MCT oil?

[atiz]

Hi Everyone,

I am very (*very*) new to soap making (1 batch, it was successful!), so this might be a very silly question. (I did my best to find something on it but could not.)
I have this MCT oil, pure caprylic acid (pic attached, if I can), that I got last year for some diet supplement thing but it was terrible so I never really used it. Could this be used, anyhow, in soap making?
It is not on soapcalc (unless under some other name that I don't know), so I suspect not. But it would be so nice to not waste it....
Thank you! Also, this forum is great. I am very new but did a lot of reading over the last week or so and learned a lot.

 

[steffamarie]

I believe this is more or less the same thing as fractionated coconut oil, and probably doesn't have much of a place in soapmaking as it will make a sticky soft bar. You can use it for roll-on perfumes or body oils, though, as it is a great moisturizer. Alternatively, you can cook with it if it is FCO. I personally don't, but I believe some people do.

 

[DeeAnna]

It's going to make a harsh, drying soap if you use it in large percentages in your recipe. It could even be irritating if you have sensitive skin. If you want to use it in soap, include it as a small percentage of your total fats (maybe 5-10% as a guess?) and I'd say the soap will turn out fine.

Better yet, you may want to use it in lotions, massage oil, and other leave-on applications where the fat is used as-is. I'd guess this oil will be light, absorbent, and pleasant if used as the fat. Many of us use fractionated coconut oil for these purposes, and the caprylic acid content of FCO is fairly high.

Soapcalc is typical of the online soap recipe calculators in that it doesn't include fatty acids smaller than lauric acid (12 carbon atoms in its structure). Caprylic acid contains only 8 carbon atoms. Most fats used for soaping don't contain a high % of the smaller fatty acids in their structures, so it's a reasonable simplification. But obviously there are instances like this one where this simplification doesn't work well.

 

[Cellador]

I'm not 100% certain, but I think MCT oil is the same as fractionated coconut oil, except MCT is edible.

 

[atiz]

Thank you all; I'll leave it and well, who knows, maybe I'll get into some lotion making some day
Or will try it for cooking.

 

[DeeAnna]

FCO is also edible as long as you get food grade product. It's being sold as a clear liquid "coconut oil" in grocery stores nowadays. It's just coconut oil that's had the longer chain fat molecules removed so the product remains a liquid at room temperatures.

 

[penelopejane]

Soap calc.net lists fractionated coconut oil.
I’d use it in soap at 10% as DeeAnna says.

 

[dianaabuela1]

Can this MCT powder made from coconut, can be used in soap making?

 

[raymondlgraham]

If you're using the actual MCT Oil you need to know the Specific Gravity of the oil and use a Calculator that figures this information into the formula your using. Regular MCT Oil is listed with a specific gravity @ 20 degrees C as 0.930 - 0.960 Specific Gravity. Since it can fall in that range I think I would use something right in the middle of that range like Specific Gravity of 0.945 Soap Maker Free Edition takes these things into consideration and its FREE. Good Soap Making.

 

[shunt2011]

MCT oil is pretty much fractionated coconut oil. I personally don’t use it in soap. I use it in body butters mostly.

 

[atiz]

Haha, I didn't even remember I started this thread. But -- after a year and half -- agree with shunt. I would use it in some lotion or body butter (I like it in a face oil too).

 

[dianaabuela1]

If you're using the actual MCT Oil you need to know the Specific Gravity of the oil and use a Calculator that figures this information into the formula your using. Regular MCT Oil is listed with a specific gravity @ 20 degrees C as 0.930 - 0.960 Specific Gravity. Since it can fall in that range I think I would use something right in the middle of that range like Specific Gravity of 0.945 Soap Maker Free Edition takes these things into consideration and its FREE. Good Soap Making.

It's powder

 

[KiwiMoose]

It's powder

It's used for a keto diet to help the liver to make ketones. It's not going to do much in soap.
I use MCT oil (FCO) in my syndet shampoo bars though - or just straight onto my hair if it's dry. It absorbs and softens it instantly.