Milk soaps and soda ash

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Joined
Mar 13, 2021
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Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,
I am just making my second ever batch of milk soaps. I am hoping to sell them.
I am using frozen milk to make the lye. Last time they cured brilliantly and people have just started testing them for me and getting great feedback.
This 2nd batch I made exactly the same base with different essential oils but I have a thick layer of soda ash on top of all the bars.
From what I have read this is more likely because I am soaping at lower temperatures. But wondering if anyone can advise on what those temps should be roughly. They were between 30 and 37 degrees for this batch because I wrote them down but not sure on the last batch.
I am just think forward to hopefully selling lots of bars. It will be a huge task to take the ash of every bar of soap.
Thanks
 
The soap you made prior to milk bars - how did that fare with ash? It can be a number of factors - temp, amount of water, current climate, is it gelled or not ( assuming not if it is a milk soap - but gelled soap is less prone to ash), different fragrances. etc.
 
I haven't made any soap other than with milk as we are a dairy farm so only making so we can sell a product made from our milk.
I am using essential oils for fragrance.
I will admit to not knowing what gelling is.
I am very new to this so still on a massive learning curve. I made my first lot 6 weeks ago and didn't try anymore until I knew they were going to be alright texture wise. So any advice is very welcome.
 
Hi all,
I am just making my second ever batch of milk soaps. I am hoping to sell them.
It is my understanding that you cannot legally sell soap in the UK without having your recipe assessed and approved, and having specific insurance, a license, etc. You might want to check with some of the other UK members here to get more information about that.

As a more general note, it is not a wise thing to begin selling soap until you have made, cured, and tested enough batches to know for sure that you are making a consistently safe and usable product. Because it takes each batch at least four weeks to cure, that means soaping consistently for at least a year before selling anything - and recruiting others to test your free samples in the meantime.

Here is a good thread with more information about how to know if you are ready to sell:

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/are-you-ready-to-sell-your-soap.16002/
 
Don't worry I am following all the guidelines and not selling anything until I am certified.
That's good! It is not a bad thing that you want to sell eventually, but so many join this forum with the idea that they can begin selling immediately, without experience making soap. Thank you for confirming that you are not one of those people! :)
 

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