Solid Dish Soap Bar
High-coconut, low-superfat cleaning bar for dishes. Cuts grease without the plastic bottle.
A solid bar that replaces bottled dish liquid. The high coconut percentage gives huge oil-cutting lather, and we drop the superfat to 1% so very little oil is left unsaponified — this is the part that matters for greasy plates. A pinch of fine sea salt hardens the bar so it lasts longer in a wet sink. No fragrance: kitchen surfaces shouldn't smell like a perfume counter, and unscented soap is safest around food prep.
Ingredients (1 kg batch)
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
Coconut oil 76° Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil | 800.0 g (80%) |
Olive oil Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil | 150.0 g (15%) |
Castor oil Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil | 50.0 g (5%) |
NaOH (lye) | 178.5 g (99% purity) |
Distilled water | 330.0 g |
Sea salt | 10.0 g (1% of oils) |
Open the recipe in the calculator to scale up or down by gram, ounce, kg, or pound.
Expected qualities
Step-by-step
- Standard CP procedure with PPE on. High-coconut bars saponify fast, so don't wander off.
- Weigh oils and warm to 38–43°C (100–110°F) — the bar will thicken quickly because of the coconut.
- Mix lye-water and let cool. Standard 33% lye concentration is fine.
- Combine, stick-blend in short pulses to a light-medium trace.
- Stir in fine sea salt at light trace and pour quickly — high-coconut + salt traces hard within a minute.
- Pour into a lined loaf or individual moulds. Tap to release air.
- Unmould after 12–24 hours — sooner than a normal bar because high-coconut sets fast.
- Cut into chunky pieces (you want a heavier bar in a sink than on a soap dish).
- Cure 6 weeks. Salt + low superfat = a bar that's harsh-feeling on hands when fresh; it mellows beautifully with cure.
Notes & troubleshooting
- Use this on dishes, not skin. The 1% superfat that makes it cut grease will dry your hands raw if you wash with it.
- Store in a draining holder — this bar lasts months but only if it dries between uses.
- Skip the salt if you live somewhere with very hard water; salt + hard water = scummy lather. Add 0.5% sodium citrate instead.
- If you want a scent, peppermint or eucalyptus EO at 1% adds a clean kitchen smell without overpowering the rinse.
Calculator-flagged recipe notes
- Coconut oil over 30% can be drying. Consider raising superfat to 20% if you go higher (salt bars often use 20%).
- Cleansing score 54 is above the 22 range — bar may be drying.
Regulatory disclaimer
FormulaNorth helps organize cosmetic formulation, label, costing, and CNF preparation information. It is not legal or regulatory advice and does not replace Health Canada guidance, professional regulatory review, or the maker's responsibility to verify product compliance before sale.
Selling in Canada?
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