How to Make Soap From Goat's Milk & Glycerin
Gentle, natural goat's milk soap is an inexpensive alternative to often chemical-laden, mass-produced commercial soaps. Finished goat's milk soap is usually a light tan color. In home-based milk soap-making, lye interacts with goat's milk and other ingredients to "saponify," a process that produces soap without any harsh lye residue. Many goat's milk soap-makers add different soap fragrances to each batch to give family members and visitors a refreshing choice. Lye is available at hardware stores. Most drug stores sell glycerin.
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Things You'll Need
- Rubber gloves
- Paper mask
- Large enamel pot
- Paper cup or funnel
- 24 oz. goat's milk
- 6 oz. lye
- Wooden spoons
- Candy thermometers
- ¼ cup honey
- Large sauce pan
- 2 ½ lbs. shortening or lard
- 1 T borax
- 1 oz. glycerin
- Electric hand-held mixer
- Scented soap oil
- Glass pitcher
- Soap molds
- Cookie sheet
Instructions
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1
Don rubber gloves and protective face mask. Pour the goat's milk into a large bowl or enamel pot. Make sure the milk is as cold as you can have it, even partially frozen, because the addition of lye will cause the goat's milk to heat up quickly.
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Pour 6 oz. of lye into a paper cup. Be careful not to spill the lye, as it is caustic. Slowly add the lye to the milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon while pouring. Avoid pouring too quickly, as the sudden heat can scorch the goat's milk.
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3
Continue stirring the goat's milk-lye mixture until the mixture becomes a light orange color and all lumps have disappeared. Insert a candy thermometer to measure heat rise. Stir constantly until the temperature registers at least 95 degrees F.
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4
Pour a ¼ cup of honey into the mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Set the pot or bowl aside to cool to about 85 degrees F.
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5
Set the lard or shortening container in a pot of hot water. Heat the water on medium-low heat until the contents registers a temperature of about 90 degrees F. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the heat of the lard or shortening.
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Stir the warm lard or shortening into the milk mixture. Pour slowly and stir continually. Add the borax and glycerin. If you're scenting the soap, add about 5 drops of fragrance into the mix. Continue stirring until all contents are thoroughly mixed.
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7
Use a hand-held electric mixing whisk to beat the goat's milk mixture into mold-ready soap. Beat for at least 5 minutes. Test the soap for readiness. Soap is ready to mold when you can see a thin trace of soap as you drag the whisk across the top of the pot or bowl.
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Pour the soap mix into a glass pitcher with a pouring lip. Pour the mix carefully from the pitcher into soap molds. Allow the molds 24 hours to set.
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9
Empty the hardened soaps out of the molds. Place the molded soap on a cookie sheet to cure for up to 6 weeks.
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Tips & Warnings
Always leave yourself enough time to complete your soap-making project uninterrupted from start to finish. Be sure you have all of your materials and utensils on hand before you begin.
Don't use any metal pots, pans or utensils except stainless steel in soap-making. The caustic lye will corrode other metals.
Failure to stir adequately or continually can cause your soap-making project to fail. The stirring adds the air needed for the soap to thicken.
References
- Photo Credit goat image by Mirek Hejnicki from Fotolia.com
