Breast Milk Soap

[loopyloop]

...yuk!

 

[squigglz]

This thread is making me want to re-lactate so I can make the soap xD My wee one only stopped nursing last year, and I know HOW to re-lactate, it's just a pain in the tukus! I used to use my breastmilk for all sorts of things--infections, lacerations, eczema, pinkeye, the whole nine yards. Personally, I'd HP it and add some extra milk near the end.

I miss nursing, and it kind of sucks that I can't have any more kids, but if I relactate I can make the soap AND donate to milk banks, which would be nice.

 

[toyojiro]

I tried different methods: frozen bm100%, 50/50 frozen, and 50/50 -add as superfat. I like the third method better because I can make sure lye is all dissolved and bm is least affected by lye. just my pal opinion. i will share more after using them. still waiting!

 

[falldowngobump]

I was planning on CP but am toying with the HP option now. I make a 'just for me' soap and do HP cause I don't care what it looks like. I have yet to make a pretty HP. But since this is going to be 'just for baby' I don't think it matters.

 

[Second Impression]

/50 -add as superfat. I like the third method better because I can make sure lye is all dissolved and bm is least affected by lye.

That's my preferred method as well! I made a bastile 100% olive/BM soap a while back. Husband loved it, he has a lot of skin sensitivities which include coconut oil soaps. He also likes plain castile but the BM soap is just way nicer! I can't say it feels any different than other milks in soap though. I did give a bar to a close friend (my ex-husbands first wife lol) and she really loved the gesture.

I completely agree with other posters about the awesomeness of breast milks healing powers. Just doubtful about using it in soap, I think outside of intimate gifts and heirloom keepsakes, it's better used in raw form.

The first time I made this particular soap, I used that popular blender soap recipe that includes Borax to neutralize a lye excess. Made terrible soap and it hasn't gotten better a year later either. Bastile is good though =)


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[SugarandOats]

This is awesome I had a mom ask me to do this last year.... she asked if I thought she was weird ! I should do this for my baby! I admire this post

sugar & oats

 

[detroitgirl77]

This is something I plan on doing for use for my family only as I have about 700+ oz of milk stashed in my freezer from my pumping days.

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[SugarandOats]

Do it mama!!! Your amazing!!!!

sugar & oats

 

[Fyrja]

I'm currently breastfeeding my little one. Breast milk actually has a lot of medicinal properties. She's only been sick once in the past 10 months, breastmilk passes on immunities. In addition you can apply breast milk to the scalp if they have cradle cap and it will help it to go away. Breast milk also helps to kill pink eye, if you put it in your eye. There's a whole list of ailments that breast milk helps with as it is so rich in vitamins and other good things. So this is not surprising.

I haven't used it to make soap though. Mostly because my little one drinks it as fast as I make it and I abhor pumping.

 

[toyojiro]

when i was bf-ing full time, i never had enough bm to spare. after a few years, i am still bf p.r.n. and have extara that is sitting in freezer for months--soap making is a great way to make use of it!




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[tryanything]

Yeah I have a 10 day old baby and will begin pumping soon. All the milk will be for her though. Power to those that choose to do this but not for me. I'll save the milk for my little girl!

 

[Second Impression]

Yeah I have a 10 day old baby and will begin pumping soon. All the milk will be for her though. Power to those that choose to do this but not for me. I'll save the milk for my little girl!

Don't write it off completely! As a mom who has nursed 3 babies, I can assure you you'll do something to mess up a bottle of pumped milk at least once. Like forget to put it in the fridge or loose a bag in the back of the freezer for 2 years. Soap isn't a bad idea when stuff like that happens!

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[Little_Irish_Hippie]

I have some thoughts, here. People often have a hard time figuring out why we humans have such an adverse reaction to things that are a natural part of life. But, there is a reason for it. Apparently, most people just don't realize it.

I believe that breast feeding and breast milk related things and discussions outside of its intended use become a huge debate for one reason.

We see the baby who receives the milk as an innocent child, and yet it's coming from a place which has a huge "sexual" intrigue (for lack of a better word). This little seemingly contradictory fact makes combining the two ideas a bit sacrilegious.

This is also why people are uncomfortable with public breast feeding. You are doing something beautiful and natural, yet I'm looking at something that turns me on.

Why people ignore this important aspect of the debate is beyond me.

This is why, I believe that breast feeding in public is fine, but the mother should show a bit of decency and decorum while doing it.

Like-wise, breast milk soap is fine, but you're just weird if you're not uncomfortable with washing all over your body with something that was meant for someone innocent, but came from a place related to sexuality.

There! Something I've been wanting to say for years.

I have to say I disagree :wink:

Many parts of a woman's body that men find sexual, are perceived that way because they are related to motherhood. Big hips deliver babies, breasts feed them, etc. Consciously, you don't decide that you like boobs because they feed children, it's natural and evolutionary. Boobs weren't meant to be a sexual thing, it just turned out that way.

What kind of "decorum and decency" do you expect? I've never seen a mother fling her boobs out in people's faces other than what's actually necessary to feed her baby. If you are looking at something that turns you on and find it inappropriate, then TURN YOUR HEAD AROUND! The baby's need to eat is more important than your inability to control your sexual desires. You are an adult after all, can't you deal with it? I know a guy who is hugely turned on by sexy shoulders, he doesn't ask us to cover them so he can be comfortable. How do you know bulls aren't aroused at the sight of udders? Would you drink cow's milk then, knowing that they came from a "sexual" organ?

It is my opinion that perhaps the adverse reaction comes from centuries of religious control where we've been told that our bodies, bodily fluids and sexual desires are wrong and disgusting. Some people perhaps find breast milk "gross" because (oddly, IMO), they see it as more natural to drink from another animal. Some of my female friends even think it is gross that their own offspring should be fed from their breasts, which I think is very sad indeed

I do not think it weird at all to use breastmilk for any kind of application, indeed there could be many benefits to mankind from it, but not enough research has been done. Sorry if I've seemed a bit ranty in my post, it just makes me sad that there can be such negativity towards what I believe is an amazing product developed over millions of years, and without it, the human race would not be here.

BTW, breastmilk is lovely in tea, you don't even need as much sugar as normal

 

[loopyloop]

Big yawn... still gross!

 

[shunt2011]

There have been many discussion on this topic and it just isn't something I would do. It give me the yuck factor. I couldn't/wouldn't do it. Though I'm sure there a many that have probably done it.

 

[tryanything]

Don't write it off completely! As a mom who has nursed 3 babies, I can assure you you'll do something to mess up a bottle of pumped milk at least once. Like forget to put it in the fridge or loose a bag in the back of the freezer for 2 years. Soap isn't a bad idea when stuff like that happens!

Well I just had a "doh!" moment. After giving it some thought I have changed my stance and decided, what the hell, if I have any left over, why not try it, strictly for me and my girls (I have a feeling others wouldn't feel as comfortable using this soap). Of course with the problems I've been having lately this all might be a moot issue. Yesterday I had surgery and both the anesthesiologist and my surgeon recommended I pump and dump for a day so the drugs are out of my system before I go back to feeding baby. So here I have been unhappily dumping when I just realized I may not be able to feed baby this milk but I can still soap with it. Facepalm!

ETA: oh and this is number three for me as well. I've had my share of oopses with milk before!

 

[Robyn08]

I don't think its gross, but as a currently breastfeeding mother, I wouldn't want to "waste" my precious milk that way. Much better to give to baby, even if it's previously frozen milk in a cup after baby has weaned. There are plenty of other ingredients that are good for a baby soap. I'd also think the soaping process would kill most of the really good stuff in breastmilk. Better to apply the breastmilk directly if the baby has a skin issue that it would help with.

 

[Robyn08]

If it's breastmilk that you have to throw away, like stated above, then I'd definitely try it. Didn't read those posts before I sent mine

 

[CaraCara]

<<<<< Is very happy that those days are long gone. My one baby was born with a cleft palate so there was plenty 'o pumping, and years later little bags of milk were found in the pits of the deep freezer. Had I been into soapmaking back then I might have made soap with it just for the hell of it.

 

[Numbers]

Okay so this thread popped up in my unread feed... And I have one question... Where are the promised pictures of the soap? I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on the subject, I just want to see what the soap looks like.