can you successfully gel goat milk soap?

[kayjay]

I'm preparing for a show on Dec 7th so I'm running out of time for a 6 week cure on my non-gelled soaps. I always freeze my goat milk soap to prevent overheating and the dreaded volcano. So I was wondering if it's possible to gel goat milk soap? I'm planning to use 2 small silicone molds for a 3lb batch and soap at room temp.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[new12soap]

You can, sure, but you run the risk of overheating and your soap will be a much darker color.

Just so you know, gelled soaps still need the same amount of cure time as ungelled soaps. just like HP still needs a cure. the difference between CP and HP and gelled and ungelled soap is only a matter or saponification time, NOT cure time. At most we are talking about a difference of a few hours to a few days.

eta: a lot of people do successfully gel gm soaps, without overheating, but it does make a darker tan color instead of light creamy beige.

 

[HorseCreek]

Yes, definitely. I make solely GM soap, and have not once had a volcano. When I was learning I definitely had some overheating, but that was a long time ago, lol.
If I want gel, I generally just warm up the oven to around 150-170 and put it in until I get gel to the edges, then take it out to cool.

 

[kayjay]

Thanks new12soap. My non-gelled GM soaps are usually too soft after a 5 week cure even with 1 1/2% sodium lactate. I'm gonna try a 30-33% lye soln to see if they harden quicker. If they are too soft after 5 weeks they still should harden by Christmas. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks horsecreek! Since I'm using 2 molds I'm gonna try freezing one and using your cpop method. I'll never know unless I try!!

 

[new12soap]

goodness, that is a long time for them to remain soft. is your recipe very high in soft oils? yes, I would say use 33% lye concentration (NOT percent of oils! you have to change that in soapcalc!) as well as the sodium lactate.

HTH

 

[shunt2011]

I gel all my milk soaps and never get overheating. I RTCP so that may help. Also, as stated, the soap will be a bit darker in color when gelled.

 

[kayjay]

Well....they are a little too soft to sell I should say. SoapCalc gives my recipe a 40 for hardness.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree they shouldn't be too soft after 5 weeks. I like a good 6 week cure but they are good to sell at 4 weeks if needed. 40 hardness should make a solid bar unless you are using high liquid oils (OO, Rice Bran etc.) which can affect it's softness./hardness.

 

[kayjay]

OO is probably the culprit. I use it at 41% and castor at 5%. The rest is CO, PO and shea.
Another question Re. gelling GM soap. Can you gel with floral FOs and/or honey added? Or would I be pushing it?

 

[coffeetime]

41% olive oil won't cause that sort of softness, I make 75%olive Bastile bars that I cut at 18 hours and are nice and hard at 4 weeks. I believe it's the amount of water/milk you are using that is causing the issue. Could you share your full recipe so we can help further?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I would follow the Horsecreek idea but watch it like a hawk - never stray more than 5 feet from the oven. In fact, get a little stool and sit there watching it

Okay, maybe not so extreme, but at the first sign of silly business you can take it out

 

[reinbeau]

I gel all my gm soaps. Then again, I use lard in them, much less OO. Here's a comparison of GMOH, gelled and ungelled. The ungelled was in an individual mold, thus the ash.

 

[seven]

OO is probably the culprit. I use it at 41% and castor at 5%. The rest is CO, PO and shea.
Another question Re. gelling GM soap. Can you gel with floral FOs and/or honey added? Or would I be pushing it?

your soft oils are roughly 50%, that still should be hard and ready to sell at 5 weeks me thinks. def try reducing the amount of liquid next time. 33% lye concentration is a good start, which is roughly 2:1 (twice the amount of lye).

i normally gel all my soaps, milk soaps included. to prevent overheating, do what shunt said, that is to soap at RT. and keep an eye on it once it's in the mold.

 

[kayjay]

Thanks sooo much everyone. Love the pics! My recipe is:
OO 41%
PO. 29%
CO. 20 %
Shea. 5%
Castor. 5%
Water as % of oil 35%
Lye concentration 28.4%
After reading all y'alls wonderful advice I'm gonna increase my lye concentration to 33% to see if that helps with the softness. I still think I'll gel one and freeze one. Is honey a bad idea for gelling GM soap though?

 

[reinbeau]

There's honey in my soap above, on the right. Just don't overdo it.

 

[coffeetime]

Thanks sooo much everyone. Love the pics! My recipe is:
OO 41%
PO. 29%
CO. 20 %
Shea. 5%
Castor. 5%
Water as % of oil 35%
Lye concentration 28.4%
After reading all y'alls wonderful advice I'm gonna increase my lye concentration to 33% to see if that helps with the softness. I still think I'll gel one and freeze one. Is honey a bad idea for gelling GM soap though?

Where's the goats milk? Are you subbing for water 100%? Adding powdered?

 

[kayjay]

Oh yeah. 100% GM instead of water!

 

[coffeetime]

Ok Kayjay, that's fine. What is the source of your lye? % purity?

 

[kayjay]

100% lye. The Roebic drain opener.

 

[new12soap]

That's probably more liquid than you need, try a 33% solution. What is your superfat?