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Easy Beginner Goat Milk Soap


Crafty1_AJ

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I'm not sure if the directions for this method have already been posted here, but if they have, my apologies. I've posted these directions in a few threads on the forum, but figured it would be easier for folks to find if I put this in the recipe section. :)

Here's an easy way to get a 100% goat milk soap (all GM as your liquid) without scorching, without everything turning orange, and without the delightfully strong ammonia smell we all love. :tongue2: LOL

You need:

~ your favorite 4 lb. soap recipe*

~ 12 oz. water

~ one 12-oz. can Meyenberg goat's milk (This is concentrated and typically is reconstituted to normal strength with equal parts milk and water, but do NOT reconstitute. Leave as is.)

1. Chill can of goat's milk in fridge.

2. Stir the correct amount of lye for your recipe into twelve oz. water and dissolve.

3. Melt your hard/brittle oils and add liquid oils.

4. When lye water and fats/oils have cooled, add lye water to fats/oils and bring to light trace.

5. Add 12 oz. of chilled, concentrated goat's milk to soap batter and blend thoroughly.

6. The milk will heat the soap up in the mold, so be careful to insulate lightly, if at all.

*If you don't have a favorite recipe, you can try my simple beginner's recipe of 50% olive oil, 25% 76-degree coconut oil, and 25% lard or palm oil. For a 4 lb. batch of soap, that would mean you'd need 2 lb. olive oil, 1 lb. coconut oil, and 1 lb. lard or palm oil. If desired, substitute castor oil for up to 10% of the olive oil. Run your recipe through a reliable lye calculator such as soapcalc.com to make sure you get the correct amount of lye to use. I recommend that beginners use a 5% superfat figure, which is the default on soapcalc.

Because you used an equal water portion and concentrated gm portion, essentially your soap contains only gm as the liquid (at its normally reconstituted rate).

For beginners, I would recommend you do not use known accelerators for your scent (if you plan to add any). Make sure you are using fragrance that does not accelerate or heat up in the mold. For example, many florals, spices, and heavy perfumey types move fast and heat up in the mold. So avoid those and check to be sure that your fragrance is non-accelerating.

You can cut this recipe in half without problems. I just like using up a whole can of milk, so I made the recipe this size. :smiley2:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for posting this AJ! I'd been putting of trying the GM for a long time but I've been getting inundated with requests for it so I had to give in. Didn't want to deal with the overheating, scorching, dayglo orange or ammonia smell, etc. This method worked as advertised and I didn't have any problems at all. Helped that it's cold out and I put the mold outside which prevented any overheating problems. I was really surprised at how fast things started heating up once I added the GM.

Thanks Again!

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  • 3 weeks later...
I

For beginners, I would recommend you do not use known accelerators for your scent (if you plan to add any). Make sure you are using fragrance that does not accelerate or heat up in the mold. For example, many florals, spices, and heavy perfumey types move fast and heat up in the mold. So avoid those and check to be sure that your fragrance is non-accelerating.

this may be a dumb question, but is bulgarian lavender EO hot or heat up or...well i havn't heard of heat accellerent so i am a bit confused.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've never had problems with lavender eo accelerating. :)

Acceleration refers to ingredients in soap that make it get thick very quickly when mixing up your ingredients. Clove eo, for example, contains a substance which will make your nice thin soap batter get cement-like in no time flat when you add it. lol

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Naw, Lavender EO (at least Bulgarian) doesn't heat up or accelerate. The spices you think of as hot though - do get hot (clove, cinnamon).

With lavender I do get a lot of ash, but I've just learned to embrace it and think of it as part of the pattern!

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Naw, Lavender EO (at least Bulgarian) doesn't heat up or accelerate. The spices you think of as hot though - do get hot (clove, cinnamon).

With lavender I do get a lot of ash, but I've just learned to embrace it and think of it as part of the pattern!

NEW TERM ALERT!!!!! what is ash????:tongue2:

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very thin layer of white stuff that you get on the surface of your soap - usually while it's still in the mold. it's not lye, though it may scare you at first (do a tongue test if you are concerned). It's calcium carbonate maybe? I forget what it really is.

Soap with lavender and find out! LOL!

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I have a question about soap ash..It seems like what everyone says, lavendar causes it really the worst..I have never made soap with lavendar, but was wondering if you left a small amount of your soap unscented and put that on top..Would you still get ash? That is a newbie question...:D

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ash...

I thought I was somehow so brilliant because I didn't get it for my first 6 months of soaping. THEN I dealt with horrid uncontrollable ash that was up to 1/2" thick at times.

I always get ash with lavender, but I get it without lavender EO as well. Some FOs seem more likely to cause it, but even with those I don't always have ash.

Maybe instead of calling it ash we should call it as$

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  • 1 month later...

Another newbie question. I am finding I look at everything at the grocery store to see if it could be used in soap. I saw a container of dried goats milk and bought it thinking I might be able to use it in a goats milk recipe. Went searching for recipes and found this one. At this stage I need easy can't screw it up recipes.

Now for the question, can I use the dried goats milk reconstituted in water for this recipes? Guessing I would follow the package directions for 24 oz and only use 12 oz to mix the powder.

Thanks

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Now for the question, can I use the dried goats milk reconstituted in water for this recipes? Guessing I would follow the package directions for 24 oz and only use 12 oz to mix the powder.

Thanks

When I use powdered GM I just save an oz or 2 of my water before I add the lye, mix the powder and water together into a slurry, and stir that into my oils. I only add lye to GM if it's frozen liquid.

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  • 1 month later...
Good Luck!!! I have found the best results is to have your GM frozen and slowly pour the lye over it no scorched smell and it doesn't turn brown it can be made white with a little titanium dioxide. HTH

Well, I did it the way AJ instructed and it turned out GREAT! Once the Ice Cold GM was added at a very thin trace, I had lots of time because I used a whisk and not the stick blender. Added my F/O and poured it into a mold. It went into the fridge for the night and I cut it 14 hours later. Needs lots of cure time due to so much Olive oil but it will be a wnderful soap after cure.:wink2:

Fire

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I have added the goat's milk to the cooled lye and water mix and it did not turn orange but this looks easier. So, you use 12 oz. lye and water and 12 oz. goat's milk? You said for a 4 lb. receipe. right? Sounds great, have to try this since I love the feel of the goat's milk in the soaps. Hands feel softer even later after using. thanks.

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