Household cleaning soap recipe| COCOÉCO blog

100% effective, 100% coconut oil

Are you looking for an easy DIY household soap to scrub your pots and pans, clean your floors, launder your linens, AND make your countertops sparkle? Look no further, Let’s Go Coco is what you need!

This cold process soap uses 100% coconut oil as the lipid in this recipe and is formulated for household use only (not for your body). Because this recipe uses only coconut oil, it yields a soap with strong detergent action. And the essential oils we’ve chosen give it degreasing and sanitizing properties. It’s perfect for cleaning your house from top to bottom and doing your laundry too!

Now, Let’s Go Coco with this household cleaning soap recipe!

How to make household cleaning soap

Ingredients

Oil

350 g (63.6%) coconut oil

Good to know!

WARNING: Coconut oil will make your soap thicken very quickly. We recommend working with your mixtures around 30°C so that you don’t reach trace too soon.
The ratio of water to sodium hydroxide in this recipe is 1.75:1. This helps prevent the soap batter from thickening too quickly and is necessary because coconut oil speeds up trace.
This recipe uses a superfat of 3%, achieved by reducing the quantity of sodium hydroxide. This helps mitigate the drying action of the soap.
Coconut oil is made up of various fatty acids, predominantly lauric acid. When saponified, lauric acid gives soap detergent properties. This 100% coconut soap is thus highly detergent and should only be used for household cleaning purposes. It is not intended for body use!
Coconut oil is also very rich in stearic acid, which will yield a very hard soap. We recommend pouring the soap into individual molds, as it will be difficult to cut a larger soap into bars.
The essential oils were chosen for their antiseptic and degreasing properties, which make them perfect for this household soap recipe.
Orris root powder helps fix the scents. You can replace it with the same quantity of the clay of your choosing, but keep in mind that most clays will lightly colour you soap. If you would rather not colour your soap, we recommend using white clay.
When your homemade soap has finished curing, you can use it for various kinds of cleaning. You can create your own multi-purpose cleaner (dilute 1–3% soap shavings in water), use it to do your dishes (just use the bar as is), or to make a homemade laundry detergent (use 3–5% soap shavings and 1–2% baking soda in water, then use as you would a normal laundry detergent).

Steps to follow

Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
Take the necessary precautions for handling sodium hydroxide safely.
Prepare the sodium hydroxide solution: weigh the water in a Pyrex measuring cup or HDPE jar, weigh the sodium hydroxide, pour the sodium hydroxide into the water, mix well, and set aside to cool.
Weigh the coconut oil in the large bowl and melt. When melted, remove it from the heat.
Weigh the essential oils in a ramekin, then add the orris root powder. Mix and set aside.
When the coconut oil and sodium hydroxide solution have both cooled to around 30°C, pour the sodium hydroxide solution into the oil. Mix with the immersion blender and the spatula until you reach medium trace.
At medium trace, pour the essential oils and orris root powder mixture into the soap batter. Mix with the spatula so that the scents are evenly distributed.
Pour the soap into the molds. Cover the soap and leave it to harden for at least 24 hours.
Wear gloves to unmold the soap. Leave in a cool, dry place to cure for four to six weeks.

Use and conservation

This soap is specifically formulated for dishes, cleaning, and laundry. It is not formulated for skin use. You do not have to wear gloves to use it, but it may irritate sensitive and dry skin.

When made in optimal sanitary conditions, it will keep for at least one year.