How to Use Powdered Goat's Milk in Soap
Adding goat's milk to your handmade soap will result in an ultra-moisturizing bar that won't strip your skin and hair of their natural oils. Using liquid goat's milk, however, is expensive, especially if you make large batches of soap. Rather than purchasing quart after quart of fresh goat's milk, try making soap from powdered goat's milk. When properly incorporated into your soap recipe, powdered goat's milk will yield bars that will nourish and revitalize dry skin.
Things You'll Need
- Cold process soap recipe
- Digital kitchen scale
- Lye
- Water
- Non-aluminum, heat-proof container
- Oil or fat
- Stainless steel stock pot
- Floating thermometer
- Stick blender
- Wooden spoon
- Powdered goat's milk
- Essential oils
- Soap add-ins
- Soap mold
Instructions
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Measure out the ingredients for your favorite soap recipe; use an accurate digital kitchen scale to measure exact quantities.
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Add the lye to the cold water and stir it until it dissolves. Mix the lye solution in a non-aluminum, heat-resistant container in a well-ventilated area.
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Allow the lye solution to cool down to the correct temperature.
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Heat the fat or oil in a stainless steel stockpot. You must bring the fat's temperature up to the lye's ideal temperature. Use a floating thermometer to monitor the temperature; making a successful batch of soap depends greatly on the temperature of the fat and lye solution.
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Prepare the powdered goat's milk while you're waiting for the fat or oil and the lye solution to reach the right temperature. Measure 1/8 cup of powdered goat's milk for every pound of oil or fat in your recipe, and mix in enough water to give the powder a thin, paste-like consistency.
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Pour the lye solution into the fat or oil when everything has reached the correct temperature. Add the lye in a thin, steady stream as you stir the fat or or oil.
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Stir the mixture together with a stick blender. Pulse the stick blender for 30 second intervals, resting for a minute between each one. Continue in this fashion for 10 minutes.
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Switch to stirring the mixture with a large wooden spoon and continue stirring until the soap begins to lightly trace. At this point, you will be able to draw a line across the top of the lye solution and oil mixture.
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Add the powdered goat's milk paste and stir well.
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Incorporate any essential oils or add-ins as directed in your recipe, and pour the soap into molds.
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Give the soap a few extra days to become firm, since the additional water from the powdered goat's milk paste will result in a slightly more moist batch of soap.
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Tips & Warnings
Although you may feel compelled to subtract the water you added to the powdered goat's milk from the total amount of water your recipe calls for, don't do it. The additional water will prevent the soap from hardening too quickly when you stir in the powdered goat's milk.
If you don't want to add additional liquid to your soap recipe, you can add 2 oz. of straight powdered goat's milk at trace, incorporating it as though it were an add-in.
Practice extreme caution when making lye soap. The caustic material will damage any skin with which it makes contact, and it produces harmful toxic fumes.
