Coconut Milk and coconut water are great additions to the cold process soap. Coconut milk adds sugars, silkiness, and extra fat. The coconut water adds lots of sugars that naturally enhance the soap lather. I add coconut milk to all my soaps and I notice a difference in how the soap glides softly on the skin while at the same time doing its job of cleaning the skin.
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The cold process soap recipe I am sharing today is a double butter soap recipe. It does not contain palm oil. I use palm oil on some of my cold process soap formulations but I also know that some may want to avoid it for various reasons. I have both options of soaps available in my shop…. head over to check out your favorite.
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There are multiple ways to add coconut milk to soap. The milk in oils method and the full coconut milk method. I used the milk in oils method because it is very simple and saves some time. The alternative is to replace the total amount of water for the coconut milk and very slowly add the lye. For this full coconut milk method, it is important to add the lye very slowly so that the milk does not scorch.
How to make coconut milk and coconut water cold process soap
Cold process soap ingredients
- 1.6 ouncesCocoa Butter (10%)
- 2.4 ouncesShea Butter(15%)
- 7.2 ouncesOlive Oil(45%)
- 6.3 ouncesCoconut Oil(25%)
- 0.8 ouncesCastor Oil(5%)
- 2.17 ounces ofSodium Hydroxide(lye)
- 3 ounces of Coconut Water
- 1.35 ounces of Coconut Milk
Additives
Other Ingredients used
- Mica colorants (I used Alpine Green from Nurture Soap and Goldfinger from Mad Micas)
- Fragrance (I used Sea Salt and Yuzu from Be Scented) This fragrance oil riced. It means that as soon as it touched the soap it started taking a hard form that looks like rice. I was able to mix it well back into the soap using the immersion blender.
This recipe has a 7% superfat and a 2:1 water-to-lye ratio. My favorite lye calculator issoapcalc.net. Below is a snapshot of the recipe in soapcalc.
Coconut milk in cold process soaps has a wonderful feel on the skin and is great for keeping the skin moisturized.
Coconut milk cold process soap making process
If you have never made soap before be aware that handcrafted soap uses lye. Lye is caustic and can burn your skin in contact. Before you try to make soap make sure to use the proper safety equipment. Use gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves, long pants, and closed-toe shoes.
Milk in oils cold process soap making method
- Weigh and melt the oils and butters and set them aside to cool to approximately 85 degrees Fahrenheit. For this soap recipe, I prefer soaping at around 80 to 85 degrees due to the high content of butters. This will prevent a false trace and will give you a bit more time to create swirls. I normally make soap with oils and lye water between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I find that for my favorite formulations this temperature is just right.
- Add the kaolin clay and colloidal oatmeal and coconut milk to the oils and mix well.
- Weigh out the coconut water and NaOH (lye) in separate containers. Then add the lye to the coconut water (never the other way around) and mix well until the lye is fully dissolved. The coconut water will turn an orange color, this color does not affect the final soap color. Set aside until it cools down to 80 to 90 degrees in temperature.
- Once the lye water solution and the oils have reached the soaping temperature add the lye solution to the oils.
- Mix well with a whisk for 5 to 7 minutes or an immersion blender for a few minutes to achieve a thin trace.
- Add the fragrance oil and mix well. As I said earlier this fragrance oil that I used “riced”, you can see in the video how it turned the soap batter into larger chunks of soap. I was able to mix back using the immersion blender and had no other issues. I think it is worth it, the scent is wonderful.
- Split the batter and add the Alpine green color mica to most of the soap batter and the Goldfinger mica to a smaller amount (approximately 6 ounces of the total soap batter) and mix well to incorporate.
- Pour the soap batter into the mold using the in-the-pot swirl or your favorite swirl technique and allow the saponification process to take place.
This recipe can be unmolded and cut after 24 hours. Allow the soap to cure for six to eight weeks and enjoy!
Ready to start making your own cold process soaps? Then this eBook with 25 different cold process soap formulations is the perfect resource. With so many formulations, you will have lots of inspiration to experiment and find the perfect one.
This eBook also includes best practices to modify the formulations to your liking.
I want the 25 recipes!
More Cold Process Soap Making Ideas and Recipes:
Coffee Soap and Coffee Scrub Soap
Cold Process Soap using Kiss Pour Technique
Handmade Cold Process Soap Making
How to make and use cold process soap embeds
All Natural Ale Vera Cold Process Soap
Fun Halloween Cold Process Soap
All the cold process soapmaking most common questions finally answered in one single place
