which sort of coconut oil, and is red coloured palm oil ok?

turnedlight · Feb 5, 2011

My Mum has found both coconut and a red palm oil in her local supermarket, I haven't seen any at all myself and we don't have asian food shops locally so I've asked her to get it as it's much cheaper than sending off. However - I don't know if the red palm is suitable for soaping?
And, on soap calc there are different coconut oils which got me wondering which one I have.. is there a way of telling, like how liquid it is at room temp.?

judymoody · Feb 5, 2011

Generally the kind of coconut oil you can get at the market is the 76 degree kind. Only way to tell for sure though is to see at what temperature it melts.

The red palm oil works fine (it will be listed on a lye calculator program as "virgin" or unrefined). It will turn your soap orange and it does impart a distinct odor to your soap. You can cover it up with fragrance if it's bothersome to you.

Good luck!

carebear · Feb 5, 2011

any coconut that solidifies when cool is fine. Coconut Oil 76 (melting point is 76 degrees F which is about room temp) is the most commonly used here, but Coconut Oil 92 is popular also (partially hydrogenated so the melting point is 92 degrees F). the lye calculations are the same for both so it doesn't really matter which you have - if it solidifies in the fridge you are good.

the only coconut oil you don't want for soap (tho it's good for lotions and such) is fractionated coconut oil which will NOT solidify even in the fridge.

red palm is good, but your soap will be yellow to orange depending on how much you use.

madpiano · Feb 5, 2011

In the UK we only have 76 coconut oil. The red palm is fine but will make orange soap. Its quite handy as a natural colourant. Just make sure you melt the whole jar before use as it isn't homogenized. You can actually see it separating before it is melted.