Goats Milk

[dOttY]

So I'm contemplating soaping off my beaten track, and making a Goat's Milk soap.

I've looked at a few recipes, and the one I figured I'd like to try, asks for 'Grapefruit Seed Extract'. I realise that it has benefits other than being a preservative, but is it a requirement to use a preservative in GM soap?

Grapefruit Seed Extract is very expensive for me to source.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I make lots of goat milk soaps and I've never used a preservative. Absolutely not necessary. You can turn any recipe into goat's milk soap by replacing water with milk. :wink:

 

[dOttY]

Thanks Jenny. Stupidly, I knew this, but for reasons I don't really know of, I'm petrified of making GM soap!! Wahhhh

 

[carebear]

despite the way it's advertised, it's NOT a preservative. it has antioxidant activities and that's it.

no benefit in soap.

 

[dOttY]

despite the way it's advertised, it's NOT a preservative. it has antioxidant activities and that's it.

no benefit in soap.

I'd heard of grapeseed oil, but not the extract, so I googled it, and good old Wikipedia said it was a preservative with antioxidant qualities. That's why I believed it to be a preservative.

So I'll summons up the courage to try GM Soap. I think I've read too much about what can go wrong with the GM/lye combo... :roll:

 

[Half Caper Farm]

It's not difficult, just a little bit more time-consuming. I use 100% GM and freeze it solid before adding the lye. It takes a while to mix but I get a nice light-coloured soap. Others use 50% GM and 50% water, adding the GM after they've mixed the lye solution and oils. Either way, the milk doesn't get burned.

Go for it! You'll be glad you did.

 

[Half Caper Farm]

Oh, and I've never used a preservative in my GM soap. I still have a few of my very first bars, over two years old now, and they're perfectly fine. 8)

 

[falldowngobump]

I've never used grapefruit seed extract in soap. Dont fear the goatsmilk! It was the first soap I ever made (I was too dumb to know it was suppose to be hard). If I can do it, so can you. Go for it!

 

[carebear]

despite the way it's advertised, it's NOT a preservative. it has antioxidant activities and that's it.

no benefit in soap.

I'd heard of grapeseed oil, but not the extract, so I googled it, and good old Wikipedia said it was a preservative with antioxidant qualities. That's why I believed it to be a preservative.

Oh it's been misrepresented many times so I am not surprised you read it, but the analytic data has contradicted that. I wish!

gm soap will be fun!

 

[judymoody]

GSE has been shown to be questionable, even useless, as an anti-oxidant. There was a soaping book that promoted its use some years ago. From what I understand, there was a preservative in the GSE that was the efficacious agent, not the GSE itself.

If you want to prolong the shelf life of your oils, you could try rosemary oleoresin extract (ROE). This is an anti-oxidant that does work.

However, neither is needed for goat's milk.

There are tons of threads here about chilling the milk to prevent overheating, etc. I use goat milk powder and it's very easy to use. It contributes to a nice lather.

And Dotty, do you have a beaten track? You have gone in so many different directions (Lyn tops, ITP swirls, mantra swirls, PVC pipe mold) and every one has been gorgeous! :wink:

 

[jcandleattic]

When I make my GM soaps, I just use my same regular recipe's I normally use, but use fresh frozen GM as 100% of the liquid instead of water. HCF is right, it's more time consuming, but it's worth it. You don't want to add the lye too fast to the milk, or else you run the risk of burning/scorching it - and not only does it turn an ugly nasty orange/brown color, the stench is horrible.
I did it once (the first time making a GM soap) just dumping the full amount of lye on my frozen milk... UGH don't do that. LOL
Incorporate the lye slowly and you will be fine.

 

[mysticmoon]

I use goat milk powder and it's very easy to use.

Where can I find goat milk powder?

 

[LauraHoosier]

Amazon.com has a listing for a 3 pack of the powdered goat's milk that is super cheap compared to buying it one at a time at my local health food market.

For soap though is you use the powder you can mix lye and water then add the powder to your oils and mix well. Just avoid gel if you want a light color. Gel cooks the natural sugars and turns it tan to brown.

 

[mysticmoon]

Amazon.com has a listing for a 3 pack of the powdered goat's milk that is super cheap compared to buying it one at a time at my local health food market.

For soap though is you use the powder you can mix lye and water then add the powder to your oils and mix well. Just avoid gel if you want a light color. Gel cooks the natural sugars and turns it tan to brown.

Thank you! Even better that it's on Amazon! I order from there weekly!
I am a bit confused though on using it. So I thought I would mix it with water first (to make the milk) then use in in place or in part place of water in my lye mix...? The way you suggested sounds easier, but how much powdered milk and water would I use? Or how would I determine that in a recipe?

 

[LauraHoosier]

I use my regular amount of water that the recipe calls for. I don't discount my water on GM soap because I don't want to be racing against the clock to get it in the mold before it goes into heavy trace and heats up.

If the can's directions on the GM says you add 2 unpacked scoops to 8 ounces of water I stick to that when figuring out how much powder to add to my oils. If my recipe calls for 12 ounces of water then I use 3 scoops. (I don't remember the exact instructions, my disability often makes my ability to remember exact things like that stink. I have to re-read things with every use or batch.)

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what Carebear and JudyMoody said about GSE. If I remember rightly from my mental notes taken from a debate regarding GSE on another B&B forum, the undeclared active ingredients that have shown up in tests to be present in GSE, and which made it an efficatious agent, is/was triclosan and/or benzelkonium chloride.

Ditto what everyone else said- you don't need a preservative in soap anyway, whether goat milk soap or other.

Just wanted to add to your bag of milk soaping options that there is another way of making goat milk soap if the frozen milk/direct lye method does not appeal to you. Just do a search with the words 'split method' here on SMF and you will find the directions how to do it. It's my preferred way of making goat milk soap since I am frozen milk/direct lye impaired. The 'split method' is much easier and less time consuming for me, and as a plus, I get beautiful creamy off-white goat milk soaps every time (unless I use honey or a discoloring FO in the same batch).

IrishLass

 

[LauraHoosier]

I just read up on that one IrishLass and that's so cool to know. I don't always have access to fresh goat's milk which is why I went to powdered but its good to know I can add fresh the same way I'd add powdered Big thumbs up from me.

 

[dOttY]

Thanks for the input everyone

GSE has been shown to be questionable, even useless, as an anti-oxidant. There was a soaping book that promoted its use some years ago. From what I understand, there was a preservative in the GSE that was the efficacious agent, not the GSE itself.

If you want to prolong the shelf life of your oils, you could try rosemary oleoresin extract (ROE). This is an anti-oxidant that does work.

However, neither is needed for goat's milk.

There are tons of threads here about chilling the milk to prevent overheating, etc. I use goat milk powder and it's very easy to use. It contributes to a nice lather.

And Dotty, do you have a beaten track? You have gone in so many different directions (Lyn tops, ITP swirls, mantra swirls, PVC pipe mold) and every one has been gorgeous! :wink:

Thank you Judy I've got 9 batches under my belt, so I'm still getting a feeling for it all, andtrying to find my own style. I consider GM soap 'off the beaten track' because I've only been dabbling with a few different ingredients and ideas.
I'm still afraid of GM, but I've decided to try my hand at it. I suffer from Rosacea, and I've been using GM oatmeal soap made by a fellow soaper for a good year or so now. It'd be great if I could make my own.

 

[Half Caper Farm]

I'm still afraid of GM, but I've decided to try my hand at it. I suffer from Rosacea, and I've been using GM oatmeal soap made by a fellow soaper for a good year or so now. It'd be great if I could make my own.

It's EASY!!! Nothing to be afraid of. When I first started soaping, I made my first batch with water, just to get a feel for it. The next batch, and every one since, has been 100% GM. Never had a bad batch. The first few were a bit darker, until I started freezing the GM solid instead of slushy, but still very nice soap.

 

[dOttY]

Well I've made my first GM soap. However, I'm not a patient person, and I think I probably burnt the milk It didn't go orange in colour, but it did go a yellow There was no stench though.

I've not gelled, so I guess I'll wait and see what the end product is like.

Fingers x'd.