Breast Milk Soap

[carebear]

Don't worry, this is an age old debate. I have been soaping for 8 years & seen dozens of threads about breast milk soap.

it's right up there with "natural" and "chemicals". LOL. a good topic never dies, it just lies in wait for the next round of new soapers!

 

[whatshesaid]

Just to clarify, I have no intention of actually trying to sell breast milk soap. I'm just intrigued by the idea of it.

Don't ask me how I know this , but you could make a killing selling bm soap.

 

[mamaT]

As a mother who breast fed her child, I think breast milk is for the baby.

 

[ChrissyB]

Yes I agree MamaT. I enjoyed nursing my little ones very much but it was still a very personal experience. And it is still often frowned upon for a mother to nurse her baby in public. I thought that debate went out a hundred years ago, but it's still going strong.
I think the idea of friend using a mothers milk to make soap for her and her baby is lovely. I don't think it is something that you would want anybody else to have however. I don't think she meant that it would be a mass produced soap to go and sell willy nilly. I think the author of the recipe intended it as a thoughtful gift.
I guess the next question is??? Would any of the beneficial properties of breast milk survive the saponification process?

 

[lathermaker]

has anyone ever heard of "biohazard". If somebody was going to make it up for themselves or a very special friend, maybe. But, to sell you are looking at all kinds of illegalities.

 

[Jeremy]

Couldn't do it.

I have the book with the Mommy and Me recipe in it,and I actually did a double take when I read it. My wife and I have three children and the milk was all for them, I could never get over my predujices and societal learnings in order to make mommy soap, as someone stated earlier...ewwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

 

[Tabitha]

has anyone ever heard of "biohazard". If somebody was going to make it up for themselves or a very special friend, maybe. But, to sell you are looking at all kinds of illegalities.

Hazardous yes, illegal, no. I think it is one of those things where they never made alaw against it because they never thought they had to. You can google search & find a lawyer with a video explaining it legality. It's too early for me to find it right now.

 

[beachgurl]

Yeah, I have to agree, if a friend gave something like that to me I would have to believe that s/he was just a little weird :shock:

 

[Guest]

OK..the only way I can think of this is...body fluid soap.

So no. Ick.

 

[xyxoxy]

I guess I'm in the minority (though that's nothing new).

As far as DRINKING milk I feel that Goat's milk is for baby goats... cow's milk is for baby cows... and human breast milk is for baby human's. For health and other reasons I only drink soy milk (and no I'm not a baby soy so that's where the argument begins to fall apart).

I don't know that I would seek out breast milk soap but I wouldn't have any more problem using it than I would goat's milk soap. The notion of spreading disease through it seems pretty remote once you consider the temperatures and the chemical process it goes through. The AIDS virus can't survive outside the body for more than a few seconds.

Not sure if anyone here saw the recent story/video of Salma Hayek breast-feeding a sick infant in Sierra Leone. It's a pretty wonderful thing overall and I'm sad that as a society we attach such an "ick" factor to it.


Oh and boobie shaped soaps are cool too!

 

[andreabadgley]

Well, a dear, lactating friend of mine who has been suffering some serious skin issues lately, asked me yesterday if I would have a problem making a breast milk soap for her. For all of those in the "ewwwww" category, perhaps you should stop reading now, but this friend said she accidentally got some of her milk on her rash (eczema, or whatever it was) and it went away by the end of the day. She's been suffering for weeks from this and was shocked to see how healing her milk was.

So anyway, she asked me to make soap with her milk, and I jumped at the chance. I plan to make it like I made my goat's milk soap - hot process, adding the milk at the end so that neither heat nor lye will (hopefully) denature the milk. I will post the results and let you know how it works for my friend whenever it's all done.

 

[andreabadgley]

I guess I'm in the minority (though that's nothing new).
... I'm sad that as a society we attach such an "ick" factor to it.


Oh and boobie shaped soaps are cool too!

''

I am TOTALLY with you! I won't go into my own feelings on breastfeeding, since this is a soapmaking forum, but I just wanted to let you know I'm with you.

 

[jcandleattic]

I don't think anyone here has expressed that they don't agree with breast feeding. I also think that some if not most are okay with the though of a breast milk soap for either the mother or the child, but it's the EWWW factor when the thought of giving that soap to someone else or selling the soap. That's all...

And as for Wet Nurses - I'm all for that in certain to most situations...

 

[xyxoxy]

I am TOTALLY with you! I won't go into my own feelings on breastfeeding, since this is a soapmaking forum, but I just wanted to let you know I'm with you.

Thanks Andrea... I hope your soap turns out well for you and your friend.

Like you I wasn't trying to drag the discussion off topic and debate the merits of breast feeding. I think we all mostly agree it's a good thing. I just don't understand why the idea of using someone else's breast milk soap is any more "ick" than using some unknown cow's or goat's breast milk soap.

Think of all the other weird things many of us have tried putting into our soap just to see what it does.

 

[Jeremy]

I'm still in the ewwwwww camp

But that being said, I think it's great that you are helping out your friend with her excema problem, let us know how it goes for your friend once she starts using the soap.

 

[Lindy]

And even with the "ewww" factor I would love to see some pictures of the soap once you've got it made....Thanks

 

[andreabadgley]

For sure! I'll definitely post pics and let y'all know how it turns out. And I'll let you know if the soap helps with my friend's skin issues.

 

[Healinya]

I think it's very interesting also. I know I personally would never use it, but the thought of it made me think of when a newborn is taken by the state from unfit parents right from the hospital, wondering if it would have any benefits. I think it's worth finding out.

 

[Tabitha]

I don't think anyone here has expressed that they don't agree with breast feeding. I also think that some if not most are okay with the though of a breast milk soap for either the mother or the child, but it's the EWWW factor when the thought of giving that soap to someone else or selling the soap. That's all...

And as for Wet Nurses - I'm all for that in certain to most situations...

Ditto that.

 

[Jody]

And double ditto here.

I wish I had been a little more tactful than just Ewwwwww but it really was just the thought of getting it from who knows where? Sorry, but I'm still on the ewwwww wagon. Just my own personal thought with no offense EVER intended.