Another kooky question: soaping with butter fat

[surf girl]

OK, mr surf girl comes up with unconventional requests. He was wondering if I could make soap from butter. Why one would want to, I don't know. Anyhow, soapcalc lists "milk fat (bovine)" as an oil, so I guess butter must be a possibility. I looked at 100% milk fat soap, and it doesn't look like it would be fabulous, so I would imagine it would be best used in combination with other oils.

Anyone used butter? If so, any comments regarding shelf life, etc? Any reason I would NOT want to give it a go one day when I get bored with all the other lovely soap possibilities?

Thanks!

 

[heartsong]

x

tho i have never used butter before, the SAP (NaOH) is .162. i would probably use as a superfatting of 5-10%, but a word of warning-because of the milk content still in the butter, i would "clarify" it first to reduce spoilage.

gently melt the butter until liquid. stick in fridge, then lift off the hard fat-discard the liquids (whey). it will keep without spoiling much longer.

good luck!

 

[Lindy]

Butter soap huh? That's pretty cool....I wonder if you can use buttermilk in soap? I just finished one with whole cream and it was okay, but not the same.

Okay surfgirl you've just been elected to try it and report back....

 

[surf girl]

OK, I'll put it on the list after all the more conventional things I want to try... like the ginger tea I'm fooling around with, and beer soap, and some more charcoal soap, and some more naturally coloured soap, and a shampoo bar, and a salt bar, and and and...

 

[topcat]

Butter soap huh? That's pretty cool....I wonder if you can use buttermilk in soap? I just finished one with whole cream and it was okay, but not the same.

Okay surfgirl you've just been elected to try it and report back....

I have used reconstituted buttermilk powder in soap and it is lovely! I use aloe juice to make it up as a liquid and stirred it into the batter at trace. I added enough buttermilk powder to approximate 100% of liquid used. In a tray mould it worked fine; in an upright milk carton it overheated (that was my whipped rebatch!); but I also added pureed fruit to that one = too much sugar methinks

Surf girl - I have wondered about butter in soap.....I guess we have to try everything!

Tanya

 

[Lindy]

Actually I have used buttermilk powder too, forgot that....

I want to try different milks to see what, if any differences each gives to the soap.

Butter is now intriguing me.....so many soaps to make - so little time....

 

[eric]

I have yet to make my first batch of soap, so I can't give you any firsthand advice, but I can tell you that a soap making book I have, Soap: Making it, Enjoying It by Ann Bramson lists butter in a short table of fats/oils. Describing the characteristics of soap made with butter the table says yellowish color; fairly soft consistency; slightly fatty odor; foam: fair, small bubbles; mediocre detergent quality; very mild skin reaction.

 

[kellistarr]

Butter soap huh? That's pretty cool....I wonder if you can use buttermilk in soap? I just finished one with whole cream and it was okay, but not the same.

Okay surfgirl you've just been elected to try it and report back....

Lindy,

Very interested in how the whole cream turned out. I just made an eggnog soap, turned out awesome. I made it with Raw/Unrefined Shea Butter, no scent. I love the smell of it. Buttermilk is on my list!

 

[surf girl]

I have yet to make my first batch of soap, so I can't give you any firsthand advice, but I can tell you that a soap making book I have, Soap: Making it, Enjoying It by Ann Bramson lists butter in a short table of fats/oils. Describing the characteristics of soap made with butter the table says yellowish color; fairly soft consistency; slightly fatty odor; foam: fair, small bubbles; mediocre detergent quality; very mild skin reaction.

Hey, thanks for that! Soapcalc is a great resource, but it doesn't really give me a good feel yet for just what the end soap will be like.

Kellistar, how did you make your eggnog soap? Did you use commercial eggnog instead of water, or what?

 

[Lindy]

Kellistar - The whole cream is fantastic! I used it in my Lavender Cream soap (the purple one) in another thread here and as always I'm not so good at waiting.... ... so I tried it and it feels great even though it's only a couple of days old....

Surfgirl try Soapmaker - it gives you a lot of information and I am totally in love with it!

 

[surf girl]

Thanks, Lindy - I will check out SoapMaker.