Shea Butter and Coconut Milk Soap

Last updated: October 2026

Handmade coconut butter soap: a shea butter and coconut milk bar

A cold-process bar you make at home. Baraka's shea butter and coconut milk soap is a handmade coconut and shea butter soap made by the cold-process method, with shea butter handmade by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana. It combines that shea butter and Baraka's Traditional Coconut Oil with olive oil, castor oil and real coconut milk in place of water, and makes about 4 lb (1,814 g) of soap, or 8 to 10 bars, after a 4 to 6 week cure. The oil in this recipe is coconut oil rather than coconut butter: it gives the bar its hardness and its big, bubbly lather.

Some soaps are made for a rich, tropical treat — this one leans into that with coconut milk giving it a creamy, indulgent character. This traditional cold-process soap follows the fundamentals covered in How to Make Shea Butter Soap, using coconut milk in place of water for a creamier, more nourishing bar. It's a great recipe for anyone who has made cold-process soap at least once before, since the lye and milk measurements matter more than usual. For balms, creams and other bars built on the same butter, see the Definitive Guide to DIY with Shea Butter.

In This Recipe:

• What This Recipe Is For
• Why Make This Yourself
• Why These Ingredients Work Together
• Ingredient by Ingredient
• How to make shea butter and coconut milk soap
• Shea butter and coconut milk soap recipe: the formula at a glance
• Before You Begin: Soap-Making Safety
• Ingredients
• Directions
• Troubleshooting
• Storage and Shelf Life
• Scaling and Substitutions
• Customisation Ideas
• Essential Oils
• Application Tips
• What We Know and How We Know It
• FAQ
• Try These Next
• Disclaimer

What This Recipe Is For

An everyday bar with a creamy lather. This soap is made for daily washing of hands and body, for anyone who loves coconut, and for makers ready to try their first milk soap. Its uses:

• Everyday cleansing with a rich, creamy lather
• A tropical, indulgent addition to a daily wash routine
• Replacing synthetic detergent bars with a traditional, hand-made alternative
• A comforting, luxurious feel for anyone who loves coconut
• Giving as a hand-made gift once fully cured
• Learning how to work with milk in place of water, with a forgiving oil blend

Why Make This Yourself

Intermediate, about 45 minutes, 8 to 10 bars. Skill Level: Intermediate — the process is forgiving in terms of mould choice, but precision matters for the lye and milk measurements. Hands-on time is about 45 minutes, and the recipe yields about 4 lb (1,814 g) of soap, which typically cuts into 8 to 10 bars.

There's something satisfying about watching a liquid oil-and-lye mixture transform into a rich, creamy bar over the course of a few weeks. A commercial coconut milk soap lists its ingredients in order of quantity, so the label shows where coconut milk sits in that bar; in this one, coconut milk is the whole of the liquid, all 13.5 oz (382 g) of it. It's ideal for anyone who enjoys hands-on projects and wants full control over what goes into their soap.

Why These Ingredients Work Together

Two conditioners, two lather-builders, one milk. This bar balances conditioning oils with cleansing and lathering ones, finished with a rich, creamy character from coconut milk. Shea butter contributes deep conditioning and a smooth, creamy bar texture, while Traditional Coconut Oil is the primary cleansing and lathering oil, producing big, bubbly suds.

Olive oil softens the bar's feel and supports mildness, while castor oil boosts and stabilizes the lather that coconut oil starts. Coconut milk replaces water in the lye solution, adding a rich, tropical character and a naturally creamy feel. By weight the oils split into thirds and sixths: one third shea butter, one third coconut oil, and one sixth each of olive and castor oil.

Ingredient by Ingredient

What each ingredient does here. Every ingredient has one job in the bar, and the list below shows what changes if you push it up or down.

• Shea butter: Deeply conditioning, it helps keep the finished bar from feeling drying even with cleansing oils in the mix. At a third of the oils it gives a hard, creamy bar; much more shea makes a softer bar with a slower, lotion-like lather.
• Traditional Coconut Oil: Drives the rich, bubbly lather this soap is known for, and in soapmaking it contributes hardness. This recipe calls for coconut oil, and Baraka's Virgin Coconut Oil is the one it is written around: virgin grade and unrefined, pressed by small-holder farming families in Ghana's Western Region. At a third of the oils it gives a cleansing bar; raise it much higher and the bar starts to feel drying.
• Olive oil: A gentle, mild oil that supports the bar's overall skin-comfort feel. It is slow to trace, which gives you working time; more olive oil makes a milder but softer bar that needs a longer cure.
• Castor oil: Stabilizes and enhances lather, helping bubbles last longer in use. Keep it at about a sixth of the oils or less, because too much castor oil makes a soft, sticky bar.
• Coconut milk: Adds a rich, tropical character and a naturally creamy feel to the finished bar. Use canned, full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk with nothing but coconut and water on the label. Its fat is not counted in the lye calculation, so it adds a little extra conditioning on top of the 5% superfat.
• Sodium hydroxide (lye): The only ingredient that turns the oils into soap. None of it remains in a correctly made, fully cured bar, because it is used up as the oils become soap.

How to make shea butter and coconut milk soap

Cold process, with frozen milk. To make Baraka's shea butter and coconut milk soap, wear gloves and eye protection, stir the lye into frozen coconut milk a little at a time (never the reverse) and let it cool. Melt the shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil, then pour the lye-milk solution into the oils when both are around 100 to 120°F (38 to 49°C). Blend to trace, pour into a mould, leave 24 to 48 hours, then cut and cure the bars for 4 to 6 weeks.

Every step is set out in Directions, after the ingredients and the lye calculation.

Shea butter and coconut milk soap recipe: the formula at a glance

A 48 oz oil batch, 5% superfat. Baraka's shea butter and coconut milk soap recipe uses 48 oz (1,362 g) of oils in a simple ratio: one third shea butter, one third Traditional Coconut Oil, and one sixth each of olive oil and castor oil. The lye is worked out from those oils at a 5% superfat, and coconut milk at twice the weight of the lye is the whole of the liquid. The batch makes about 4 lb (1,814 g) of soap, or 8 to 10 bars, after a 4 to 6 week cure.

The exact weights and the full lye calculation are in Ingredients, directly after the safety steps.

Before You Begin: Soap-Making Safety

Gloves, goggles, air and no children. Lye is caustic until it has turned the oils into soap, so treat the solution, the raw batter and the freshly poured soap as hazardous. Follow these steps every time:

• Wear protective gloves and eye protection whenever you handle lye.
• Work in a well-ventilated area — open a window or work near an extractor fan.
• Always add lye to water or milk, never the reverse.
• Keep lye, raw soap batter, and curing soap well out of reach of children and pets.
• Use stainless steel, heat-resistant glass or heavy plastic marked 5 (polypropylene); lye reacts with aluminium.
• This is an adults-only project from start to finish.

Ingredients

Weigh everything, including the milk. Every oil, the milk and the lye are weighed on a digital scale, never measured by cup.

• Shea Butter — 1 lb (454 g)
• Traditional Coconut Oil — 1 lb (454 g)
• Olive oil — 8 oz (227 g)
• Castor oil — 8 oz (227 g)
• Coconut milk, canned, full-fat and unsweetened — 13.5 oz (382 g)
• Sodium hydroxide (lye), 100% pure — 6.7 oz (191 g)
• Essential oil (optional) — up to 3 tbsp (45 ml) in total; see Essential Oils

Equipment

A scale matters more than anything else. You need a digital scale that reads in grams, a stick blender, a thermometer, two heat-resistant containers, an ice-cube tray, a silicone spatula, and a loaf mould large enough for about 68 oz (1,935 g) of batter.

The lye calculation

Each oil, times its saponification value. A saponification value is how much lye is needed to turn a gram of that oil into soap; no oil contains lye. Each oil's weight is multiplied by its standard value, the results are added together, and 5% is taken off so a little oil stays unsaponified in the bar.

Oil	Weight	Saponification value	Lye needed
Shea butter	1 lb (454 g)	0.128	2.05 oz (58.1 g)
Traditional Coconut Oil	1 lb (454 g)	0.183	2.93 oz (83.1 g)
Olive oil	8 oz (227 g)	0.135	1.08 oz (30.6 g)
Castor oil	8 oz (227 g)	0.128	1.03 oz (29.1 g)
Total before superfat	3 lb (1,362 g)		7.09 oz (200.9 g)
Lye at 5% superfat		× 0.95	6.7 oz (191 g)
Coconut milk		twice the lye	13.5 oz (382 g)

Note: these lye and milk amounts are calculated for this exact oil combination and weights. Check the recipe in a lye calculator before you make it, and if you change any oil or its amount, always re-run the recipe through a soap calculator before making it — see the calculator links in Customisation Ideas.

Directions

Twelve steps, one action each. Read them through once before you start, and have everything weighed and within reach.

1. The day before, pour 13.5 oz (382 g) of coconut milk into an ice-cube tray and freeze it.
2. Put on gloves and eye protection before handling lye.
3. Tip the frozen coconut milk cubes into a heat-resistant container and stand it in a bowl of ice water.
4. Slowly add the 6.7 oz (191 g) of sodium hydroxide to the coconut milk a spoonful at a time (never the reverse), stirring until fully dissolved. The mixture will heat up and may turn pale yellow or tan — set it aside in a ventilated area to cool.
5. Melt the 1 lb (454 g) shea butter, 1 lb (454 g) Traditional Coconut Oil, 8 oz (227 g) olive oil and 8 oz (227 g) castor oil together gently until fully liquid.
6. Check that the lye-milk solution and the oils are both around 100 to 120°F (38 to 49°C).
7. Slowly pour the lye-milk solution into the oils, stirring continuously.
8. Use a stick blender in short bursts, alternating with hand stirring, until the mixture reaches trace — it will thicken and leave a visible trail when you drizzle it across the surface.
9. Stir in the essential oil, if you are using one.
10. Pour the mixture into a soap mould, tap gently to release air bubbles, and cover.
11. Let the soap set in the mould for 24 to 48 hours before unmoulding.
12. Cut into bars once firm enough to handle, then set the bars on their sides in a well-ventilated space to cure for 4 to 6 weeks before use.

Troubleshooting

Most problems come from heat. Milk soaps run warmer than water soaps, so heat is behind most of what goes wrong.

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
The lye-milk solution turned orange or brown and smells of ammonia	The milk sugars scorched because the lye went in too fast or the milk was not cold	Freeze the milk, add the lye a spoonful at a time in an ice bath; a faint ammonia smell fades during the cure
The top of the loaf cracked or rose in a ridge	The soap overheated in the mould	Next time leave it uncovered in a cool room, or put the mould in the fridge for the first 12 hours
The bars are still soft and sticky after 48 hours	Too cool a room, or a weighing error	Wait two or three more days; if it stays soft or greasy, re-check your weights against the lye calculation
A white powder formed on top	Soda ash, from fresh soap meeting the air	It is harmless; plane or steam it off, and cover the poured soap with plastic wrap next time
The batter thickened too fast to pour	Mixing too hot, or a fast-moving essential oil	Spoon it into the mould and tap it down; soap a little cooler next time
Orange spots appear on cured bars	Oils going rancid in warm or damp storage	Store bars cool, dry and airy, and use the oldest first

Storage and Shelf Life

Cure 4 to 6 weeks, then keep it dry. Cure time is 4 to 6 weeks; do not use the soap before curing is complete, as it needs this time to fully harden and mellow. Store fully cured bars in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight — a drawer or shelf with airflow works well.

Once cured, bars typically keep well for 12 to 18 months. The limit is the small share of unsaponified oil and milk fat left in the bar on purpose, which slowly ages with heat and light. Between uses, store on a well-draining soap dish to extend the life of each bar.

Scaling and Substitutions

Scale the oils, then recalculate the lye. To halve or double the batch, scale every oil, then work the lye and milk out again from the new weights rather than simply halving or doubling the old figures.

Ingredient	Half batch	Double batch
Shea butter	8 oz (227 g)	2 lb (907 g)
Traditional Coconut Oil	8 oz (227 g)	2 lb (907 g)
Olive oil	4 oz (113 g)	1 lb (454 g)
Castor oil	4 oz (113 g)	1 lb (454 g)
Sodium hydroxide (lye), at 5% superfat	3.4 oz (95 g)	13.4 oz (381 g)
Coconut milk, twice the lye	6.7 oz (190 g)	26.9 oz (762 g)
Yield, about	2 lb (907 g), 4 to 5 bars	8 lb (3,629 g), 16 to 20 bars

To swap the coconut milk for water, use the same 13.5 oz (382 g) of water: the liquid is not part of the lye calculation, so the lye stays at 6.7 oz (191 g). Goat's milk can replace the coconut milk at the same weight, handled the same frozen way. Changing any oil, even for one with a similar feel, changes the lye: re-run the new oil weights through a lye calculator before you make it.

Customisation Ideas

Change the look, not the oils. These ideas leave the formula as it is, apart from the last one.

• Add a scent with a tropical-leaning essential oil such as lime, stirred in at trace within the limit in Essential Oils, or a coconut fragrance oil at its maker's usage rate.
• Add texture with a tablespoon of shredded coconut for a decorative, textured finish.
• Adjust the mould to individual bar moulds instead of a loaf mould for a different shape.
• Always recalculate lye and milk amounts with a soap calculator (see links below) before changing any oil or its weight.

Popular soap calculators (external links, always re-run before adjusting oils): SoapCalc.net, HSCG Lye Calculator, LyeCalc.com.

Essential Oils

Optional, and capped at 3 tbsp. This soap works unscented, with a faint sweet note from the coconut milk. If you add essential oil, Baraka's recommended limit for soap is no more than 1 tbsp of essential oil in total per 16 oz (454 g) of oils, which for this 48 oz (1,362 g) batch is no more than 3 tbsp (45 ml) in total, for all essential oils together.

Lime suits the coconut, and because this is a rinse-off bar, a citrus oil is a reasonable choice here. Add it at trace, and expect some essential oils to speed up trace, so have the mould ready.

Application Tips

A light lather goes a long way. Use like any bar soap for hands, face, or body — lather with warm water and rinse well. A soap dish with drainage will help the bar last longer between uses. Because this soap is rich in conditioning oils and milk, a light lather goes a long way; no need to scrub aggressively.

What We Know and How We Know It

Standard practice, standard values. The method and the lye calculation follow standard cold-process soapmaking practice, using the standard published saponification values that common lye calculators such as SoapCalc use. The handling of coconut milk, from freezing it to adding the lye slowly, is common practice in the home soapmaking community. Statements about Baraka's shea butter and coconut oil come from Baraka's own product documentation, and the impact figures come from Baraka's Social and Environmental Impact Report.

FAQ

How do I make shea butter and coconut milk soap at home?
At home you need a digital scale, a stick blender, a thermometer, a loaf mould and about 45 minutes, plus gloves and eye protection for the lye. The work itself is cold-process soapmaking with one change: frozen coconut milk takes the place of water. Once poured, the soap sets in the mould for a day or two and then cures on a shelf for 4 to 6 weeks before it is ready to use. Every step is in Directions above, and the weights are in Ingredients.

What's a good DIY soap recipe with coconut milk?
A good coconut milk soap pairs the milk with a balanced oil blend, and Baraka's shea butter and coconut milk soap does that with shea butter for conditioning, Traditional Coconut Oil for lather and hardness, and olive and castor oil for mildness and lasting bubbles. Coconut milk makes up the whole of the liquid, so its creamy character comes through in the finished bar. A 5% superfat keeps the bar gentle, and the formula is forgiving enough for a maker on their second or third batch. For a dairy milk bar instead, try the goat's milk or cow milk versions in Try These Next.

Can I use coconut milk in place of water in soap?
Yes — coconut milk is commonly used in place of water in cold-process soap, adding a rich, creamy character and tropical feel to the finished bar. Use the same weight of coconut milk as the water a recipe calls for, because the liquid is not part of the lye calculation. The milk's natural sugars heat up when the lye goes in, so freeze the milk first and add the lye a spoonful at a time. Expect a pale tan colour rather than white, and a soap that runs warmer in the mould than a water-based batch.

How long does homemade soap need to cure?
Cold-process soap like this typically needs 4 to 6 weeks to cure fully. Curing lets excess water evaporate and allows the bar to harden, so don't use it before this time is up. During the cure the bars lose weight and become milder and longer-lasting in the shower, which is why a fully cured bar wears down more slowly than a fresh one. Stand the bars on their sides with air around them, turn them once a week, and keep them out of direct sun while they cure.

The Impact of Your Purchase

When you make skincare with Baraka ingredients, you are buying from women's cooperatives that earn fair wages and keep traditional processing methods alive. Baraka's 2025 Social and Environmental Impact Report records income opportunities for more than 3,000 women in northern Ghana, over $100,000 invested in women's enterprise infrastructure, and equipment and fuel recovery that have cut the carbon impact of shea processing by up to 90%. At the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region, Baraka's shea butter is made by hand, and the waste left over from making it is dried into fuel blocks that fire the next batch. Baraka also offsets 100% of the carbon cost of shipping to customers. You get full transparency about what touches your skin and your family's skin, and about where it came from.

To see how Baraka's shea butter is made, step by step, read How Handmade Shea Butter is Made. Meet one of the women behind Baraka's shea butter in this short film: Shea Butter Producer: Zenabo Imoro.

Shop the Baraka Ingredients in This Recipe

Both Baraka ingredients in this soap are unrefined and Community Certified Fair Trade.

Shea Butter | Shop Shea Butter | Baraka's unrefined shea butter, strained and filtered only, is handmade at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana; in this soap it brings the conditioning and the creamy texture of the bar.

Traditional Coconut Oil | Shop Traditional Coconut Oil | Virgin grade, mechanically pressed and unrefined; in soapmaking it contributes hardness and abundant lather.

Browse the rest of the range in Butters and Oils, or start with a Recipe Kit.

Try These Next

More bars built on shea butter. If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like:

• Shea Butter and Goats Milk Soap — the same milk-soap technique with goat's milk, for a dairy version of this bar.
• Creamy Cow Milk and Shea Butter Soap — another milk soap, made with cow's milk for a creamy everyday bar.
• Honey and Shea Butter Soap — a warm, sweet bar that pairs honey with shea butter.
• Shea Butter and Aloe Vera Soap — a fresh, gentle variation that swaps the milk for aloe vera.
• Shea Butter and Turmeric Soap — a golden-toned, earthy variation for a different everyday bar.
• Shea Butter and Eucalyptus Soap — a fresh, herbal variation for a different clarifying character.
• Shea Butter and Vanilla Bean Soap — a warm, sweet-scented option for a comforting everyday bar.
• Shea Butter and Cinnamon Soap — a warm, spiced variation for a different cozy scent profile.
• Shea Butter and Orange Oil Soap — a bright, citrusy variation for a different energizing bar.

About These Ingredients

This recipe is expanded from our comprehensive Definitive Guide to DIY with Shea Butter, which explores additional formulations, ingredient options, and variations. Visit the full guide for more approaches to shea-based DIY skincare.

Disclaimer

The information on this page is for general education. It reflects traditional use, reported experience and, where noted, published research. It has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada. Baraka products are cosmetics and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or medical condition. Always patch test a new ingredient, keep products away from the eyes and out of reach of children, and speak to a qualified healthcare provider about any skin or health condition. If you add essential oils, use no more than the amount given, and leave them out for young children, during pregnancy and on sensitive skin. Individual results vary.

About the Author

Wayne Dunn is the founder of Baraka Impact and a former Professor of Practice in Sustainability at McGill University. He holds an M.Sc. in Management from Stanford and has spent over 15 years working directly with the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Ghana's Upper West Region to source traditionally made shea butter. He shares DIY skincare recipes and ingredient guides designed to be made at home with real ingredients — and sourced with full transparency about where they come from.