About
Coconut oil is the most widely used lauric oil in soap making. It contains 48% lauric acid and 19% myristic acid, which give the soap a big, fluffy lather, strong cleansing power and good hardness. It lathers even in cold or hard water.
That cleansing power has a downside: used in a high proportion, it dries the skin. It is therefore usually kept to 15 to 30% of the oils. 100% coconut soaps do exist (laundry soap, or "sailor's soap" that lathers in sea water), but they require a high superfat, around 15 to 20%.
Its saponification value is high (257 mg KOH/g): it needs noticeably more lye than most oils, which is why you should always recalculate rather than swap one oil for another "weight for weight".
The reference version here melts at about 24 °C (76 °F). "92 °F" coconut oil is hydrogenated, and fractionated coconut oil, which stays liquid, has a very different composition.
Recommended usage rate
From 15 to 30% of the oils in the recipe.
Values
How much lye for 1 kg?
For 1,000 g of Coconut Oil (76 °F) with 5% superfat:
These amounts apply to a soap made with this oil only. For a blend of oils, use the calculator.
Fatty acid profile
Soap qualities (oil used alone)
Values for a soap made with 100% of this oil, compared with the recommended range for a complete recipe.
Oils with a similar profile
Fats whose fatty acid composition is closest to this one: useful to find a substitute.