Where to Find Coconut Oil

[AustinStraight]

I've been looking everywhere for coconut oil, and it looks cheap at first but I calculate the shipping and wow - it goes from $14 to $21! Essential Depot has two one-gallon jugs of coconut oil for 44.45 with free shipping, should I grab it? I have Amazon Prime but there's hardly any coconut oil cheap enough to use in soap on Amazon, and none of it's Prime...

 

[neeners]

have any Asian grocery stores near you?

 

[osso]

On amazon Snappy Popcorn coconut oil is a great price, around $18-20 for a 9lb jug. I believe it qualifies for Prime also.

 

[Belinda02]

Most of my major grocery stores have it with the other oils.

 

[Obsidian]

I get mine at walmart in 30oz jars. I've mostly switched to palm kernel flakes though, its much cheaper. I got 5lbs for $11 from WSP and got free shipping.

 

[Sinful7]

I use soapers choice $65 for a 50lb pail. That's 1.30/lb shipping isn't too bad and I order several oils at a time

 

[AustinStraight]

Thanks for the suggestions. As for palm kernel oil, ould I replace half of the coconut oil in a pure coconut bar with palm kernel oil?

 

[kaliquen]

On amazon Snappy Popcorn coconut oil is a great price, around $18-20 for a 9lb jug. I believe it qualifies for Prime also.

You can also get this with subscribe and save. The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't have the yummy coconut smell.

 

[Obsidian]

You can replace all the coconut oil with palm kernel as long as you aren't making a salt bar. Palm kernel makes a high cleansing soap with lots of bubbles, just like coconut.

 

[lpstephy85]

Thanks for the suggestions. As for palm kernel oil, ould I replace half of the coconut oil in a pure coconut bar with palm kernel oil?

They don't have quit the same SAP values so make sure you run it through a lye calc. Is there a reason you are doing 100% CO? Is it a salt bar?

 

[Sagebrush]

If you have any Indian stores near you or any fruit/vegetable stands with an ethnic store of some sort attached to it, check those out. Before I found a great cyber Monday deal on a big bucket of coconut oil, I used 16oz bottles that I found at Indian stores/markets for about $3.50 each. But, I'm also a coconut oil snob, in that it has to be unrefined and unbleached. This particular oil is mostly off-white with brown mixed in at the bottom. So, if you're not going for pure white soap, it's a great find. And it's the most wonderfully smelling coconut oil ever

 

[AustinStraight]

They don't have quit the same SAP values so make sure you run it through a lye calc. Is there a reason you are doing 100% CO? Is it a salt bar?

I'm fairly new to soapmaking, so I've only done two recipes (though I've made multiple batches of each): a bastille soap with coconut, olive, and castor, and a pure coconut soap with a 20% superfat. The bastille soap came out with an OK lather but it was a little bit too soft even after a 6-week cure, and olive oil is expensive compared to coconut oil. The coconut oil soap makes a big bubbly lather (which I prefer to the denser lather of the bastille soap, though the dense lather might be nice as a facial soap), and it's more cost-effective. It also makes a really white bar.

I ran it through soapcalc and it came out slightly different. With 50% PKO and 50% CO, it has higher hardness and creamy numbers than pure CO, but the conditioning is a little lower. Palm kernel flakes and palm kernel oil have different values in soapcalc even though they're supposed to be the same thing (besides the shape), why is that?

 

[new12soap]

Palm kernel flakes are hydrogenated.

 

[dixiedragon]

You may be able to find some at a cash and carry. I still think Columbus foods is the best price, but if you don't want to get a 5 gallon bucket, cash and carry may ahve some. It may be colored, though! Which is how i ended up with tons of orange soap.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I get my jars of coconut oil at Costco. 76 fl oz tubs for about $26.

 

[Sinful7]

Soapers choice aka Columbus foods has 7lb plastic jugs as well. If you are looking for smaller quantities

 

[athallr]

Another vote for soapers choice. Great service.

 

[Ellacho]

I use soapers choice $65 for a 50lb pail. That's 1.30/lb shipping isn't too bad and I order several oils at a time

I agree Sinful7. That's where I am purchasing my coconut oil (50 lbs) and other oils from. It's worth it if you are making soaps all the time, like me .

 

[scotsman]

I get my coconut oil at my local Sam's Club. 56 oz jar for like $14. Pretty good deal compared to the online suppliers when you factor in shipping.

 

[aprilprichard]

On amazon Snappy Popcorn coconut oil is a great price, around $18-20 for a 9lb jug. I believe it qualifies for Prime also.

Osso, thank you so much for that tip! I live in Alaska, and shipping for oils is outrageous. I paid for an Amazon Prime membership, and I was about to order several Qt containers of coconut oil from Essential Depots Amazon account. I was not sure how to get the oil out of the small tops tho! That's actually what I was about to ask when I read your post! The Snappy Popcorn is such a great deal! Thanks again!

April