Adding goat milk to soap

[WonderlandFarmCrafts]

Hey everyone! This is my first post on the forum and I’m still learning how the forum works. I have a question!

I have been making cold process soap for 4 years on and off. I’m no pro, but love it!

I recently got a milk goat and want to make soap. I tried using almond milk when I first started making soaps and burned it both tries(tried with ice cubes of milk)
Any tips on best implementing the milk into the soap?

can y’all see a difference in the end product when milk is added? Wondering if it really adds benefits or if it just looks good to buyers?

 

[artemis]

When using any milk, a lot of people use the "split method." A nice, simple explanation can be found here:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/ice-oat-milk-lye-mix-gone-bad.78279/post-813600

 

[rdc1978]

Hey everyone! This is my first post on the forum and I’m still learning how the forum works. I have a question!

I have been making cold process soap for 4 years on and off. I’m no pro, but love it!

I recently got a milk goat and want to make soap. I tried using almond milk when I first started making soaps and burned it both tries(tried with ice cubes of milk)
Any tips on best implementing the milk into the soap?

can y’all see a difference in the end product when milk is added? Wondering if it really adds benefits or if it just looks good to buyers?

LOL, I've been washing my hands. A LOT.

I recently started using some really, really ugly failed goat milks soap (technically okay, just fantastically unattractive).

Can confirm that for me, goat milk soap vs. non goat milk soap is a difference in terms of moisturizing. I don't have to constantly lotion my hands when I'm using the goat milk soap.

Trying goat milk soap again is now on my list of soapy things to do. It's a long list.

 

[shunt2011]

I've made all kinds of milk soap including Goat's Milk and the only one I find a big difference in is Coconut Milk creamier thicker lather in my opinion. Other milks do make an improved lather due to the sugars. However, soap isn't moisturizing to me regardless and is just less stripping of the natural oils on the skin. I wash a ton but have had to start using lotion between washing and sanitizer (work in a hospital).

I do the 50-50 split method as posted above, it works the best of any system. I mix my lye with an equal amount of water and then add the difference in milk to my warmed oils. I fortify my liquid milk with powdered to give me full milk in the end.

 

[cmzaha]

I agree with Shari about gm soap, but I use it for label appeal working with it as the split method if I do use liquid gm. Now I mostly use powdered gm.

 

[rdc1978]

That's interesting. I wonder if there was a difference with mine(for me) because I didn't know any better so I had just used the frozen goat's milk and didn't use the 50/50 method (which sounds so much easier than what I did).

Unless I misunderstand the differences between the methods, one would have water in it and one wouldnt have any water at all.

Which is even more interesting because before I made soap I loved buying goat milk soap and hadn't noticed a difference the way I have with my really ugly goat milk soap. Ahhh....life's questions.....

 

[TheGecko]

Any tips on best implementing the milk into the soap?

I make a full goat milk soap. I use frozen goat milk and an 'ice bath' which is ice cubes, water and salt.

I start with a large container for my ice bath. It has to be large enough so that you lye solution container will sit on a layer of ice and be surrounded on all sides by ice. The salt in the ice bath helps to keep the temperature down. I start by adding a small amount of lye...it can be teaspoons or tablespoons depending on the size of your batch. I stir until the lye starts to dissolve then add a little more lye. KEY to keep your milk from burning, scorching or discoloring is to keep the temperature down...I never let my lye solution get much above 70F. This may mean that you'll have to let it sit awhile before adding more lye, but it's not a big deal since I use that time to melt my hard oils, weigh out my soft oils and prep other things.

Your milk/lye solution will thicken...this is normal, it's just the lye already reacting to the fats in the milk. Once I have fully combined and milk and lye, I let it sit in the ice bath for a bit longer to make sure the temperature stays below 75F. I will then add it to my oils/butters...which are usually around 90-95F.

It should be noted that when you add the GM/Lye solution to your oils/butters, the temperature of said will drop a good 10F and with much cooler oils/butters, it's easy to get a 'false trace' and if you mold it, you'll end up with a mess on your hands. So I stick blend my GMS batter a litter more than I do my regular soap. When I pull my SB out, I am looking for a smooth batter on the bell, not a grainy one. And since I don't add colorants to my GMS, just scent, I generally blend to between a light and medium trace.

Another things about goat milk is that it has a lot of natural sugars in it and so the batter has the potential to overheat and then you have a mess on your hands. Right now, my garage is still cool enough that I can put it out there to saponify, but come June, I'm going to have to refrigerate it.

If I get the chance today, I'll take a some pictures of my GMS that has been curing for a couple of weeks now.

Unless I misunderstand the differences between the methods, one would have water in it and one wouldnt have any water at all.

There are different ways to add milk to soap. I see a lot of folks with powdered milk that they just add to their oils. I also follow a soaper who does a 1:1 with water/lye, cools it down and then mixes with frozen milks.

I started with canned organic goat milk that was concentrated so I mixed 50% frozen canned and 50% frozen distilled water. For grins I used 100% canned, but ended up with a tan GMS. I now just use 100% frozen goat milk and it ranges from a light cream unscented, to a brown depending on how much vanilla is in the FO (I don't color my GMS).

 

[TashaBird]

@TheGecko This is super helpful! Thank you!!