Sodium cocoate sounds like something from a lab, but it is the ingredient-list name for coconut oil soap: the sodium salts of the fatty acids in coconut oil. It is the soap in our Solid Coconut Soap Dish Bar, where it loosens everyday grease from dishes so it rinses away.
Quick facts
- What it is: Coconut oil soap. Technical name: fatty acids, coco, sodium salts.
- Its job in our products: Soap. It lifts oils and dirt so they rinse away.
- Where it comes from: Coconut oil, reacted with sodium hydroxide.
- EPA Safer Choice: Green circle.
- EWG grade: A. See the EWG entry.
- CAS number: 61789-31-9
Reading the name
"Sodium" is the sodium in the salt, which comes from the sodium hydroxide the oil is reacted with. "Cocoate" tells you the fatty acids come from coconut oil. About half of those, 45.1 to 53.2% under the international Codex standard, are lauric acid.
The same substance goes by three names: sodium cocoate on ingredient lists; "fatty acids, coco, sodium salts" on EPA's list; and saponified coconut oil, which names the process instead of the product. Three names, one soap, one CAS number. The reaction also produces glycerin. Our saponified coconut oil page walks through how that reaction works and why soap cleans.
What it does at your sink
When you wet a brush or sponge and rub it on the bar, some of the soap dissolves into the water. Each soap molecule has a grease-loving tail and a water-loving head. The tails grip the oily film on pans, plates and utensils, and the heads hold it in the water, so the grease comes away with the rinse. For baked-on food, a hot-water soak first gives the soap a head start.
One honest trade-off: hard water
Hardness is mostly dissolved calcium and magnesium, and those minerals react with soap to form scum. The U.S. Geological Survey counts water above 120 mg/L (as calcium carbonate) as hard and above 180 as very hard. If your tap is in that range, expect a little more film on dishes, and rinse each piece under running water until the lather is gone. Our water page has the full hardness scale.
How EPA, EWG and HERA rate it
The green circle is for the ingredient. It does not make our bar Safer Choice certified, and we do not claim it does. See how we vet ingredients.
HERA, the European cleaning industry's ingredient risk assessment program, assessed soaps (fatty acid salts) in household detergents and cleaning products. It concluded that this use poses no concern in any environmental compartment and does not raise safety concerns for consumers. That review covers the ingredient in household products generally, not our bar.
Handling and safety
Soap is alkaline, so it can dry or irritate skin for some people, and it can irritate eyes. Use the bar as directed, and let it drain on a soap dish between uses so it does not go soft. If your hands dry out easily, gloves help when you have a full sink of dishes. Keep the bar on its draining dish toward the back of the counter, away from small hands and curious pets. If soap gets in eyes, rinse cautiously with water for several minutes. If any is swallowed, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, free and open 24 hours a day.
Which Green Llama products use it
- Solid Coconut Soap Dish Bar
- Dish Washing Starter Pack
- Expert Home Cleaner Kit (includes scented sprays)
- Home Kitchen Kit (fragrance-free)
- Dish Starter Kit (fragrance-free)
Full ingredient lists are on each product page. Or browse all our ingredients →
Sources
- America's Poison Centers. (n.d.). Get poison help. https://poisoncenters.org/get-poison-help
- Codex Alimentarius Commission. (1999). Codex standard for named vegetable oils (CODEX-STAN 210-1999). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/4/y2774e/y2774e04.htm
- Environmental Working Group. (n.d.). Sodium cocoate. EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning. https://www.ewg.org/cleaners/substances/5534-SODIUMCOCOATE/
- Human & Environmental Risk Assessment on Ingredients of Household Cleaning Products. (n.d.). Fatty acid salts [Human health and environmental risk assessments]. HERA. https://www.heraproject.com/substance/fatty-acid-salts-2/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Safer Chemical Ingredients List. Safer Choice. https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/safer-ingredients
- U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Water basics glossary. https://water.usgs.gov/water-basics_glossary.html
