Making Goat’s Milk Soap

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Last time I made soap there were a lot of people interested in the process. So, here are the basics of what I do.

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First, I line a box with freezer paper, shiny side up. I want as few folds as possible and no holes where my soap will leak out. This will eventually be my mold to pour the soap into. Maybe one day I will get a proper acrylic mold and a cutter to cut perfectly matched bars of soap, but not yet. And the fact that they all end up different makes them unique, rustic, and homemade.

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Next I take the oils and fats I have chosen and weigh them out. This time I am using Lard, Coconut oil, Olive oil, and Hazelnut oil. Different oils add different properties to the soap. This particular mixture should be very moisturizing. You can do soap with all lard just fine, but I like some variety. When you have weighed your oils, run the amounts through a lye calculator like this one http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx It will tell you how much lye and liquid to add to your recipe. Don’t trust a pre-done recipe! Always check with a calculator. And never mix by volume, only weights.

My solid oils go into a pan (which will now ONLY be used for soap. Once you use any item for soap it needs to be designated as JUST for soap as it can retain some lye residue) on low to melt and the others sit by to wait until I am ready for them.

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Although I won’t be adding Essential oils until the end, I want to figure out how much I need and go ahead and weigh them out. Today I am using Cedarwood, Orange, and Basil. I run the fragrance calculator and divide that amount by three since I am using three scents. I am using them equally, so that is easy.

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Now it is time to take my goat milk out of the freezer. I freeze milk that tastes a little off in zip-locks for this purpose. I freeze it flat so I can hammer apart what I need. I weigh out the amount the lye calculator said to use and put it in this stainless steel bucket, which is of course only used for soap now.

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Now it is time to suit up! I am not kidding. Lye is no joke. The children are shooed from the room and told not to come out until it is safe. I put on long sleeves, safety googles, and rubber gloves. When using lye it is a good idea to have a container of vinegar handy. If you do splash something with lye on you, vinegar will neutralize it. I had to use it today when  little spray went on my face! Thankful for safety goggles and vinegar!!! I measure the proper amount of lye into a plastic bag.

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When using milk the lye must be mixed in VERY slowly. Milk + Lye = HEAT. With water you can just dump it in. If you tried that with milk it will scorch and discolor. With milk you add a little bit at a time, maybe break it up into about 10 additions. I stir as I add and it will melt the frozen milk chunks. I watch the temperature. I want it to stay under 100 degrees. I have a temp gun I use to check temps in my  snake cages, so it doesn’t touch the lye. But if you use a regular thermometer, remember the rule, it is now ONLY for soap. I keep an ice bath in the next sink so that I can quickly cool the mixture if it heats up too much.

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All the Lye is added at this point and my milk is melted. It is at a happy 90 degrees and you can see it is still white and not the orange brown it would be if I wasn’t careful.

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I leave my lye/milk mixture, though I still check on it every few minutes to make sure it isn’t heated up, and check on my oils. When all solids are melted I mix all oils together and get to between 80-100 degrees.

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Now it is time for the stick blender. (also known as an immersion blender) You “can” do this by hand stirring, but seriously you can get a stick blender for less than $20 and it rely makes this process easier. I add the lye to the oils and then blend them together. Keep the tip under the liquid so that it does not splatter up.

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I blend the ingredients until they come to what is called “trace.” What this means in simple terms is that the mixture is like a loose pudding and when you drip a line on the top it leaves a line before sinking in. I notice also that bubbles leave little holes at this point.

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When the mixture is at trace it is time to mix in my essential oils. I blend with the stick blender until they are fully incorporated.

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I pour the mixture into the mold, scraping as much as possible from the pan. This will continue to heat up, so I put it up on a cooling rack and will even place an ice pack under it. If you have room this could go in the freezer for short spans if you feel it heating up. The reaction settles down after a couple hours. This will need to sit for 1-2 days.

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After it has had a day or two to harden, it needs to be cut into blocks. You can use a long knife (which remember will be only soap then) or with fishing line. It will be very slippery so I recommend tying the fishing line in a circle or tying it to a piece of wood as a handle before trying this. It is really hard to hang onto the fishing line alone. (You can guess how I know this!) Don’t forget gloves when cutting, there is still lye in there!

I set cut bars upright in a box, not touching, in a well ventilated area. They need 6-8 weeks to cure. During this time the soaponification process will occur and the lye with react with the other ingredients to make soap. In the end there will not be any lye in it, because it has been made into something new. DO NOT use the soap right away. The curing time is important to get rid of the lye. I believe there are PH strips you can use to be sure it is safe but I plan to just wait the 8 weeks.

People have asked me if it is cheaper to do soap this way…….Welllllll, I don’t know. It depends on how expensive your oils are. But I did make about 3 dozen bars of soap with my last recipe. So, it does make a lot. And, it is a great gift!

Happy Soapmaking!

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