First time soap maker looking for a honey almond oatmeal goats milk soap recipe

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Shadyduk1979

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Feb 13, 2015
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Hello all, I have decided to take up goats milk soap making since i have very bad eczema. I have found someone in VT who makes a product that works well for me but at 5 or 6 bucks a bar shipped from their etsy it gets pretty pricey pretty fast. I am trying to replicate their soaps. I use the honey almond and oatmeal and pine tar soaps they offer and since i am low on the oatmeal, i will start there.

Ingredient list is : olive oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, castor oil, water, goats milk, sodium lactate, natural pigments, fragrance, silk

I have all of the above except for pigments, There is oatmeal in the bar, but is not listed, i also have a good supply of raw honey on hand which i was thinking of adding. I have both almond milk, and a oatmeal milk and honey fragrance oil.

I am only looking to do small batches since it is only for me. I have 2 1.2L loaf molds.

Can anyone point me to a recipe that will help me try to replicate what i am buying?
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum.

First, have you made soap before? If not I highly suggest you read the forum and learn the basics first. Also, for your first several batches I would highly suggest you make a basic recipe with no additives as honey and milks can cause issues if not familiar with the process first.

Pretty much any handmade soap that is lower in cleansing and is conditioning would likely work for your skin. There are many on here who suffer from eczema and have found relief as well as improvement in their eczema.

I'm sure they will pop on and give assistance as well.

The recipe posted, looks to me like it may be pretty cleansing with both CO and PKO. However, if it's working for your skin it's certainly doable.

Making soap that is so much better for your skin is a lot of fun. However, it takes some practice to learn the process.

Make sure you have a good scale as well as a stickblender as both are needed to make soap or at least a good scale.
 
Hey and welcome Shadyduk1979!

I perfectly understand wanting to make soap that does not give you eczema! I had the same issue. Hand made soap completely "cured" me. I say that because it was getting away from synthetic detergents that took away the cause of the eczema. Not because the soap was any special formula.

For a new soaper, I would strongly suggest you start with a 3-4 oil soap with no additives. Especially no milks, silks, honey, or fragrances as each of these pose their own potential difficulties in the soap making process.

You need to go watch some soap making videos on YouTube, I suggest Soaping101. She has a good down to earth style that is easy to understand.

Then you need to learn to use a soap calculator for yourself. Never trust anyone else's recipes, no matter where you got them from. Here is a good tutorial by LunaSkye:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49627

Then you need to get some basic equipment: good digital scale, stickblender, safety goggles, fluid impenetrable gloves, molds, lye safe containers(plastic with a 2 or 5 in the triangle or stainless steel), spatulas, etc.

Then you need to understand that your soap will require 4-6 weeks cure time before it is at its best.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWnqXTqZTvU[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYhH20vWxvc[/ame]

And here is an article by TEG about basic soapmaking equipment

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/basicequipment.html
 
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There is some research you should do first - I know it is not what you want to hear but soap making can be complicated especial when adding milk or honey, or anything with a sugar content.

Second you need to learn to use a lye calculator. It is how we determine how much lye to add to how much water. You will need gloves and eye protection when dealing with the lye and caustic soap batter.

Third once you make the soap it will not be ready to use for about 4 weeks minimum. ( it will be safe after 1 week but a bar won't last very long- maybe a week if your lucky). Curing improves soaps lather And makes it milder.
Actually that soap will be a Castile or Bastille it will be softer than usual and may need a few months to cure before it is any good.

Anyway I would use 80% olive, 14 coconut 6% caster
The palm (kernal) and the coconut do about the same things for soap, so I'd just leave out the palm. These are the numbers you would need for the lye calculator.

Edited because I can not even add before coffee!:grin:
 
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I probably should have added that i have been reading and watching youtube over the last year or so in preparation for this. I just needed a kick to get started. I did do a basic recipe this one in fact http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/prepping-101-make-soap/. Came out ok but the ultimate goal is to replicate what i am buying. I grew up a country boy where we made more than we ever bought, and am now doing that myself. My eczema is allergy triggered, especially with dogs but since i love dogs, i have one.

The best i can hope for is to manage it. The soap i made i really only use when i am not having a outbreak. When i do, i use the pine tar or oatmeal. If it gets really bad i use a witch hazel soap.

I do also have a scale and all the other fun stuff save for the immersion blender i see so often. I tend to prefer to do as much as possible by hand. Split my own wood, work my dough by hand etc
 
I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!

But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!
 
I would try something like:
10% coconut
15% palm kernel
80% olive

Honey - one tablespoon per pound of oils (PPO).

Here is how I make honey milk soap.

I used canned milk, because a lot of the water has been removed. I take the amount of water recommended by the lye calculator, and I use 50% of that as water to dissolve my lye. I use the other 50% as canned milk. I melt my oils. When both lye and oils are 90 degrees, add you honey and canned milk to the oils. Blend with your stick blender, then slowly pour in the lye water, continuing to blend. When you reach trace (that's when the soap as thin pudding consistency and you can leave a trace on top of the soap), pour into your molds. (make sure your molds are prepared in advance.) Honey and milk soap can be tricky, so put your mold on an old towel so if you have a soap volcano it will spill on the towel.

ETA: 75% olive. Math is hard.
 
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Great advice you've been given here. I'll chirp in. You want a stick blender. Hand stirring might take hours. Hours of stirring. Or you can take advantage of modern techniques and do the same thing in minutes. Unless you're Amish and eschewing machines (and if so... get off the computer... naughty person!), get a stick blender.

Welcome to the forum. :)
 
Sorry about that, I assumed you were a first time soap maker due to the thread title. I like to knead by bread by hand also, but when I tried to make soap the first time, it took me over 2 hours of stirring, and still did not get trace. I just poured at emulsification. I would never do without a stick blender now.
 
I realize that, all i have to go on is the ingredients though. I could never sell though. My wife's best friend sells now using melt and pour. I would have to be a major jerk to sell at the same places she does.

I can not believe how fast all of you have responded. Thank you so much!
I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!

But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!
 
Great advice you've been given here. I'll chirp in. You want a stick blender. Hand stirring might take hours. Hours of stirring. Or you can take advantage of modern techniques and do the same thing in minutes. Unless you're Amish and eschewing machines (and if so... get off the computer... naughty person!), get a stick blender.

Welcome to the forum. :)
my wife seems to think thats where i get this whole must do everything by hand thing. I grew up just outside of amish country lol
 
I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!

But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!
Sorry I do not entirely agree with this. Most of us started out with a recipe from someone or from a book and many of us share recipes.
I have extreme allergy related eczema and I find anything salt, including going to the beach which I do not do since I sold my boat so now I use salt bars. Trouble is there are a bit harder to make but if you would like one to try one let me know. Even handmade soap is not for everyone, as much as many like to think. I actually had a customer ask me if it is possible the unfragranced no color soap could possibly bother her. Told her yep and she was completely surprised and informed me no soap seller had ever told her honestly that maybe she could not use handmade lye soap. I have areas including my face that I cannot use any type of soap and hav eto use cetaphil for cleansing. Anyhoo that was a bit off topic and here is a link for a site that has some wonderful tried and true recipes, but as everyone stated it is best to run the recipe through a lye calculator. Although I have run many of their recipes through soapcalc and they are right on. www.millersoap.com

Next week I will be packaging and sending out some test soapies I made and it you want to try anthing let me know.
 
Sorry I do not entirely agree with this. Most of us started out with a recipe from someone or from a book and many of us share recipes.

Using a recipe from a site that is intended to teach you how to soap, or a formula that is freely given to try is very different than trying to copy a soap being made by someone to sell.

I think part of learning to soap is trying different things and figuring out what works for you. Who knows, you might make something you like better.
 
I think we all started with OPR(other people's recipes). The key here is that we did not sell them claiming them as our own. Only when you get started selling do most people take offense if you use their recipe. And rightly so!
 
I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!

But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!

I agree with Carolyn and Susie.

I don't think it's bad form if someone is putting it out there. I imagine many have probably tried it. I think if someone is sharing it they don't have a problem if someone else makes it. Others have posted recipes on this forum and I'm sure many have tried them. Especially a beginner. And he's not selling it no biggie either. Once he gets his feet wet he will likely try to come up with his own recipes.

I'm with the others on the stickblender though. My first time it took 3 hours to get to a light trace and I almost didn't make soap again.
 
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I agree there is a world of difference in using a recipe freely given to you and asking for a recipe that has been tried and tested. I think many people don't mind giving you a basic recipe that makes decent soap, but most won't give you their prize recipe that is their best seller.
 
If your wife's best friend sells M&P, she may know some CP soapers. It sounds like you don't necessarily want to take this up as a hobby, more like just make some soap for your own personal use. I'm a hobbyist and I LOVE having people over who are interested in making soap! So you may find somebody who'd be willing to have you over to their home or come to your home and let you use their equipment and ingredients for free, or for a small amount of $. I had over 2 friends and we made soap and lip balm. One of them handed me a $20 as a thank you (I tried to give it back but she wouldn't take it.) That $20 MORE than covered the cost of ingredients and materials for me, but they would have spent far more than $20 in order to get ingredients, equipment, etc.
 
I agree with Carolyn and Susie.

I don't think it's bad form if someone is putting it out there. I imagine many have probably tried it. I think if someone is sharing it they don't have a problem if someone else makes it. Others have posted recipes on this forum and I'm sure many have tried them. Especially a beginner. And he's not selling it no biggie either. Once he gets his feet wet he will likely try to come up with his own recipes.

I'm with the others on the stickblender though. My first time it took 3 hours to get to a light trace and I almost didn't make soap again.

He's coming up with his own recipe now. Sure, he's got this soaper's list of ingredients, but a list of ingreidents isn't a recipe. And I'm sure you'd find LOTS of soap being sold with a very similar list of ingredients.
 
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