Mom2LilMan said:
You add the coconut milk before mixing at all or how long after adding the lye water?
Not Hazel, but the way I do it is dissolve my total lye amount with an equal amount of water in weight (lye needs to be added to an equal amount of liquid in order to be able to dissolve properly). The rest of my liquid amount that my batch calls I add as coconut milk directly into my oils, making sure to stickblend it in well. You can add the milk to the oils either just before adding the lye solution, or just after the lye solution is mixed in, i.e. when the oils/lye solution are emulsified, but not at trace yet. I've done it both ways with no problem, but since this is your first time, you might find it easier to stickblend it into your oils before adding the lye solution.
Mom2LilMan said:
I'm seriously considering making IrishLass's salt bar recipe for my second soap-making attempt. I'm really a recipe-follower, so I feel a little lost...
Don't hesitate to ask!
Mom2LilMan said:
I'm hoping I can find coconut milk at my grocery store. I live in the Boonies, so it's sometimes difficult to find things. I'm pretty sure I couldn't find powdered coconut milk.
If your grocery store has an ethnic aisle with Thai/Asian ingredients, you should be able to find canned coconut milk there. That's where my local grocer stocks theirs. I can't find powdered there, though.
But, I'm very blessed to have a large Asian grocery store down the street from me that carries all kinds of hard-to-find goodies, and they sell several brands of powdered coconut milk & coconut cream as well as several brands of coconut milk in cans
and in cartons. I'm very spoiled that way.
Mom2LilMan said:
Is there anything really important about soaping with milk that I need to know?
The most important thing is the scorching issue (which the 'split method' completely eliminates), and the possible overheating while gelling issue. Not all milk soaps overheat while gelling, but it's good to keep an eye on things if you plan on gelling and to move your mold to a cooler area if you see your soap raising and/or cracking while going through gel. With my own milk soaps, I've found that overheating/not overheating depends on certain factors. Depending on my particular formula, mine normally don't overheat unless I also add honey, or if the formula contains 100% coconut oil. If I see things getting out of hand when I peek inside my mold, I just uncover my mold and move it to a cooler area. Some soapers like to blow a fan on their overheating soap.
Or you could choose not to gel your batch at all by putting it in the fridge immediately after pouring into your mold. That's the beauty of soaping- there are several tricks to get around or avoid potential problems.
Mom2LilMan said:
ETA: I'll probably just use my wooden loaf mold. I've read that salt soap hardens faster, so how long do I wait before unmolding and cutting into bars?
You'll just have to play it by ear (or eye). :wink: With my own salt soap recipe, I'm usually unmolding and cutting within 6 hours or less. I like to gel all my soaps, so I keep an eye on things to see when it's gelling and then firming back up from gel. As soon as I feel that my soap is firm enough to cut (using a gloved finger), but still very warm/hot, I unmold and cut. If I don't cut while the soap is just firm enough and still warm/hot, it will be a royal bugger if not impossible to cut later than that.
HTH!
IrishLass
