What is the Difference Between Coconut Oil 76 and Coconut Oil 92?

The numbers in the product titles are representing the point at which the solid coconut oil will start to melt into a liquid. Coconut Oil 76 will begin to melt at 76 degrees F, while Coconut Oil 92 will begin to melt at 92 degrees F.

Will this affect my Soap Making Recipe and Final Soap Outcome?

I’ve done a bit of research into this and have come up with a few facts from Soap Makers around the web.

1. Unless a recipe specifically calls for a 76, 92, or Virgin Coconut Oil, you are safe using any of these three coconut oils varieties.

2. Fractionated Coconut Oil is one that I am told will generally be specifically named in a Soap Making recipe, so this is one that you may not want to use unless it specifically calls for it. Fractionated coconut oil (FCO) is produced by heat rather than cold pressing, and it’s a liquid at room temperature. Many like using FCO because it’s light, and sinks in quickly.

3. There seems to be a preference by Soap Makers to use Coconut Oil 92 during the summer months because of it’s higher melting point.

We’d LOVE to hear your 2 cents regarding the use of Coconut Oil 76 and Coconut Oil 92! Insert your comments, suggestions, findings, and ideas below!

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Prices on Our Sunflower Oil

Due to shortages, you will notice the price of our Mid Oleic Sunflower Oil and High Oleic Sunflower Oils rise this month. This may also occur on our Organic Sunflower Oil as well. We will continue our efforts to pass the best possible price onto you, our highly valued customer!

- The Cibaria Soap Supply Team

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Ultimately, this decision can’t be taken lightly, and it’s one that generally imparts a huge impact on our lives, as well as on our immediate family’s lives. Many Soap Makers that we’ve spoken with have gone from hobby soap makers to making soap as a full-time or even a part-time business. We reached out to our Soap Making friends and colleagues on Twitter and Facebook to find out what made them turn their hobby of Soap Making into a full-fledged money-making machine! While we know that most don’t bring in the big bucks as soon as they start out, we’ve found that quite a few figured they’d charge people for what they were already doing for free. A little extra income never hurt anyone, right?

Out of the bad economic chaos, many Soap Makers found themselves looking for work and when they couldn’t find any, they created their own. That’s exactly what @dreamingtreesw of Dreaming Trees Soap Works did.”We lost our jobs, and there was still no jobs out there, so we made our own and we haven’t turned back since”.

Other stories that we’ve heard are equally as admirable. Tami Thornton of Beehive Soap and Body Care says

“After helping my husband in his business for 30 years, I decided it was time to start a new challenge! So, after the children were basically out of the house, and Bachelors Degree was finally completed, it was time! Been in business about a year and a half now… and loving it!”

And a good amount of other Soap Makers were just happy that someone was willing to pay them to do what they loved, just as a few of our Twitter friends who shared similar stores.

Belonger Botanicals began “as soon as someone offered to pay for the product”.

It’s definitely a joyful experience when you realize that someone finds value in the things that you create. We talk to hundreds of Soap Makers per month, and we find that the joy and care that go into their products really do make the difference. Many people say that once you go “handmade” with your soap, you never go back! (to the store-bought stuff, that is!)

Day Three is another great example of a Soap Maker making the easy decision to turn their passion into a business. They expressed that they started their hobby became a business “when we realized that people actually wanted to give us MONEY for doing something we’d do for FREE!”

Now that’s passion!

We’d LOVE to hear your story and your thoughts! Are you considering turning your Soap Making hobby into a business? Did you already take the plunge!? Tell us about it below!

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Without further ado, here are some amazing Handmade Soaps to get you in the Holiday / Christmas Spirit! (wish we had some Hanukkah soaps in here!)

Ginger L’Orange Gourmet Soap By AbbeyJames

Handmade Christmas Soap by Belle Journee’

Reindeer Games By Forget Me Not Soap Shop

Icy Peppermint Goat Milk Soap By A Bath Shoppe

Chai Latte Soap By Summerfield Soaps

Fresh Snow Scented Christmas Tree Soap by: Pink’s Pleasures

Holiday Eggnog Soap By: BubblesUpByBethieB

Fir Needle Vegan Handmade Soap by DeShawnMarie

Christmas / Holiday Pointsettia Soap Favor / Gift By: EnchantingSoapFavors

Cookies for Santa Shea Butter Soap By LatherTech

Elf Sweat Cupcake Soap By: Sherrilenett

Stocking Stuffer Christmas Mini’s By Tiera Steele

Festive Orange Spice or Christmas Glisten By Celine Blacow

Sweet Treat Gift Sets – By Anita Nickens

Cravings By K-Cherie’ Soaps

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This time of year is really one of the best for soap makers to flex their creative muscle and get into some fun little side projects for kids (and the young at heart). We’re especially fond of the pumpkin scents and abundance of candy-related soaps that happen during the fall season.

We have gathered some of our favorite Halloween Soap Making photos from Flickr.com, and are very excited to present to you our fine collection of Halloween Soaps from amazingly talented Soap Makers from all over the world!

An adorable Halloween Soap By Loveleesoaps!

Adorable ghouls and eyes by cupcakesoapcafe!

The black soap bar, chunks and dots are anise and the orange is scented with kumquat. By CupCake Nana

Neat and Clean – The Halloween Wholesale collection by Sunbasilgarden

Cute little ghosts in a Soapsicle! By SoapyLove

Eww – Brains in a Cupscake! (but it’s soap). By Sunbasilgarden

Amazing little dark cupcake soaps by Kcsoapsnmore

Scary skulls for Halloween! By Brambleberry

Harvest Moon Cold Process Soap By Lippincott Soap Co

A super cute soap – classic and hints of nice swirls! By t-lifephoto‘

Have you seen some amazing Halloween soap ideas? What are some current trends that you have noticed when it comes to Halloween and Fall soap making?? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

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We know a lot of work goes into soap, but I’ve noticed that this time of year seems to be the most hectic for many of our Soap Making customers. All of the custom orders just beginning to trickle in, and the many questions about “can you make this scent”, and “my friend has this kind of skin, what should she use?” In the end, we know it all wraps neatly into one pumpkin-spice scented blur as Christmas soon dominates our schedules.

We’ve been looking to soap makers to find out what ingredients they are finding most needed during the fall months… and that is our question of the week!

What Soap Making Ingredients do you find essential over the fall months? (as far as Carrier Oils, Scents, and Molds?)

This gorgeous soap is made by Suds N Such

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Jamaica Hands Glow Handmade Soap. By VistahSoap

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Organic Palm Oil,Coconut Oil,  Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide,  Sunflower oil, Canola Oil, Castor Oil, Fragrance Oil, Mineral Oxide,  Blueberry seeds, Strawberry seeds, Kiwi seeds, Tussah Noil Silk.

Summer Melon Berries Shea Butter and Olive Oil Soap By: Kimberquinn

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein,Shea butter,Olive oil

Cute Creamsicles! By Annakatesoaps

Salty Watermelon Soaps – Limited Edition Glycerine Soaps By: Soothing Suds

Summer Sherbet Soap Splendor By: Ajsweetsoap

Blueberry Smooth Hand-crafted Soap By: Tallulah’s Soaps

Ingredients: vegetable glycerin, palm oil, coconut oil, purified water, fragrance, herbs, botanicals, mica powders, pigment oxides, love

Jubilee Handmade Soap, Green Apple and French Lavender By: Alchemic Muse

Ingredients: Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Lavandula Officinalis (French Lavender) Oil, Fragrance, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarines

Coconut Isle Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Hula Girl Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co.

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Heirloom Tomato Soap By: SunBasilGarden

Slice of Summer – Home Made Cold Process Soap Tropical Island and Raspberry with Strawberry Seeds By:MoonShineSoaps

Ingredients: olive oil, coconut oil, essential oils, lard, tallow, distilled water, rain water, sodium hydroxide, botanicals

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In the short time that I’ve been learning about soap, I’ve seen some absolutely amazing creations. Many people are making layered soaps with swirls, some are making layered soaps with top layers that are clear and glittery. Some soaps are made for specifically for the eco-conscious. Others just leave me amazed and hungry, due to their striking resemblance to food.

I’ve seen some of the photos that you all post online that show your extensive shelves of soap making supplies and materials, and it’s truly baffling! Most of you gals (and guys!) have a LOT of stuff! I never knew soapmaking was such an ‘extreme’ craft, but apparently it’s overtaken many kitchens, spare rooms, and even garages.

This leads me to the question of the day: What Soap Supplies can you NOT live without?

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Here is my technique. You can use your own recipe and then change the water to milk or you can use this recipe that is similar to mine from Snowdrift Farms. You didn’t think I would actually give away my “top secret” recipe, did you?

Shea & Goats Milk Soap

by Snowdrift Farms
Makes about 5 lbs. of soap

Oils by weight:
15 oz. sunflower seed oil, high oleic
15 oz. sweet almond oil
8 oz. avocado oil
3 oz. babassu oil
7 oz. coconut oil, 76 degree
3 oz. palm oil
4 oz. shea butter Lye/NaOH/Sodium Hydroxide by weight: 7.4 oz. Water/Milk by volume: 20 fluid ounces

Optional:
1-2 teaspoons titanium dioxide
1 teaspoon pigment
2.5-3 ounces essential oil or fragrance oil

I am assuming you know how to make cold process soap. I should not have to remind you to use proper safety techniques and protective gear, but I will. Please use them. Here’s a link to general lye safety. And here is a link to soap making safety tips.

Now let’s begin.

1. You need frozen goat’s milk. A local farm or a health food store should be able to supply you with goat’s milk. I use raw or unpasteurized goat’s milk. Some methods suggest freezing the milk in an ice cube tray with each cube containing 1 ounce. This is too much work and the milk melts too fast (at least in my S. FL home it does). Note their are 20 ounces of fluid necessary for this recipe. I use 16 ounces of goat’s milk (there is a reason for this – it does not matter your ratio, but you need some water). Measure the 16 oz. and pour into a freezer ziploc bag. Seal and freeze overnight. Since I make a lot of goat’s milk soap, I buy a lot of milk and freeze it all at once. The raw milk does not stay fresh long, so freeze it right away.

2. Melt your oils together.

Place in a glass or plastic container and allow to cool to 115-120 degrees.

3. Have your scent and color ready to go. I have two sets of photos in this tutorial. One is showing what will happen if you add nothing. The other shows my Orange Blossom soap in a light peach shade.

4. Fill your sink with a few inches of water and add a lot of ice.

You want the temperature to be about 5 degrees cooler than the oils. If it’s not exactly 5 degrees cooler, don’t panic. You definitely want the milk cooler than the oils and the temp of the milk should be 105-115 degrees. Sometimes, the milk doesn’t melt completely when the temperature reaches the desired degrees. Don’t worry. It’s the temp that is important, not whether or not the milk has melted. Note the color has gotten lighter. It’s now a creamy color.

8. Pour the lye mixture into the oils, as soon as both temperatures are in the right range. Note that my milk is still in an icy chunk. It will melt while mixing the oil with the lye.

Sometimes when you add the milk mixture to the oils and start to belnd it, it will immediately thicken and look a little ricey. Don’t panic. Your temps were probably a little off. Just blend with the stick blender. It is falsely tracing and will correct itself as you blend it. It should self-correct suddenly within a minute or two of blending.

Ahh! Now the color is getting pretty light.

When you reach light trace, which typically takes just a couple of minutes, add your color. I added my peach color in this picture.

Pour into your molds or log. Here again is my peach colored soap. It will darken a little as it solidifies.

10. Put some saran wrap over exposed portions of soap to prevent ash. There is no need to cover the soap or to place it in the freezer. Just put the saran wrap on it and leave it alone for 24 hours.

Here you can see 3 different soaps. The white is Sweet Jasmine, the peach is Orange Blossom, and the tan one in the back is Brigid’s Amber. It smells awesome but will darken to a mid brown due to the ingredients (surprisingly, not vanilla).

Here is a white bar of Sweet Jasmine.

Some people have the philosophy that milk soap should not gel and needs to be placed in the freezer. This is not necessary using this method. Do not fear gelling. I have never had a problem and my house sometimes gets up to 85 degrees.

This is the Sweet Jasmine curing.

I paint most of my Celtic soaps with mica. This is the finished Orange Blossom with some gold mica. Note the light color. Your milk soaps do not need to be dark, although I do make some dark soaps in the colors I choose, but not by scorching my milk.

Hope this tutorial helps some of you that are interesting in a goat’s milk adventure. If you have questions, please post them here and I will be happy to answer them.

I have another tutorial coming soon for alcoholic soap. No, not soap for alcoholics, soap made with alcohol. I make some with beer and whiskey. You could also use wine and other hard liquors.

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Tutorial and photos by Erica Pence, owner and handcrafted soap maker at Bonnie Bath, and author of the Bonnie Bath Blog.

Bio: Owner of The Bonnie Bath Co. and maker of handcrafted soaps, bath and body products and candles. Column Editor for the Saponifier Magazine and Forum Moderator and volunteer for the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild as well as the Scottish American Society of South Florida. Regional webmaster for FUSTA. Happily married with one beautiful child.

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