Tips for Making Coconut Milk Soap

Coconut milk makes a wonderful soap. I add a little shredded coconut (make sure it has set out to dry awhile) and add to my coconut milk soap to act as an exfoliant.

submitted by Teri F.

Coconut milk is the easiest and creamiest of all the milks in my opinion. I always add at trace. If the recipe called for 32 oz. water I would use 22 oz. with the lye and add the 10 oz. of coconut milk at trace. I add it at room temp. and all my bars are white to off white.

submitted by Polly A.

You can use any recipe you like. I love the soap I made with coconut milk, it is SO creamy in the shower. I made a two pound batch of soap calling for 12 oz. of liquid. I mixed the lye with 7 oz. of water and added 5 oz. coconut milk at trace. The soap traces much quicker when making it this way, so I don’t use the stick blender at all. I found 5 oz. of coconut milk was plenty, it has a lot of fat in it. I stick with a 5 or 6% superfat amount because of the extra fat in the milk.

submitted by Nancy M.

I’ve used coconut milk quite a bit. I stick it in the freezer just like my goat’s milk until it’s a slushy consistency and add it at trace. I also throw in grated (dried) coconut with it, which acts as an exfoliant. Customers seem to like it.

submitted by Teri F.

Coconut milk has a high percentage of fat, like raw goat’s milk and I find that it is best to add “after” I add my lye water. I don’t wait till trace, because I have had some problems with my soaps a long while back when I tried doing it that way. So any milk that I use, I add immediately after adding the lye water to the oils. Oh, and I love taking a bit away from the GM and adding some coconut milk to it, then adding to the oils. The coconut milk, along with the coconut oil and sugar, make for a scrmptious lather. I am now hooked on this and use it with all my soaps.

submitted by Rita S.

Just about any recipe for soap can be used with coconut milk (or any other kind of milk)! This is what I do:

Take about half of the water the recipe calls for and use it to dissolve the lye. Add that mix to the oils and stir until trace as you would with any other soap recipe. Then, measure out the other half of the water but use coconut milk instead. When the mix traces, add the coconut milk, fragrance oil and color (if you’re using those) and pour into your mold.

submitted by Gretchen G.

When I make coconut milk soap, I keep the milk at room temp and subtract my H2O amount from the amount of milk that I am using. If a recipe calls for 6 oz. H2O, I’ll use 2 oz. H2O to mix my lye into. Then at thin trace, I’ll add 4 oz. room temp. coconut milk. I DO NOT insulate at all as it heats up tremendously. I put my mold up on a wire shelf and place a fan on it. This soap turns out really nice, it’s my favorite. I use Taste of Thai coconut milk. It’s better than Coco Lopez.

submitted by Amber S.


A reminder — The usual disclaimers apply. The recipes in this library reflect the individual contributors' own methods of soapmaking and are written in their own words. We cannot personally guarantee the success or results of any of the recipes included in this library.