# My First Goats Milk



## mandolyn (Dec 8, 2008)

Wooohhhoooooo! Smells sooooooooo yummy & has such creammmmmy lather! It has colloidal oatmeal & honey powder it & scented with OH&H fo.


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## heartsong (Dec 8, 2008)

*soap*

good deal, congrats!  they look awesome!  nice job!


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## Deda (Dec 8, 2008)

Gorgeous!  I love that first picture, nice presentation!


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## mandolyn (Dec 8, 2008)

Deda said:
			
		

> Gorgeous!  I love that first picture, nice presentation!



Thanks to you both! Presentation is another thing I have to really work at, that & labels, so to hear that you like that first pick feels really wonderful!!


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## topcat (Dec 8, 2008)

They are beautiful mandolyn - such a gorgeous creamy caramel colour!  I read on another post that you had started soaping GM - do you add your GM to your lye, or afterwards like Soapmakerman?  

Tanya


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## Deda (Dec 8, 2008)

mandolyn said:
			
		

> Thanks to you both! Presentation is another thing I have to really work at, that & labels, so to hear that you like that first pick feels really wonderful!!



Your presentation always looks nice, in all your pictures.


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## mandolyn (Dec 9, 2008)

Deda said:
			
		

> mandolyn said:
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaw, thanks Deda!


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## mandolyn (Dec 9, 2008)

topcat said:
			
		

> They are beautiful mandolyn - such a gorgeous creamy caramel colour!  I read on another post that you had started soaping GM - do you add your GM to your lye, or afterwards like Soapmakerman?
> 
> Tanya



I used powdered GM, reconsititued it, put it in the freezer while the lye/water cooled & I measured the oils. Then, I mixed it in with the oils, then poured in the lye/water.

Temps are freezing here, & I made it at night, so I just sat it out on the deck for 4 hrs so it could freeze. Then unmolded.


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## Neil (Dec 9, 2008)

mandolyn,

Im interested to know how you molded the soap.. BTW it really looks fantastic.


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## mandolyn (Dec 9, 2008)

Neil said:
			
		

> mandolyn,
> 
> Im interested to know how you molded the soap.. BTW it really looks fantastic.



Thanks! Re the mold - trade secret. :wink:


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## topcat (Dec 9, 2008)

mandolyn said:
			
		

> topcat said:
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Thanks so much for the info, Mandolyn - the more I read about CP milk soaping the more I feel adding the lye to the milk is just too hard!  Your way sound great - thanks again!

Tanya


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## mandolyn (Dec 10, 2008)

topcat said:
			
		

> Thanks so much for the info, Mandolyn - the more I read about CP milk soaping the more I feel adding the lye to the milk is just too hard!  Your way sound great - thanks again!
> 
> Tanya



You're welcome Tanya. I can't take credit for the how of it, but I've followed lots of threads about GM here & on the soapmaking groups. 

One of our MODS here on the forum - Paul, The Soapmaker Man, doesn't freeze his GM, & GM is the only soap he makes. He's a master in my book, so I read everything he posts about GM. I'm amazed at how he does it, breaks the rules, & still has beautiful soap. I've used his soap, too. It's awesome!!

I read a poster recently on one of the soapmaking groups who said she mixes everything into her oils - any additives, scent, coloring, all of it. So, I thought, hmm, I'll just add the cold GM to the oils along with the oatmeal, powdered honey, & FO, hit it with the SB, then add the lye/water. It worked!

If you have an FO that causes seizing, & you've already mixed it into the oils with your additives & color, when the lye hits the pot, you're not scrambling to add stuff before it goes to soap on a stick. It's worked so far, so I'm going to continue doing it that way. Of course, if you're swirling or doing a blind swirl with an FO you have to modify that. Some colors won't mix with the oils, so you have to watch that as well.


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## Lindy (Dec 10, 2008)

Those are lovely!  You guys have inspired me to try GM so I've gone looking for a fresh GM supplier and found one.....

Cheers


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## ChrissyB (Dec 10, 2008)

do you think the same concept of using powdered goat milk would work with powdered coconut milk, adding it at the same time and following all the other steps?


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## mandolyn (Dec 10, 2008)

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> do you think the same concept of using powdered goat milk would work with powdered coconut milk, adding it at the same time and following all the other steps?



Yes, I don't see why it wouldn't work with coconut milk, too.


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## Bunny (Dec 27, 2008)

Love it, and great pics too.


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## topcat (Dec 27, 2008)

ChrissyB said:
			
		

> do you think the same concept of using powdered goat milk would work with powdered coconut milk, adding it at the same time and following all the other steps?



Hi ChrissyB - I have added powdered coconut milk to about 1/3 cup aloe juice and added it at light trace with great results.  Following what mandolyn has done, I feel the coconut should work added with the oils too.

Tanya


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## misty (Dec 28, 2008)

so mandolyn, just to clarify, your water is reduced & your goatsmilk makes up the difference for your lye/water to make your required liquid. Does that make sense?


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## mandolyn (Dec 31, 2008)

misty said:
			
		

> so mandolyn, just to clarify, your water is reduced & your goatsmilk makes up the difference for your lye/water to make your required liquid. Does that make sense?



Yes, that's right. 

It's been a while since my original post. So here's an update:

After about 4 days the soap did get darker - not brown, but tan & literally over night. There was no gradual darkening.  I noticed when I cut it, (& I did 2 batches,) that it either stuck to the cutter &  pulled apart, or if left to dry longer, crumbled. It wasn't lye-heavy either. The oatmeal was really scratchy, more so than soap that has gone through gell.

So, I just did another batch today, & instead of reconstituting the GM, I just added it to the oils. I left out the honey powder & used oatmilk instead of colloidal oatmeal. It was still a tad sticky when I cut it, but nothing like the first batches. Oh, & I let it go through a full gel. The first 2 batches, I froze to avoid gel.

The recipe was exactly the same, the differences were:  adding the GM powder to the oils, eliminating the honey powder, using oatmilk instead of colloidal oatmeal & allowing full gel. So  far, I'm MUCH happier with the results!!!

I also tried coconut milk powder. I added it to the oils along with some clays & 1 tsp sugar syrup (shaving soap made from Paul's notes). I haven't cut those bars yet.

I'll post follow-up pics & pics of the cut bars with the coconut milk powder tomorrow.


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## digit (Jan 2, 2009)

Looks right purdy and creamy.....fantabulous!!!!!

Digit


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## Jaaret (Jan 2, 2009)

*Beautiful*

Your soaps look W O N D E R F U L ! ! !

How did you get the wavy top on the bars? Did you use a wavy cutting blade?


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## mandolyn (Jan 3, 2009)

*Re: Beautiful*



			
				Jaaret said:
			
		

> Your soaps look W O N D E R F U L ! ! !
> 
> How did you get the wavy top on the bars? Did you use a wavy cutting blade?



Yup! I wavy cut one side & leave the other flat so I can stamp on it.


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## mandolyn (Jan 3, 2009)

Ok! Finally, here are the pics I promised. 

Here's that first creamy looking batch, which like I said turned. Now it's brown. You can also see the scrubby oatmeal in it:




Here's the one that I colored with a jade colorant. There's very little green left & you can see the partial-gel bullseye which is very odd being lightest in the middle with a darker ring. LOL




Here's the latest. I just added the goat milk powder to the oils & used oatmilk. No  scrubbies!!! Ialso let this one go through full gel. It's just starting to turn & will probably be the same brown as that first batch.




Paul just may have converted me to a goats milk-only soaper!!!


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## topcat (Jan 3, 2009)

Mandolyn, they all look great and the partial gel one is fascinating!  The first has a real olde worlde look and tone....rustic and yummy.  Thanks for the pics


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## mandolyn (Jan 3, 2009)

topcat said:
			
		

> Mandolyn, they all look great and the partial gel one is fascinating!  The first has a real olde worlde look and tone....rustic and yummy.  Thanks for the pics



Thanks, Topcat! Reconstituting seemed to cause problems, so I'm glad to know the easier way of adding it to the oils works just fine!!

I'm going to start looking for a supplier of fresh goats milk. I'd like to give that a try next. Maybe I can work out a trade - soap for milk.


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## digit (Jan 5, 2009)

Still look creamy-lishous to me! 



Digit


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## mandolyn (Jan 5, 2009)

digit said:
			
		

> Still look creamy-lishous to me!
> 
> 
> 
> Digit



Thanks Digit! The weeks are going to drrraaaaaaaaaag by while I wait to use it!


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