Fingers crossed for my first milk soap!

[mandy318]

I haven't posted here in quite some time. I started soaping maybe about 18 months ago. I went crazy and made lots of small batches.

This year I'm focusing on Christmas gifts and it's exciting to choose which recipes I liked best last year and focus on reproducing them.

But I can't resist trying new recipes either! I made my first milk soap today.

I froze the goats milk first and added the lye to the frozen cubes..I sat my lye container in an ice bath. I did so well at keeping the temp down that my lye mixture never exceeded 80°f. However, my oils were just over 120°f after I mixed my lye. So I had to sit around and wait for my oils to cool. I noticed, while I was waiting, that my lye mixture was getting thicker and it dawned on me that it was probably saponifying because of the fat in the milk.

I sat my pan of oils in the ice bath to help them cool faster and ended up soaping with my lye mix at 80° and oils at 100°. I put my lye mixture through a sieve and captured a few curdles.

I've never added partially saponified lye mix to oils, so I hope it works ok!

It behaved oddly. The lye mixture sat at the bottom of the pot and acted like it didn't want to mix with the oils, but it finally did.

My molds are in the freezer now because I want to prevent gelling and keep an opaque, creamy look.

I used a fragrance oil from Soap Goods called Lavender Sage. It smells heavenly.

Wish me luck!

 

[snappyllama]

Those look lovely! I use goat milk in almost all my soaps - it gives such a luscious creaminess to the lather. I think you're going to love it.

 

[mandy318]

Thanks! The next 6 weeks will be torture!

 

[Arimara]

I bet. Those are some lovely looking soaps there and so white too. I might have to make a batch up sometime. I would worry about partially saponified lye- it's gonna be soap anyway.

 

[Susie]

Yeah, don't sieve out those lovely fats that you are trying to have in your soap. They will stick blend just like the rest of it.

 

[mandy318]

Yeah, don't sieve out those lovely fats that you are trying to have in your soap. They will stick blend just like the rest of it.

Really? I thought using a sieve was standard operating procedure for milk soaps to prevent curds in the oils?

 

[Obsidian]

Nope, those curds are just bits of the fat starting to saponify and they will mix into the oils just fine. The only reason I would ever strain my lye was if I suspected there might be undissolved bits of lye in the solution which I've never had happen.

 

[mandy318]

Great...thanks for sharing the soap wisdom! I'll skip the sieve next batch!

 

[Arimara]

Nope, those curds are just bits of the fat starting to saponify and they will mix into the oils just fine. The only reason I would ever strain my lye was if I suspected there might be undissolved bits of lye in the solution which I've never had happen.

That's the only reason I maintain using a thermometer helps.

 

[mandy318]

I'm coming back to this thread to ask a question.

My goat's milk soap is still too soft in the mold to cut. With the exception of replacing my water with goat's milk, this is a recipe I've made several times and cut in 24 hours.

I did put these loaves in the freezer to prevent gelling for 24 hours. They are back to room temp, but I can make a depression with a little pressure with my finger.

This is my recipe--anyone see anything out of place?

 

[Susie]

Gelled soap is ready to cut sooner than non-gelled soap. You can either put it back in the freezer for a couple of hours to harden up, or just wait.

I poured a soap 5 hours ago that was close to that recipe, and it is almost hard enough to cut now. But it gelled. I won't cut it until the morning, but it is too hard to dent the corner now.

 

[mandy318]

Gelled soap is ready to cut sooner than non-gelled soap. You can either put it back in the freezer for a couple of hours to harden up, or just wait.

I poured a soap 5 hours ago that was close to that recipe, and it is almost hard enough to cut now. But it gelled. I won't cut it until the morning, but it is too hard to dent the corner now.

Thank you! Good to know. I have never stopped gel before...over a year soaping and still learning!