All About Coconut Oil and Soap Making

Coconut oil is one of the most popular oils for soap making, but if you’re new to the craft, you might be wondering what the big deal is. We contacted some of our professional soap makers to get the skinny on this popular soap making fat, so that we can make sure you have the best information possible. But first, some background information.

Coconuts

 

What is coconut oil?

Coconut oil is the fat extracted from the meat and milk of coconuts. It’s solid and white at cool room temperature, and a clear liquid oil at temperatures above 77 degrees fahrenheit. It’s used as a food and cooking oil, in industrial applications, and for making soap and other skincare and cosmetic products.

Some oil is extracted from coconuts using a wet process, which involves pressing raw fresh coconut meat and then separating out the oil by steam distillation or centrifuges. Some is extracted by a dry process, which requires the meat to be dried first. The oil is then extracted using a press or a solvent. Since the coconut is dried first, it’s not necessary to separate the oil out of the water.

 

Types of coconut oil

There are a few different types of coconut oil, and knowing what these different types are can help you choose what to use in your bath and body product.

Virgin coconut oil is produced from fresh, raw coconuts through pressing the meat manually with a press. Virgin coconut oil retains some coconut flavor and aroma. This version is not heated or refined beyond straining.

Refined coconut oil oil is usually made from dried coconut. After pressing, the coconut oil is refined through further heating and filtering to remove contaminants. The resulting oil is odorless and flavorless.

Hydrogenated coconut oil is processed from refined coconut oil. This step adds hydrogen to the unsaturated fats in coconut oil, which results in a higher melting point (around 95 degrees fahrenheit), and extends the shelf life of the coconut oil.

Fractionated cococnut oil allows certain fatty acids to be separated from the whole oil. Some of these fatty acids include lauric acid, caprylic acid, and capric acid. These are separated out because some are better suited to certain applications than others. Another name for fractionated coconut oil is MCT Oil, or Medium Chain Triglycerides. Fractionated coconut oil is liquid at room temperature.

Which of these types of coconut oil is the best for your project? Well, it depends on what you’re making. If you’re working on a lotion or butter with a tropical theme, the light coconut scent of virgin coconut oil might be a wonderful addition or it could overwhelm your scent idea so an odorless version of coconut oil, like fractionated coconut oil or 76 degree melt point refined coconut oil might be the better option.

Virgin Coconut Oil

 

How is coconut oil used?

Coconut oil has a lot of applications. It’s used in the creation of paints and varnishes, and it’s also used to create methyl esters, fatty acids, and fatty alcohols, which are then used to create surfactants, detergents, emulsifiers, and pesticides.
In cooking, it’s good for  searing, sauteing, and refined coconut oils can also be used for deep frying. It’s also used to help replace fats like butter in baked goods.

In personal care, coconut oil is used to help protect the skin from harsh environments and to soothe chapped skin. It’s also used in hair conditioning treatments, and to remove makeup.In soap, it is considered a lathering and cleansing ingredient, commonly used up to 33% for a more traditional bar of soap.

If you check labels on some of your favorite cosmetics and beauty products, you might be surprised by how many have coconut oil as an ingredient.

Coconut oil is used widely in soap making, too. Not only is it used as an oil for making soap, but our Foaming Noodles (a surfactant), our Bubble Boost, our Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, and our Potassium Cocoate are all derived from coconuts.

 

What are the benefits of coconut oil in soap?

We thought that inviting some of our biggest coconut oil customers to explain why coconut oil is so great would be much more helpful than us telling you ourselves!

Adriana from Joy Filled Weddings

Adriana uses coconut oil in every batch of hot process soap she makes, plus in her shea body butter. Here’s what she has to say about coconut oil:

“It balances my oil blend between the palm and olive oil to create a nice hard bar. It's important that my bars harden up within a couple of days.”

“I love using coconut oil because it imparts a very bubbly lather to my soaps and customers love it.”

“Coconut oil is so great because it's full of antioxidants and that is beneficial in the shelf life of coconut oil.  The vitamin E and amino acids are great for the skin.  I love formulating my own special bar for my face using a blend of coconut oil, palm, olive oil and superfat of vitamin e.  I was nightly and my face doesn't even need lotion.”

Adriana loves Bramble Berry coconut oil particularly.

“I love that the coconut oil is very clean and I always trust it is fresh and the pink bucket makes pouring easy.  The branding is also a plus because now I have all pink buckets!”

Adriana makes soap favors and sells them on Etsy. Check out Joy Filled Weddings to see her work.

Andrea from MW Soapworks

Andrea is also a big coconut oil fan! She uses coconut oil in every soap she makes, plus more.
“I use coconut oil in every single bar of soap I am currently crafting. I've been a cold process soapmaker since 2013 and love including coconut oil in my soap bars, shaving bars, and shampoo bars for its wonderful lather and moisturizing benefits. It's also the main ingredient in our new solid dish soap bars and is featured in our new Laundry Soap too!”

She includes coconut oil in her soap to improve lather and cleansing power.

“I love including coconut oil as an ingredient in my soap formulas. Being able to choose what ingredients are going on to my skin (and our customers' skin) is an incredible privilege that I take seriously - I only want to use high quality and healthy ingredients! Coconut oil is an amazing addition because it can help increase lather (I LOVE bubbles!) and helps make a very cleansing soap while also moisturizing the skin. I've tried making 100% olive oil soap before but I wasn't happy with how soft the bars turned out even after a long cure time and missed the bubbly lather I adore so much. Adding a small amount of coconut oil helped harden up those bars and boosted the bubble factor.”

She also says that coconut oil helps create a nice, hard bar and can moisturize your skin.

“Coconut oil can increase the lather in your soap formulas at the right percentage and helps create a very cleansing bar of soap. Coconut oil is also very good for helping moisturize the skin. Since it's a hard oil, it can also help create a harder bar of soap after cure time, like in our Bastille bars. I didn't like the consistency or lather in 100% olive oil castile soap that I tried crafting so I added a little coconut oil to my formula instead. Our customers can't get enough of our Bastille bars!”

Andrea also loves buying her coconut oil from Bramble Berry:

“Since we are also located in beautiful Bellingham, Washington, I love getting to shop for soapmaking supplies locally with Bramble Berry! We are currently purchasing the 35 pound size of coconut oil. I like that it comes in a bucket - it's very convenient to open as needed and reseal. I use a metal spatula to get what I need from the bucket and have the buckets stored on rolling plant stands to make them easier to move around my soap studio as necessary. I previously purchased the 7 pound microwaveable bags from Bramble Berry which were extremely convenient when I was making smaller batches of soap.”

Andrea is the owner and maker at MW Soapworks! You can also find them on Instagram, and at their brick and mortar store in downtown Bellingham, Washington!

Ayisha from Beyond Bubbles

Ayisha uses coconut oil to make soap and body butters. She loves the lather coconut oil produces in her soap.

“It’s so versatile. To my soaps, coconut oil adds lather and bubbles that almost can't be imitated by any other oil or butter. It's also such an excellent moisturizer, in both soaps and body butters.”

She loves the anti-inflammatory properties of coconut oil, too.

“The benefits of using coconut oil in soaps and bath products are innumerable. Every maker knows the power of anything coconut - Coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut water! I love that coconut oil is such a powerful yet gentle ingredient. It has unmatched cleansing power, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing and adding too much can make products too drying. It has antibacterial properties and can reduce inflammation, but it also has the potential to clog pores and cause breakouts because it's comedogenic so it really has to be treated with respect.”

She recommends only using 25% or less coconut oil in soap formulations.

She also loves Bramble Berry coconut oil!

“When I order Bramble Berry's coconut oil, I always buy the largest size, the 35lbs! Bramble Berry offers one of the best prices for that size. What I enjoy about using Bramble's coconut oil is the quality of the product. As a maker, I don't want to have to question the integrity of the materials I purchase. When I buy coconut oil from Bramble Berry, I know I'm getting a product I can trust and be confident in using to give my customers the very best.”

You can find Beyond Bubbles products at their website, and on Instagram!

Amber from Little Sister Artisan Products

Amber believes that coconut oil is an indispensable part of any soap recipe.

“I use it for my soap making and lip balm. CO has cleansing properties not found in other oils. It’s a hard oil which adds hardness to the soap I make which makes it last longer and it has bubbly properties as well. I believe any great soap recipe contains CO as it has so many wonderful qualities it brings to bar soap!”

She also notes coconut oil’s moisturizing properties:

“Beyond those things it is great for skin: it hydrates, has antioxidants, absorbs well into the skin, protects the skin and the moisture barrier and can reduce inflammation.”

You can find Little Sister Artisan Products at their website, and on Instagram.

Fractionated Coconut Oil
Fractionated Coconut Oil is a clear liquid oil at room temperature.

 

What are some challenges in using coconut oil?

So we know that coconut oil is great in soap, lending lather, hardness, and cleansing properties. We also know that it has a lot of benefits in skin care, and is a very versatile ingredient, at home in butters, lotions, balms, and soap.

But coconut oil’s great cleansing properties in soap can also dry out skin if it’s not mixed with moisturizing oils. It’s also a relatively heavy oil and can be comedogenic in moisturizers and butters. The same properties that make it great at keeping moisture in the skin also can trap sebum and pollutants near the skin, as coconut oil creates a hydrophobic barrier. As a result, it may inflame acne-prone skin. It’s best lightened up with other, lighter oils for moisturizing products. 
The lauric acid present in soap made from coconut oil is a natural surfactant that helps soap made with coconut oil clean your skin, but it can also irritate sensitive skin.

So you can see that coconut oil is a wonderful ingredient in soap and moisturizing products, as long as it’s combined with light moisturizing oils to balance out its cleansing properties. Some professional soap makers even think it’s essential to a great bar of soap! 

Bramble Berry sells three kinds of coconut oil and one of them will be perfect for whatever project you’re making. We carry Coconut Oil, Virgin Coconut Oil, and Fractionated Coconut Oil! They're a wonderful ingredient to have in your soap making supplies.

 

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