CM to the oils to avoid having to make slush with the CM and use an ice bath. But that is just me, and many different methods will give you the same outcome.