How to make Goat Milk Soap, cold process method

Goat milk soap has many benefits. This is instructions on how to make a cold process soap from goat's milk.
Researchers are now discovering the skin benefits from contact with whey protein and lactic acid. Lactic acid helps smooth skin by exfoliation, and milk also contains Vitamins A and D, whose benefits include giving skin strength and suppleness.
Many milk based soaps are made of goat's milk, which has the same ph as human skin. Goats produce a high fat, creamy milk that's easily digested because its molecules are smaller than those of cow's milk. People allergic to cow's milk often drink goat's milk instead because of the protein profile of goat's milk, which more closely resembles that of human milk, and which makes goat milk easier to digest. The other upside of using goats' milk in all kind of products is the fact that goats are more easily farmed than cows or sheep: they forage on all kinds of feed, are resistant to injury and disease and are providers of wool, meat and milk.
The regular use of goat milk soap will result in your skin being soft, subtle and moisturized. It will take on a healthy glow. Add cucumber to your soap and it works as a good acne reducer on acne prone skin.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 8 oz. goat milk
• 7.3 oz. Coconut Oil
• 7.9 oz. Olive Oil
• 8.6 oz. Lard
• 1.5 oz. Castor Oil
• 3.6 oz. lye
• 1.1 oz. lavender essential oil (optional)
• hand blender (optional)
• 2 stainless steel stock pots
• rubber gloves and goggles
• 2 thermometers
• mold
• spatula
• digital scales
• large glass measuring cup
• ice
• wax paper
• plastic wrap
• 2 towels
• spray bottle half full with vinegar

1. 
    
   Prepared soap mold

   Assemble all of your equipment, materials and ingredients, your recipe, and organize your workspace. Make sure you can devote this time fully on your soap making which means no interruptions.
   Prepare your soap molds. If using a wood mold as I have, be sure and line it with wax paper.
   If you use a purchased mold spray the inside with cooking spray to ensure soap releases easily.

2. 
    
   Measuring Oils

   Weigh Your Oils exactly!...no more no less
   Put your stainless steel stockpot onto the scale and zero out the weight. Weigh the solid oils one by one into the pot or pitcher. Be sure to zero out the weight after you've measured each oil.
   Measure you liquid oils in a large glass measuring cup. Then pour in your pot with the solid oils.
   Heat and/or Melt Your Oils
   Place your soap pot with the solid oils onto the stove over medium heat. Slowly melt the oils while stirring gently. Monitor the temperature. Turn off the heat when the oils get to about 110 degrees. Keep stirring until all of the solid oils are melted.
   You want the oils to be at about 100 degrees when you add the lye-mixture. So it will cool down while you are mixing the lye.

3. Fill your sink almost half full of ice. Set your stainless steel pot in the sink pushing your pot down in the center of the ice with the ice surrounding the pot. You will leave it in the ice to keep the milk from heating up too much and spoil.
   Now measure out your milk and add to the pot that is in the sink of ice.
   Here's where things really start cooking!
   Make sure you've got all of the spoons, vinegar spray bottle, hand held blender, mold ready for pouring, thermometer and anything else you're going to need nearby.
   Note: The spray bottle filled with vinegar is used in case you spill or splash the lye mixture on your skin. The vinegar neutralizes the lye and will stop any burning.
   Slowly while stirring with a spatula add the lye crystals to the milk little by little. Adding a small amount and stirring for a bit then adding another small amount and stir more before adding more lye. This keeps the milk from getting too hot....the lye will heat up the milk after you add it.
   Continue this until all lye is added.
   Now take the lye mixture pot out of the ice and place your pot of oil mixture in the other side of your sink that has NO ice.
   Once the lye is added to the oils, the chemical reaction begins, and you'll need to move steadily.
   While stirring the lye-milk-oil mixture with the stick blender, turn on the blender in short bursts. To start with, blend for 3-5 seconds and then stir some more. Once you start using the stick blender, you will immediately see the soap mixture begin to come together. Keep blending in short bursts until the oils and lye-water are completely mixed together. Once they are completly mixed together, you are nearing trace.
   
   If you were to hand-stir the pot of soap, like soap makers used to do, it might take an hour or more to reach trace. With the advent of stick blenders to soap making, trace can be reached in under a minute or sometimes several minutes depending on your recipe.

4. 
    
   Lye mixture being blended with hand blender

   Grab your handy stick blender and be ready for things to roll.
   Slowly add the lye-milk mixture to the soap pot. The oils will immediately start to turn cloudy. Using the stick blender as a spoon (not turning it on,) blend the lye-water into the oils.

5. 
    
   Pouring soap in mold

   Once the mixture is completely blended, but before it begins to get too thick, slowly add your fragrance or essential oils to the mixture. Stop stick blending the mixture and just use the end of the stick blender like a spoon.
   If your recipe calls for any additives like spices, flower petals, or special moisturizing oils, now is the time to add them.
   If you want to add color to your soap, now is the time.
   If you want the soap to all be one unified color, add the colorant to the pot and stir. If you want to achieve more of a swirl effect:
   1. Ladle about 1/2 to 1 cup of the soap mixture into a measuring cup.
   2. Add the colorant to that bit of soap.
   3. Holding the measuring cup several inches above the pot, slowly pour the colored soap into one corner of your soap pot.
   4. Then, using a rubber spatula, swirl the colored soap through the pot. Don't stir too much or you'll end up just blending the color in with the entire batch.
   By now your soap should be thick which means it has reached trace. Now it is ready to be poured into the mold.

6. 
    
   Sliced bars

   After you have poured the soap in the mold place a layer of plastic wrap on top of the soap. now place your mold wrapped in several towels in a draft free, warm place.
   Let it set for 48 hours then unmold and slice your soap into bars. Set your bars in a rack or in a box with space between each bar to cure for 3 weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• Always add Lye to water, Not the water to the lye!
• Never use aluminum when making your soap.
• Always use enamel, stainless steel, or iron to make your soap in.
• Never allow your curing soap to sit in a drafty area. It will be hard and flinty.
• Make sure your soap molds for Homemade Soap Recipes are 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.
• If too thin, soap will curl.
• If too thick, soap is hard to handle for cutting.
• Lye is toxic so please use precautions while using it. Make sure you use gloves and goggles while working with lye.
• Keep children clear of your work area while making soap.

Resources

• soap making video
• soap making video

[Inkling]

on 10/18/2008 Nice article! I always think homemade soap looks good enough to eat!