Best Way to Liquify Solid Coconut Oil?

[RecklessCharlie]

So I just purchased my first ever tub of 100% unrefined coconut oil! I'm very excited to use it in various different ways but I'm wondering what the best method for getting it to a liquid state is? Stove top? Microwave? Set it in a tub of warm water?
Advice and ideas welcomed!!:)

[Kiwiwi]

Depends on how you want to use it.
If youwant to use only coconut oil and just a little bit to apply to your hair your can rub it between your hands and it will melt.
If you want to mix it with other oils for a treatment I believe a few seconds in the microwave should do it. But take some out of the jar and put it in a bowl or something. Don't microwave the whole jar ^_^

[ladyfey]

By the way, it is great used on your skin instead of lotion!

[Kiwiwi]

By the way, it is great used on your skin instead of lotion!

Not for me. I get horrible cystic acne from coconut oil. :(

EDIT: On my face, I mean. If you meant on the body then yes ^_^

[MissHair]

If you're only going to use a tiny amount on your ends I would suggest you cut up a piece with a knife and let it melt in your hands and then rub it into your hair. Generally I would just cut a piece and put it in a pot on the stove, microwave works just fine too.

[jaquelines]

i boil water, place this in a larger bowl than cut a piece of it, depending on how much i need, put it in a smaller bowl and please the small bowl in the big one.
when i don`t have time i use the microwave.
but recently i have received as a gift a tiny pan which works perfect. i place the piece i`ve cut in the pan, medium level , until it becomes liquid.

[pepperminttea]

I keep most of mine in the fridge, but a little bit in a very small jar in my bedroom. It stays warm and soft in here - and nice and easy to use - without the risk of a large amount of it going rancid.

[Vasilissa]

Microwave is the fastest one, but I like to do like this:

1. Turn on one oven burner, let it heat up a bit;
2. Meanwhile put the necessary amount of coconut oil in something that you can place later on top of that burner (don't use anything that can melt or burst, no plastic and etc.). I use small metallic container which I have for this purpose.
3. 2-3 minutes later. When the burner is heated up turn off the heat and place that container (with the portion of coconut oil in it) on top of the warm/hot burner. Keep it there for about minute or so...
4. Carefully take it of from the burner (watch your fingers - for the first minutes the container can be hot).

Done! Now you can carefully apply it!

For me it's the simpliest way.

Ofcourse if the jar with oil has very narrow neck and you can't squeeze anything out from it (because the oil is cold and solid, hehe :D) you can try to place the all jar in the microwave, I think 400w and one minute is more that enough for first try, for 100 ml jar with oil. Be carefull - sometimes label may contain foil or foil-paint. If it does don't place the jar in microwave or take that label off.

[RecklessCharlie]

Wonderful suggestions everyone! :)
I am wanting to try using the Coconut oil mixed with a mild shampoo for an 'oil shampoo' since the weather and air is so dry right now.
I'm also going to use it just on my ends as well.

[spidermom]

I just scrape some up on the back of a fingernail, then rub it between my hands.

[omnivore]

I either scrape it up and melt it in my hands, set the jar in a sunny window or in a basin of hot water.

When the jar gets to having less than half an inch of solid oil in the bottom, it goes to the boudoir and we keep a table knife in the jar for scraping out the solid oil.

[Shermie Girl]

Like Spidermom, I just scrape up a little with the back of my nail and melt it between my hands. If I need a larger amount liquefied, I just hit the surface with my blow dryer set on high for a minute or two until I have as much liquid oil as I need. Easy-peasy. :D

[ktani]

In a hurry when doing oil shampoo, I scraped out coconut oil straight from the jar I kept in the fridge, into a small plastic scoop (from protein powder) and ran very warm water over the bottom of it. It melted the coconut oil in a few seconds.

[Keller1128]

When I put it on my hair, I just take a chunk and rub it between my hands until it melts. It really doesn't even take much to melt it. I had it sitting by my laptop the other day and the heat from the fan turned the contents in the bottom of the jar to liquid. Sometimes I'll do an SMT and add coconut oil - then I just put in a little in the mixture and microwave it. I do the same sometimes with coconut and EVOO - just a little microwaved in a bowl. HTH.

[PixxieStix]

I keep a small jar in the bathroom for oiling the ends of my hair after washing, just scrape some out with my finger nails or pads of my finger (I take HOT showers sometimes, and often that is enough to get it all softened up if not melted), rub it around for a few seconds and apply.

If I need to add some to my whipped Shea body butter, I'll get some out of the jar in the fridge and put it in a microwave safe bowl and zap it in there, or add it to the other oils in a makeshift double boiler. It's so easy and fast to melt, even sticking it in a bowl of warm water is sure to get you soft or liquid CO in no time!

[Vanilla]

I run the bottle under hot water when I'm drawing a bath. I have a small flip top squirt bottle with my coconut oil in it. And it liquefies in about a minute under the hot bath water.

[heidi w.]

A teensy bit is all that's needed for oiling the hair (length only is my recommendation).

So a no more than a fingernail full scraped off and put in the palm, and then rub the palms together is all that's needed for "melting" the coconut oil for use in the hair.

There is no need to melt the entire tub of coconut oil. You just don't need anywhere near that amount of oil.

There are instructions in the articles section on LHC regarding how to oil one's hair, if that's your interest.

All you need is a sheer sheen applied to the palms (rubbed between the palms of the hands), the sheen being only visible as one tilts their hand about in the available light. No pool of oil, no need for a tablespoon or a teaspoon, really. Very, very little is needed.

ETA: store your supply of coconut oil in the refrigerator. It melts really easy even indoors in the summertime, and especially watch it in a car. END ETA

heidi w.

[spidermom]

I love scraping up a bit of coconut oil and dumping it on my waffle iron. It melts almost immediately. (this is for cooking, not my hair)

[Rilig]

I just pluck the whole jar into a mug or hot water.

[hairyfan21]

I think you can just gently melt it over a stove on low fire right? I have a few friends from Bangladesh and they cook and do everything with coconut oil including using it on their skin as a moisturizer or to make their hair shiny. They just melt it over a stove on low fire in the winter, and in the summer its hot enough that coconut oil is already liquid.

[woolyleprechaun]

I just warm it up in my hands, but if I need to actualy melt a fair bit I stand it in a bowl of hot water :)

[BlazingHeart]

By the way, it is great used on your skin instead of lotion!

Coconut oil is actually pretty prone to clogging pores, so if you are prone to that at all, it's not a good oil for you. I can't use it on my skin, it breaks me out very badly, even on the body. I use safflower oil for my skin, it's much better suited.

[dili]

i just put it in the hot water in the sink for little bit, very easy

[blondie9912]

I just scrape some up on the back of a fingernail, then rub it between my hands.

Same here :)

[spidermom]

Oh, to add one more thing - I have a large jar of coconut oil that I keep in the refrigerator and a small, wide-mouth jar that I keep upstairs. When the wide-mouth jar is empty, I put the large container into a saucepan of hot water and melt down enough to refill the wide-mouth jar.