Goats Milk Soap

[DaRoman]

Hi all, I'm new to soap making. Just made my first 2 batches last week. One of the batches I made was with store bought homogenized Goats Milk. After doing some research, I read that we here in Canada can't purchase raw goats milk, any raw milk for that matter. My questions are, how do other Canadians, who make goats milk soap and don't have their own goats, make their soap. Is it from store bought goats milk? I also read that Canadian citizens can purchase raw milk from the US and bring it over the border, up to 20kg/ person. Since I live in Niagara Falls going over the border is not too big of a deal but with the Canadian regulations, if I plan to sell soap a few years down the road, will I run into issues if I use raw goats milk in my soap.
Thanks
Sam

 

[toxikon]

Hey, fellow Canadian here with convenient US border shopping! Literally a few hours ago I made my first batch of goat milk soap! I just bought some powdered goat milk on Amazon US and picked it up across the border. I do most of my shopping on Amazon US so I didn't even think about sourcing it on our side. I divided my water into two equal portions - one to mix with lye, and one to mix with the powdered goats milk. I added the goat milk liquid at trace. It seemed to work very well, looking forward to slicing it up in a few days!

 

[mx5inpenn]

You don't have to use raw milk in soaps. I usually just use canned evaporated milk to have full milk the easy way. Are you wanting raw for a particular reason?

 

[Susie]

If you are thinking that the heat from pasteurization is greater than the heat generated in saponification, it isn't. You will lose no nutrients to pasteurization that won't already be lost in saponification. So, never fear using the evaporated or even the powdered. It sure makes making GM soap easier if you use the powder and mix it with the oils.

 

[cmzaha]

^^^ As above. I prefer powdered because it mixes wonderfully with the oils before adding the lye water. But then I would not buy or use any raw milk

 

[DaRoman]

hey toxicon, I've never considered using powdered goats milk. I will look into to it.
The way I did my goats milk soap was to eliminate the water and use only goats milk. I froze the goats milk so it wouldn't scortch when i added the lye. i also had the container i mixed the milk and lye in sitting in a bowl of ice water.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[DaRoman]

hi mx6inpenn, from what i read, using raw goats milk gives the best results. I am new at this so i haven't tried or used soap with evaporated milk.
When using evaporated milk do you have to be mindful as to not scorch the milk as well?

 

[DaRoman]

Thanks Susie. From what i read, it says raw goats milk make a better soap. I will try the evaporated milk.
So you don't mix your goats milk with your lye?

 

[DaRoman]

Thanks for your reply cmzaha.

 

[toxikon]

I believe the general consensus is there is little to no difference in final product when using liquid/powdered goat milk. But it would definitely be interesting to make a batch of both methods to test! I've read the tutorials on mixing goat milk ice cubes with lye, and personally, it seems much easier to work with powdered. You can add it straight into the oils or reconstitute it with a bit of water to add at trace.

 

[chibi-soap]

So if you're using powdered ... what rate do you add it at?

 

[Arimara]

So if you're using powdered ... what rate do you add it at?

I relied on the milk's mixing instructions when I used powdered buttermilk. That saved me any excessive math I did not feel like engaging in.

 

[chibi-soap]

Oh of course! Silly me

 

[mx5inpenn]

hi mx6inpenn, from what i read, using raw goats milk gives the best results. I am new at this so i haven't tried or used soap with evaporated milk.
When using evaporated milk do you have to be mindful as to not scorch the milk as well?

I suppose if you mix it with the NaOH, you'd need to be careful, but I don't. I use the split method, half of my liquid is water, used to make the lye solution. I add the other half in evaporated milk to the oils.

 

[toxikon]

I used one tbsp per pound of oil and it worked well.

 

[Susie]

hi mx6inpenn, from what i read, using raw goats milk gives the best results. I am new at this so i haven't tried or used soap with evaporated milk.
When using evaporated milk do you have to be mindful as to not scorch the milk as well?

Define best results. Exactly which results are you trying to achieve?

Then tell me who wrote whatever it was that you read, and what agenda are they pushing. Do they have goats, and therefore lots of raw goat's milk? If so, perhaps they are trying to claim that their stuff is better so they can sell more?
Are they, perhaps, one of those people who eat a "raw" diet?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Someone from the forum did an informal but interesting experiment with her testers - full milk, 50/50, powdered milk and so on, with a plain water batch as control. All of the variations were rated very similarly apart from one, which was voted the best............the plain water batch! Go figure

 

[chibi-soap]

LOL!

Now ... milk soap goes in the fridge right? No gel phase? Regardless of what type and when you add it?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you want to avoid the tan colour that can come from the milk heating up, aye - it's best to avoid gel

 

[Susie]

It needs to go into the freezer for at least 24 hours. I would probably leave it more like 36 hours.