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BigdreamsSmallfarm

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I've been day dreaming about owning goats to make soap for years. Last year I finally got the husband on board. My goats are ready to wean their kids soon. I've spent hours looking up recipes and watching videos. I'm completly over whelmed. Do I want cold pressed or hot pressed? What kind of molds? Which recipe. Every time I think I have decided, there is more information about something else that sends me down a different rabbit hole. I need some direction. I want a healthy soap for my family. One that isn't so hard to make I want to give up, but not a soap I don't like to use just because it's easy to make. Please help.
 
Hello & Welcome 🤗🧼.
first off "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" Deep breaths' you've come to the perfect place to learn' Yay!. I suggest a CP method & only very small loaf's at first like 16oz. Find a basic recipe here in search & as far as adding Goat Milk theirs a few ways of doing that' again search here on that. Enjoy your soaping Journey' It takes time & so rewarding. Youtube has lots of videos on soaping 👍🏼. Hope this helps.

Update: BrambleBerry.com has some wonderful beginners videos on soaping as well.
 
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Welcome aboard, @BigdreamsSmallfarm !

There is a magic spell in this forum when it comes to goat milk soap (and goats in general):

@Basil

😂

I second @Peachy Clean Soap : start slowly, with a simple and time-proven soap recipe like a variant of Basic Trinity. Once you're hooked with how great handmade soaps are, even with simple recipes, you'll find your way to go on for more sophisticated things like goat milk (You can only judge what GM adds to your soap when you have a non-GM soap in comparison).
 
Do I want cold pressed or hot pressed?
It's called cold process or hot process. Personally I find cold process (CP) easier than hot process (HP). Both have the same cure rate (although HP may take longer if you use a lower lye concentration).

What kind of molds?
I would start with silicone cavity molds, but that's just me. I found it easier as a new soap maker to manage the cavity molds rather than figuring out how (and how big/small) to cut my soaps. I was making plain unscented uncolored soaps for the first year+ of my soapmaking journey, so design wasn't even a consideration. Although you can get nice swirls in cavity molds as well.

Which recipe.
I would start with a basic recipe. As search on the forum will yield many recommended beginning recipes. My first recipe was the classic 30% olive oil, 30% coconut oil, 35% lard and 5% castor oil. I tweaked the recipe through a lye calculator for additonal batches to try different % and oils. The first few times you make soap, leave out the GM (goat milk), so that you have a good understanding of how the recipe works and the soapmaking process itself. Make small batches (around 500g oils). Then add your GM , as mentioned above, there's different ways to do this. A search on the forum will walk you through different processes of freezing the milk, or using a split method.
 
If you go to Soapmaking Kits | Bramble Berry there are some beginner soap making kits. May be more expensive than other options, but it may be the what you need to get soaping ASAP! Cardboard boxes can be used as molds. Do you have any oils in the pantry laying around, getting old? Weigh them out and go to soapcalc.net and plug in their weights and it'll tell you how much lye you need to sopanify them. I've done that a few times, and at first the bar wasnt great, but a year or two later it was a great bar. Have fun!!
 
Hmm, too bad you didn't use those "dreaming" years learning to make basic soap, or even soap with goat milk purchased from the store. Even if your kids aren't weaned yet, don't waste another minute - make a few batches of basic soap following all the instructions given above. We will all be here to help and to oooo and ahhhh over your pictures. :)
 
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search on the forum will yield many recommended beginning recipes.
Haha. @amd You ought to try that! I just did and the search result was everything except "beginning recipes". I'm not picking on you, just shaking my head and laughing. When I read that, I thought, "What? Where? Am I missing something?" 😆 The rest of your post gets 2 :thumbup: :thumbup:

@BigdreamsSmallfarm
Please take a moment to go to the Introduction Forum and tell us a little about yourself. Repeat what you said in your post above and anything else you care to share. This will make it easier for us to help you on your Soapy Journey and, if you're lucky, make a few GM (Goat Milk) soapy friends.

Next, take a cuppa along and explore the Beginners Forum to learn the things we talk about here.
Find the Beginners Learn to Soap Online thread that will help you get off on the right foot for making your first batches. Scroll down to "Lovin' Soap Studio" for sage advice and clear instructions for making CP (Cold Process).

Use the Recipe Feedback Forum to get input for each batch you try before you try it. You have lots to learn and that's a good place to pick up TIPS.

Making as many small batches as you can, as often as you can, will have you up and running with the best of us in about 4 months if you put the time and effort into it. It's best to avoid adding fragrance and color until you have a solid recipe ( or 2 or 3) that delivers every time you make it.

Finally, you will want to show off your soaps in the Photo Gallery. We LUV pictures -- even when a batch goes awry. Hopefully that won't happen, but if it does, see it as an opportunity to learn more. You can also use the Photo Gallery as a log of every batch you make. Include the recipe as well as your comments about how you processed it for future reference. I only wish I had that available to me when I first started making soap in 2003. It's a great way to chronicle your progress in the Wonderful World of Soapmaking!!!

HAPPY SOAPING! :hippo::hippo::hippo:
 
To me, the most important advice is: Start with a small batch for the first few soap batches that you make. Making soap in huge batches when you are a beginner can be problematic for a number of reasons; stressful, more expensive, possible mistakes can mean huge waste of materials if the soap turns out bad, etc.

So learn to make soap by practice with small batches first.

And second, always use a soap calculator. The one here at SMF is very good and has a lot of versatility.

And third, before your first batch, learn about all the necessary safety precautions; wear eye protection; learn how to safely use lye in soapmaking and how to properly store it to maintain the purity of the dry lye; and prepare a safe and secure area for your soapmaking (no kids & no pets in the soapmaking area is a good rule of thumb.)
 
To me, the most important advice is: Start with a small batch for the first few soap batches that you make. Making soap in huge batches when you are a beginner can be problematic for a number of reasons; stressful, more expensive, possible mistakes can mean huge waste of materials if the soap turns out bad, etc.

So learn to make soap by practice with small batches first.

And second, always use a soap calculator. The one here at SMF is very good and has a lot of versatility.

And third, before your first batch, learn about all the necessary safety precautions; wear eye protection; learn how to safely use lye in soapmaking and how to properly store it to maintain the purity of the dry lye; and prepare a safe and secure area for your soapmaking (no kids & no pets in the soapmaking area is a good rule of thumb.)
This can't be said enough. I was a little more impulsive when I started soap making but I learned and am still learning things. I never made a batch over 32 oz back then but i did switch to using gram measurements. If you need a basic recipe try this:

Olive oil- 80%
Coconut oil- 20%

That's about as basic as you can get but it does need time to cure (think 3+ months). As you get more comfortable, you can add more oils, subtracting from the olive oil amount.
 
Keep notes for every batch in a notebook. That will help you learn. Write down the recipe, how much of each ingredient and the supplier of each ingredient. Take the temperatures of your lye water and oils right before you add them together and write them down. Also keep track of when you unmold the batch and cut it. Write down any problems you have. Then add a comment after you use it on how you like it.
 
Do I want cold pressed or hot pressed?

---> I would start with Cold Process.

What kind of molds?

---> I'm a fan of silicone myself. Since you are just starting out, I would recommend purchasing a 4" Silicone Square Molds. They hold 14 oz of Oils and make 4-5 oz bars.

Which recipe.

---> You are welcomed to use mine. I'll send it to you in a Private Message along with instructions.

Every time I think I have decided, there is more information about something else that sends me down a different rabbit hole. I need some direction.

---> Welcome to the rabbit hole. Recommend that you tie yourself off so you don't get lost.
 
The only thing I will add to all of the great advice above is to also learn a little about trace before you start. If you aim for a light to light medium trace in the batter chances are good that the soap texture will be nice in the finished soap. This is especially true when using small molds.
 
So?! What's the update since you've had since Friday to make soap?! Just kidding. I have nothing to add here except 'ditto' to what all my fave, smart peeps have contributed.

When I began, I was incredibly naïve and had no idea that this sub-culture of soapers even existed! No YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, this forum, etc. A few months in I stumbled on this forum. It's only now that I'm experienced that I go down rabbit holes (wait, what, it's morning already but I just was going to watch one YouTube video).

Welcome, welcome, and keep us posted.
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Thank you everyone! I'm really enjoying Brambleberry videos. I will start with cold process. My children's last ball league is officially over next week. So I plan to start soap without milk in 2 weeks. I'll be back with updates.
 
Thank you everyone! I'm really enjoying Brambleberry videos. I will start with cold process. My children's last ball league is officially over next week. So I plan to start soap without milk in 2 weeks. I'll be back with updates.

BrambleBerry has a nice Beginner's Cold Process Soap Kit. It's a little spendy, but it ships for free and fairly quickly and it contains a tried and true recipe, very nice instructions that are easy to follow, enough supplies (Olive, Coconut, Palm and Castor Oils) to make two batches (20-1" bars) of soap (one scented, one unscented) and a 10" Silicone Loaf Mold.

It's what I started with because I wasn't sure if I would like making soaping and didn't want to end up with of stuff I would have to get rid of if I didn't. Of course I fell in love with soap making and the only thing I would change in the beginning, was to buy the 4" Silicone Square Molds sooner than later 'cuz the odds are, you are going to have some failures (aka opportunities to learn) and it's cheaper to lose 14 oz of oils/butters than 33 oz.

Your local Dollar Store and Amazon will be your best friend if you decide you like soap making. The Dollar Store has nice sized mixing bowls with spout and handle that hold up to about 3 lbs of batter and 2-cup measuring cups that you can mix your Lye Solution in and can be used for separating out for colorants. They also have measuring spoons, spatulas and whisks. I think I spent a whole $10 my first trip. From Amazon, I think I spent maybe $50 on a Digital Scale, Stick Blender and Cheese Slicer (wish I had bought this sooner).

Note about the Cheese Slicer...It can be difficult to hold the soap perfectly still when cutting. It's soap, it's slick. So make sure it has a wooden base, then go to your local hardware store get some sand paper, a wooden dowel and super glue. Cut the dowel so it is the length of the slicer from the end to the grove where the wire is. Sand off about a third of the dowel and enough of the finish on the Slicer for the dowel and glue it on. I just used a Sharpie to mark a line from the wire out 1" and 1 1/2" so I knew where to put the soap.

When starting out with scents and colorants...go with Sample Packs and Trial Sizes. Again, a bit spendy, but better than buying a larger quantity and getting stuck with something you don't like.
 
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