My Coconut Milk Soap - Fail (Sadness)

[Flowermountains]

Good evening all, I made my first attempt at a simple 2lb Coconut Milk Soap and I believe it seized up. I think. I say it seized up because the consistency was thick almost the consistency one would use to do piping. We're talking some mighty thick stuff. I've never broken a sweat before and tonight was the night to do so. I was so stinkin' bummed, primarily because I used the last of my expensive cocoa butter! I'm telling you, thick probably doesn't even describe the poor batch, I couldn't even pour the batch into the mold. I had to plop it in. So, I'm hoping someone here in this forum can tell me where I went wrong (though, I suspect I already know) The recipe I used is as follows:

Olive Oil 30%
Coconut Oil, 76 20%
Castor Oil 10%
Canola Oil 10%
Avocado Oil 10%
Cocoa Butter 10%
Shea Butter 10%

In addition, I added: Sodium Lactate 2 Tsp, Tussah Silk (a small pinch) into the lye, (which never really dissolved so I ended up taking it out of the lye....it just kept floating in the lye water mocking me). Kaolin Clay 1 Tsp mixed in my FO to anchor the scent (I hear that it works supposedly). Fragrance Oil amount was: .05 Coconut; .05 Orange (a blend)

Lye Temp: 91F
Oil Temp: 90F

I used SoapCalc to figure out the numbers... Water as percent of oil weight was set at 33%; Superfat @ 5%, with 1 oz FO.

The recipe called for 4.35 oz of lye and 10.56 Water....

I water discounted like I usually do. (I normally discount by doubling the amount of lye...so in this case it was: 4.35 x 2 = 8.70 water. Out of that 8.70 of water I divided it up equally...4.35 Distilled water so I could dissolve the lye, and added 4.35 coconut milk at light trace. The Coconut Milk was added at room temperature, I have seen this done in tutorials before, thought it look pretty cool, but I have never done it. Thought I'd try.

Rats! This is where the misery started! The minute I added the wicked coconut milk (a room temperature) it immediately became thick! I'm assuming the sugars in the milk? Seriously, I'm so frustrated since I have successfully made Goat's Milk soap but, the milk used has always been frozen and all things came out nicely...I just wanted to give this coconut milk a try. (Note to self: stick to what you know?) Either way, I failed miserably, I'm happy to say that I was able to plop the soap in the tall and skinny mold and sprinkled some dried blue cornflower to try and mask the retched thing so, I may have saved my soap...maybe. It was such a struggle to get it into the mold, though...my little hands are feeling the pain now. So, for you experienced ones out there, have mercy on this chic and let me know if my suspicions are correct and how can I use coconut milk without having to freeze it....please.

Seriously Frustrated,

Flowermountains

 

[Dawni]

I'll leave the troubleshooting to the more experienced members but I have this tip for your last question, given by Obsidian, regarding coconut milk.

I have yet to try it because I had forgotten about my coconut milk in the freezer lol and have since been using powdered coconut milk (which is another option for you) in almost every batch.

 

[Flowermountains]

I'll leave the troubleshooting to the more experienced members but I have this tip for your last question, given by Obsidian, regarding coconut milk.

I have yet to try it because I had forgotten about my coconut milk in the freezer lol and have since been using powdered coconut milk (which is another option for you) in almost every batch.

Thank you, at what point do you add the powdered coconut milk? At trace? I have powdered Goat's Milk I'm assuming you can do the same with it?

 

[Christine Beale]

Coconut Milk does have alot more sugar than goat milk. And sugars heat up fast and make it thick. Same thing happens with honey! I find shea butter tends to speed up my trace with my goat milk recipe.

 

[Flowermountains]

Coconut Milk does have alot more sugar than goat milk. And sugars heat up fast and make it thick. Same thing happens with honey! I find shea butter tends to speed up my trace with my goat milk recipe.

Thank you, Christine...so, just stick with plain old distilled water? I could just stick with Goat's Milk, but really, really wanted to 'learn' how to make coconut milk soap and add variety to my line of soap. I heard it is super creamy too, so I was hoping to have a successful bar of coconut milk soap. I'll see how it looks tomorrow...if it hasn't cracked already. Ha! It's on a wire rack and a small fan shooting some air to keep it from getting too hot. Which is another thing I read to do. Darn, this is exhausting. Don't even get me started with the Bath Bombs...I loathe those little evil things.

 

[shunt2011]

I use coconut milk in the majority of my soaps. I think you soaped too cool with 20% butters. I generally use 10-25% and have no issues. Also, coconut fo has a tendency to move fast at least any I’ve used.

I add mix my lye with water and add powdered mild to my liquid milk to make full milk. Then add that to my oils and blend well before adding my lye.

 

[Dawni]

Thank you, at what point do you add the powdered coconut milk? At trace? I have powdered Goat's Milk I'm assuming you can do the same with it?

I HP so I usually add hot water after the cook, for fluidity, so I dilute my coconut milk powder in that. Also so don't burn it n brown it.

I've tried it in CP once each, added at trace and also tried it mixed with the oils from the beginning. I have to check my notes but I seem to recall this second way turned my soap slightly tan-ish colored instead of cream-ish. I soaped that at room temp but can't tell you exact temperatures, sorry.

Yes, you can use powered goat's milk! If you do a bit of searching I'm sure you'll find others who have and how they did it so you can tweak your procedure for next time. Here's a fairly recent one, and there are others.

 

[Flowermountains]

I use coconut milk in the majority of my soaps. I think you soaped too cool with 20% butters. I generally use 10-25% and have no issues. Also, coconut fo has a tendency to move fast at least any I’ve used.

I add mix my lye with water and add powdered mild to my liquid milk to make full milk. Then add that to my oils and blend well before adding my lye.

Thank you, it never occured to me I could just add it to my oils and blend before adding in the lye. Thank you for the tip...I am determined to not let this coconut milk soap kick my booty. I'm going to make one successfully...since I used up my cocoa butter I will have to retweak the recipe and try again. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Have yourself a grand soapy day!

 

[cmzaha]

To add to what Shunt mentioned about the butters, 10% castor will accelerate trace especially with the butters. I tested one time starting with only 5% castor lowering it to 2 & 3% with a difference in tracing, 3% made quite a difference to my slow moving recipe.

 

[Flowermountains]

To add to what Shunt mentioned about the butters, 10% castor will accelerate trace especially with the butters. I tested one time starting with only 5% castor lowering it to 2 & 3% with a difference in tracing, 3% made quite a difference to my slow moving recipe.

Thank you, cmzaha for your reply. Dang! Now I'm really confused. I added the butters to make up for the fact that I did not have the palm oil the original recipe called for...then I noticed the cleansing # was too high in SoapCalc so I added less Coconut Oil and more Castor Oil in hopes of balancing it all out. Rats! I may have to scrap this recipe all together unless I get some Palm Oil and simply follow the recipe straight up! Either that or simply call it a day...it was weird cause within 7-8 hours the soap was hard and I was able to unmold it and I even cut it...but, I did notice the FO didn't disperse properly (gee, I wonder why?) and it was a little on the brittle side...I was thinking that maybe the fact that I water discounted probably added to the misery. *Sigh*

 

[Christine Beale]

Thank you, Christine...so, just stick with plain old distilled water? I could just stick with Goat's Milk, but really, really wanted to 'learn' how to make coconut milk soap and add variety to my line of soap. I heard it is super creamy too, so I was hoping to have a successful bar of coconut milk soap. I'll see how it looks tomorrow...if it hasn't cracked already. Ha! It's on a wire rack and a small fan shooting some air to keep it from getting too hot. Which is another thing I read to do. Darn, this is exhausting. Don't even get me started with the Bath Bombs...I loathe those little evil things.

omg.. Bath Bombs.. don't get me started.. I just made a ton of Unicorn Poops today.. little tiny bath bombs which bring out the evil in me... lmaoooo
Try again with coconut milk,, it does make such a creamy bar of soap. Maybe go half and half with distilled water and coconut milk in equal portions? Funny, I have been making goat milk soap for 15 years and never insulated my molds, never put them in a fridge or used a fan.... everyone has different methods!!

 

[Flowermountains]

omg.. Bath Bombs.. don't get me started.. I just made a ton of Unicorn Poops today.. little tiny bath bombs which bring out the evil in me... lmaoooo
Try again with coconut milk,, it does make such a creamy bar of soap. Maybe go half and half with distilled water and coconut milk in equal portions? Funny, I have been making goat milk soap for 15 years and never insulated my molds, never put them in a fridge or used a fan.... everyone has different methods!!

Oh my gosh! You made me laugh so hard...talking about the Unicorn Poops. I had to read it to my husband. I did try again, this time I took out the butters and tried another recipe altogether. One that involved Castor Oil, Crisco, Olive...that's it. It probably won't be as bubbly but definitely will still be creamy. I went half distilled water, and half coconut milk. I did put it near the fan so it wouldn't crack on me (I'm in Florida and it has been getting pretty warm here again, so I have to be sure it doesn't heat up too much). At least it didn't seize up like the last one...also, I soaped at a much cooler temp...like 79. Go figure. For now I will keep it and then tweak it a little more cause I still wanted to have the goodie in Cocoa Butter and Shae Butter. I probably won't use as much of it. Thank you again, for your tips and for bringing a smile to my face.

 

[Dawni]

Yes try and see with the recipe that you used before, this time just changing the process like you did this time. Butters and milks are doable together ^^

So.. You gonna show us new pics?

 

[Flowermountains]

Yes try and see with the recipe that you used before, this time just changing the process like you did this time. Butters and milks are doable together ^^

So.. You gonna show us new pics?

Thank you, sooner or later it will do what I am asking it to do!

 

[Clarice]

@Flowermountains is picture in #14 your FAIL?

If so I hang my head in shame. Prettier than what I thought were my successes!

 

[paillo]

Haven't posted in forever! Did you use fragrance or essential oil? If so, that could be the problem with seizing, depending on what you use.

I use canned coconut milk in all my CP soaps, split half and half with distilled water. I also like to use half regular coconut milk and half lite. I use tussah silk, clay, and sugar. I only make soleseife and salt soaps, and use only essential oils, those tried and true that 'play nice' and don't seize (sad results with my beloved white sage and rose geranium). Never have soap that moves too fast, it almost always pours nicely. I tend to use some eucalyptus oil in a lot of my soaps, seems to keep help batter stay emulsified or at light trace.

 

[Flowermountains]

@Flowermountains is picture in #14 your FAIL?

If so I hang my head in shame. Prettier than what I thought were my successes!

LOL, no that isn't my fail... Thank you for the kind words. This is my fail...

 

[Dawni]

LOL, no that isn't my fail... Thank you for the kind words. This is my fail... View attachment 37146

Still pretty

I was envisioning something like my first batches lol but it looks like you saved it pretty well.

 

[Rogue-Soaper]

I'll leave the troubleshooting to the more experienced members but I have this tip for your last question, given by Obsidian, regarding coconut milk.

I have yet to try it because I had forgotten about my coconut milk in the freezer lol and have since been using powdered coconut milk (which is another option for you) in almost every batch.

I prefer the powdered coconut milk too.

 

[Clarice]

STILL Pretty!