100% Coconut Oil Soap

I became intrigued when a co-worker asked about coconut oil soap. Coconut oil in high amounts can be drying to your skin unless the superfat is high. Also soap in high percentage of coconut oil will lather in saltwater. Time to experiment.

I used 100% Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. I chose this oil because it has a natural coconut scent. I wasn't sure if the scent would be retained after saponification so I added a coconut fragrance that would not discolor the soap. As an added bonus I used coconut milk powder for more conditioning even though it was superfatted at 20%.

It didn't go as planned. It would not stay mixed. Kept getting an oil layer on top after mixing. The mixture looked like it riced but stayed fluid. I left it in the bowl and set aside to dispose of later.

Made a new batch with my regular coconut oil with no milk powder added. Used a creamy coconut fragrance that lightly discolors so a pinch of titanium dioxide was added to keep it as white as possible. This was superfatted at 15%. It went smoothly and I was able to unmold it just over 12 hours.

This morning the "failed" mixture was semi-solid. Okay it was cold in Central FL last night. Thought I could still save the batch so I scooped it out and put it in the crockpot. It gelled fine and plopped it into the mold. Tested the remainder and washed my hands. Lots of bubbles and not drying. Because this is a "hard" formula, I was able to unmold this in 6 hours plus I used a silicone mold.


I don't know why it didn't work the first time, perhaps it was the coconut milk powder or that the superfatting was too high. I don't think it was from using Virgin Coconut Oil. Both batches smell wonderful! Looks like more fun experimenting to do.

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