Guest guest Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 What is the difference between coconut oil and virgin coconut oil? I know virgin is unrefined but what has been refined out of it? I know about shea being refined and unrefined and I've seen and smelled the difference in the two, but I'm not sure about coconut oil. Thanks, Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 On Oct 26, 2008, at 5:33 PM, susan wrote: > What is the difference between coconut oil and virgin coconut oil? I > know virgin is unrefined but what has been refined out of it? I know > about shea being refined and unrefined and I've seen and smelled the > difference in the two, but I'm not sure about coconut oil. Thanks, > Susan Coconut is one of those oils where refining makes a huge difference. They're like two different oils. The refining process involves high heat (much higher than you'd get through a home setup) and sometimes chemicals. Refined coconut oil has no smell or taste. It is extremely greasy and is awful on skin and hair and will stain fabric. Unrefined (aka virgin--there is a slight technical difference, but don't worry about it) coconut oil has a strong coconut smell and taste. It is not greasy and is really nice on skin and hair, though you can use too much. It does not stain fabric (it washes out). Refined and unrefined coconut oils look the same. Both are white. They scoop out of the jar in similar ways. The difference is in the feel and residue. I use unrefined coconut on my hair and skin and I eat it. I won't even consider doing any of those things with refined. So I'd only use unrefined in a straight body care product. But what about soap? I've used both. When saponified, the extreme differences are lessened. But I think that unrefined makes better soap. Even with 100% coconut soap, there is no coconut smell left after saponification, so that's not a consideration. I can't tell you about taste :-) Cyndi Tikvah Organics http://www.tikvah.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Thank you, I have a jar of organic coconut oil but it doesn't indicate that it is refined, unrefined or virgin. However, it smells strongly of coconut. Therefore, this would be the unrefined type? Thank you, Susan , Cyndi Norwitz <cyndi wrote: > > > On Oct 26, 2008, at 5:33 PM, susan wrote: > > > What is the difference between coconut oil and virgin coconut oil? I > > know virgin is unrefined but what has been refined out of it? I know > > about shea being refined and unrefined and I've seen and smelled the > > difference in the two, but I'm not sure about coconut oil. Thanks, > > Susan > > Coconut is one of those oils where refining makes a huge difference. > They're like two different oils. The refining process involves high > heat (much higher than you'd get through a home setup) and sometimes > chemicals. > > Refined coconut oil has no smell or taste. It is extremely greasy > and is awful on skin and hair and will stain fabric. > > Unrefined (aka virgin--there is a slight technical difference, but > don't worry about it) coconut oil has a strong coconut smell and > taste. It is not greasy and is really nice on skin and hair, though > you can use too much. It does not stain fabric (it washes out). > > Refined and unrefined coconut oils look the same. Both are white. > They scoop out of the jar in similar ways. The difference is in the > feel and residue. > > I use unrefined coconut on my hair and skin and I eat it. I won't > even consider doing any of those things with refined. So I'd only > use unrefined in a straight body care product. > > But what about soap? I've used both. When saponified, the extreme > differences are lessened. But I think that unrefined makes better > soap. Even with 100% coconut soap, there is no coconut smell left > after saponification, so that's not a consideration. I can't tell > you about taste :-) > > Cyndi > Tikvah Organics > http://www.tikvah.com/ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 On Oct 27, 2008, at 8:11 AM, susan wrote: > Thank you, I have a jar of organic coconut oil but it doesn't indicate > that it is refined, unrefined or virgin. However, it smells strongly > of coconut. Therefore, this would be the unrefined type? Usually companies will say what it is. Unrefined costs more so they like to brag about it. The smell means it either is unrefined or a blend. Taste it too. Cyndi Tikvah Organics http://www.tikvah.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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