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.
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 with 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 ounces Cocoa Butter (10%)
- 2.4 ounces Shea Butter (15%)
- 7.2 ounces Olive Oil (45%)
- 6.3 ounces Coconut Oil (25%)
- 0.8 ounces Castor Oil (5%)
- 2.17 ounces of Sodium 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 looked 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 is soapcalc.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
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This eBook also includes best practices to modify the formulations to your liking.
More Cold Process Soap Making Ideas and Recipes:
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All the cold process soapmaking most common questions finally answered in one single place
Cold Process Soapmaking with 25 unique formulations
Have you ever wanted to take control of the ingredients that go on your skin and make it a hobby or a business opportunity at the same time? This is exactly what I wanted several years ago when I was trying to figure out how to stop dry skin and start making my own natural products. I spent several months doing research and trying to understand the process and went over so many websites. I wished there was one single place to get all the information I needed to feel comfortable.
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Can I use regular water instead of coconut water? Or what brand of coconut water do you recommend? Thank you!! Can’t wait to make this 😍
Hello Megan, you can certainly just use regular distilled water to make this soap. The coconut water adds more sugars that help increase the lather. I normally just use the coconut water we drink at home, you can get it from amazon (coconut water) or at your grocery store. I am super excited that you want to make this soap. I hope it turns out wonderful for you.
I’m completely new to soap making and would love th try this recipe.
How much fragrance oils do you use in this recipe and how many bars or ounces does this recipe make.
Thanks
Hello JoAnne, thank you so much for stopping by. Since you are completely new to soap making this post (https://eccentricitiesbyjvg.com/joy-handmade-soap-making-free-cold-process-recipe/) may be a good post to read since it covers lye safety and other cold process soap making basics. I also have a post where I answer several questions I get asked frequently (https://eccentricitiesbyjvg.com/cold-process-soap-most-common-questions-answered/).
For this specific soap formulation, I used one ounce of fragrance oil. The total amount of soap from this formulation is just over 23 ounces when you combine all the ingredients.
Hello may I use Cacao Butter instead and also replace Castor oil with another oil like Olive? and could i add honey and how much should i add and when and for exfoliation may I add whole oats on the bottom before poouring into mold or after poured into mold on top? thanks so much!!
Hello Maritza, you can certainly use cacao/cocoa butter, make sure to run the formulation through a lye calculator to get the correct amount of lye to use. My favorite lye calculator is soapcalc.net but there are many others you can use. You can also replace the castor oil with olive oil or avocado oil, but also remember to run through the lye calculator. I like using the castor oil as it helps sustain the bubbles but olive oil is great as well. When adding honey to the soap, I recommend adding it to the melted oils and butters and mix well, a small amount like one teaspoon per pound of oils is a good starting point. Keep in mind that it could accelerate the process and also keep an eye on it as it goes through the gel process so it does not overheat. On the whole oats, it is completely up to you if you want to add them at the bottom or the top of the soap. You can even add the oats after you have mixed and colored and right before pouring into the mold. Just mix well using a spatula, that way you can have oats all throughout the soap.
sorry one last thing for the oils may i use infused oils ex; calendula infused olive oil etc….? thanks!!
Hi Maritza, yes you can use infused oils, I do it all the time with lavender olive oil and it makes a wonderful soap.
Could I just use the coconut milk 4.35 in place of using coconut water. Is this the correct amount of water I would use.
Thank you
Hello, yes you can certainly replace the full amount of water with the milk. The total amount of water in this formulation is 4.35 ounces. You can also enter the formulation in your favorite soap calculator to confirm.
Hello,
May I know what’s the size of the mould you used please. All my moulds are 1200g and I think the quantity you made won’t be enough for me.
Thank you
Hello, you can use a six inch silicone slab mold or a one pound mold. Here are some examples https://amzn.to/3GQbxN7 and https://amzn.to/471UYIJ
Good morning! How do you know how much coconut milk to add into your formula? Is there a certain percentage that’s used as a guideline? Thank you!
Hello. There is no general percentage of coconut milk to add to the soap formulations. You can replace the full amount of water for coconut milk if you like to. Just be aware that the coconut milk has a lot of fat and when mixing it with the lye you want to make sure that the lye is fully melted. I love replacing 20% to 50% of the water in the formulation when I am making coconut milk soaps. It really all depends on your testing and how you prefer your soaps.