BS, Dietetics and Nutrition
Coconut oil is one of the most beneficial oils you can use. It is good for health, skin, hair, weight loss, etc. But, can you make this oil at home? Yes, you can indeed!
I will tell you how to make coconut oil for hair, skin, and various other purposes.
Just so that you know, coconut oil has more than 50% of healthy fatty acids. That makes the oil slightly above all the other oils. It is an effective anti-inflammatory agent, which is why it also helps in maintaining your health.
Coconut oil is available in any general or grocery store near you. If not, you can buy it online as well. But, if you wish to make it at home, you can do that too.
The process is straightforward. Also, you will enjoy making the oil at home.
Before we get into how to make coconut oil, I will broadly classify the two types of coconut oils. One is refined coconut oil, and the other is virgin coconut oil.
Virgin coconut oil is taken out of the coconut kernels with a wet process.
The coconut kernel is used fresh within 2-3 days of plucking from the trees in the wet process. It is always better to use virgin coconut oil for all purposes.
So, I will explain the different ways of making virgin, extra virgin, and cold-pressed coconut oil.
How to Make Coconut Oil for Hair?
Let’s start with making coconut oil for hair. When it is about your hair, it will be great to mix some additional herbs as well. It will just add to the nutrition for your hair.
Coconut oil can be used in various ways to benefit your hair. You can use it as a moisturizer, conditioner, detangler, etc. But first, let me come to how to make coconut oil for hair.
You will need:
- 2 mature coconuts
- Knife
- Blender
- 2 wide-mouthed jars
- Muslin cloth
- Strainer Pandeep pot
Instructions:
- Take the two mature coconuts, and make a small hole in them. Take out the coconut water from inside. You can drink coconut water or use it in your smoothies or shakes.
- After emptying the water from inside, break these coconuts open. Take out the coconut meat with the help of a knife but be very careful.
- Once you have the coconut meat, slice all the pieces into small particles. It will help you to take out the milk from it.
- Take parts of these sliced coconut pieces in a blender, add some water, and blend.
- Repeat it with all the slices of the coconut to get a milk-like mixture.
- Strain this mixture to extract the milk. Take the extract and squeeze it in a muslin cloth to take out all the leftover milk in it.
- Now you can throw the remaining extract. It is of no use.
- Take a pan and heat the milk that you have extracted. This process will separate the oil, water, and rest of the things.
- Heat this until you see the milk extract turning golden brown and the oil gets separated from it.
- Once it turns golden brown and the oil gets separated, take a muslin cloth and filter the oil out of the remains.
- What you get is virgin coconut oil.
Benefits of Using Coconut Oil for Hair
Coconut oil is beneficial for hair. Some benefits of coconut oil are listed below:
- Coconut oil is a great conditioner for hair.
- You can moisturize your hair with coconut oil.
- If you face a major problem in detangling your hair, apply some coconut oil to the comb and then try. It will minimize your effort.
- You can use it to reduce hair fall and dandruff. Massage your head with coconut oil one hour before taking a bath.
How to Use Coconut Oil for Hair
You can mix other things in coconut oil and increase its benefits. Here is how:
Use Coconut Oil with Almond Oil
Almonds can give you Vitamins. Mix 2 – 3 drops of Almond Oil to one tablespoon coconut oil. Heat this and gently massage the oil mixture into your scalp, twice a week, for 5 – 10 minutes.
Wash your hair with cold water and a mild shampoo.
Use Coconut Oil with Indian Gooseberry
Indian Gooseberry can help protect your hair from falling. Mix one tablespoon of dried Indian gooseberry to two tablespoons of coconut oil. Heat the mixture and massage it into your scalp for the best results.
Use Coconut Oil with Fenugreek Seeds
If you are looking forward to making your hair thicker and prevent them from falling, get some fenugreek seeds and heat them with coconut oil.
Heat it till you get the aroma of fenugreek seeds. Massage your scalp gently with the mixture twice a week.
Use Coconut Oil with Lemon Juice
Mix half the lemon juice then the coconut oil in a bowl. Do not heat it. Mix well and apply this to your scalp. It will eliminate your dandruff problems.
Use Coconut Oil with Honey
Coconut oil mixed with honey is a great conditioning mask for hair. Do not heat the coconut oil. Suppose it is in a solid state; heat a little to melt it. Once it is liquid and cool, mix honey in it.
The quantities of honey and coconut oil should be equal.
How to Make Coconut Oil For Skin?
You can make coconut oil for your skin in the same way that I explained coconut oil for hair.
You can use virgin coconut oil for hair and skin, but you have to use extra virgin coconut oil for cooking. I will cover this part later.
You can use coconut oil for various skin problems. It is beneficial to your skin in many ways. It can act as a moisturizer, makeup cleanser, etc.
But, apart from the oil, you can also make coconut lotion or coconut butter from the oil. It is all the more beneficial for you.
To make the coconut lotion at home, you will need:
- Hand Mixer/blender
- Jar
- Virgin Coconut Oil
- Vitamin E
- Essential Oils for Fragrance
- Almond Oil
Instructions:
- Put the virgin coconut oil in a jar. The quantity depends on your choice, but you can take one cup of coconut oil.
- Take the Vitamin E capsules, and add 5 – 6 drops of it to the coconut oil.
- Add 3 – 4 drops of almond oil if that suits your skin. Make sure it is good quality almond oil.
- Lastly, add the essential oils for fragrance. It is as per your wish. You can omit this step if you want.
- Take the hand mixer or blender and set it to whip the whole mixture. Whip the whole thing for about 6 to 7 minutes.
- You will get the gorgeous coconut butter or lotion that you can store and use. If you refrigerate the whole thing, it will solidify and turn into a bar that you can store easily.
Benefits of Coconut Oil for Skin
- Coconut oil can protect your skin against different diseases and disorders like eczema.
- You can use coconut oil in case of a rash on your skin and irritations.
- Coconut oil can also help you remove tanning and make the skin clean and fairer.
- It can also heal your dryness in the skin. Protect your skin from acne and itchiness with coconut oil.
How to Use Coconut Oil for Skin
You can use coconut oil for skin in vivid ways. Have a look at the list below:
Use Coconut Oil as a Moisturizer
You can soothe your dry skin anytime, anywhere by applying coconut oil. It will leave your skin tender and moist.
Use Coconut Oil to Remove Makeup
Instead of using the makeup removal creams on your face, use coconut oil. It is healthy and good.
Use Coconut Oil to Add Lustre to your Skin
Highlight your skin or cheekbones by applying some coconut oil. It will give your skin a natural luster.
Use Coconut Oil to Shave
Before shaving your legs or hands, apply coconut oil and massage for a minute. It will smoothen the skin and hair, and it will be easier for you to remove or shave your hair.
It will also protect your skin from dryness or post-shaving irritations.
How to Use Coconut Oil For Cooking?
Source: Pixabay
While you can use virgin coconut oil for your hair and skin, it is invariable to use extra virgin coconut oil for cooking.
The difference between virgin and extra virgin coconut oil is that the extra virgin coconut oil production does not involve heat in the process.
How to Make Coconut Oil Without Heat (Cold Pressed)?
I will tell you how to make the extra virgin coconut oil for cooking, at home, by the cold-pressed method.
You will need:
- 2 mature coconuts
- Knife
- Grater
- 2 wide-mouthed jars
- Muslin cloth
- Strainer
- Pan
Instructions:
- Take the two mature coconuts or as many as you want to. Please make a small hole in it with a screwdriver and take out the coconut water from inside. You can drink that water or add it to your smoothies.
- After taking out the water, break open the coconuts. Take out the coconut meat with the help of a knife but be very careful.
- Once you have the coconut meat, take the grater and grate all the pieces of the coconut.
- Make sure to shred the pieces very finely, as the larger pieces will give less oil.
- Because we are not using the heating method here, you might get a lesser quantity of oil than the other methods.
- Now, take all the shredded pieces of the coconuts in a muslin cloth. Put this in a wide-mouthed jar.
- Squeeze the muslin cloth to separate the coconut milk. Do this again to make sure the maximum amount of milk is separated.
- You can throw the remains of the coconut. Take the milk and add it to a large pan with a lid.
- Allow it to ferment for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you will see layers formed in the milk.
- Now, the cream is separate from the coconut oil. To scrape the cream off, allow it to cool in a refrigerator for 5 hours. You can now scrape off the cream and take the oil beneath.
- Filter this extra virgin coconut oil again with a muslin cloth and keep it in a jar to store.
Benefits of Coconut Oil for Cooking
- Coconut oil has more than 50% of healthy fats. Extra virgin coconut oil has slightly more.
- Coconut oil also helps in weight loss and is an anti-inflammatory.
- It can help your body to prevent fungal, bacterial, and viral infections.
- It also helps in regulating the metabolism of your body and sugar level in the blood.
- It gets digested easily as compared to the other oils. It can also release energy quickly as it involves a smaller process to release energy.
- Above all, coconut oil gives a superb flavor to the food.
How to Use Coconut Oil for Cooking
- You can use coconut oil in your stir-fries daily. I use coconut oil as much as I can. Coconut oil can be used to roast the meat as well. It has a very high melting point which makes it safe to use.
- If you are looking to lose weight with coconut oil, start using it in your food preparations.
- It is low fat and high energy oil.
I hope this was an interesting read for you. If you like my suggestions for how to make coconut oil for different purposes, do share it with your friends as well.
For any questions, you can always use the comments section below. I will be happy to answer them.
