Welcome, April!
Hi all - my name is April. I'm glad to have found your forum!
I've been reading soapmaking books and watching videos, and I think I'm about ready to dive in! I am interested in making cold process goat's milk soap. Is there any legitimate reason not to give that a try for my first batch?
It's always best to start simple to get the basic feel of things. I would try it out on your second batch, but only if you do the split method of milk soaping. The split method makes things very simple- it's a no-fuss no/muss method for making milk soaps.
Also - two really basic questions:
Lye. Brambleberry sells flake lye. The reviews don't look great, and I don't want to have problems right from the start. I've read articles weighing the attributes of flake versus bead lye. It sounds like flake is the preferred form for most - I'm wondering if there is a reliable brand out there that I should look for. I'd love any and all opinions on form and brand!
As long as the lye is 100% NaOH (i.e. NaOH without any other listed additives), you'll be fine. I buy mine online in bulk now from either Essential Depot or Brambleberry, but I used to use Rooto-brand from my local Ace Hardware, and also Roebic lye from my local Lowe's, which are both 100% NaOH without additives and they are perfect for soapmaking.
Re: bead or flake.......to me, it makes no difference whether it is in the flake form or bead form. I've used both and they both dissolve and soap perfectly fine. The only problem you may run into is with the bead form.......when you open the container, the beads can tend to fly into the air due to static if your ambient air is really dry. When I use the bead form, before opening the container, I wipe the outside of the container down good with a dryer sheet all over. It takes the static right out of it and causes it to behave nicely when I open the cover and pour it out. (I live in a very dry climate)
Batch size. I'm sure this is a really silly question, but how do I know what size mold I need for a recipe?
Thank you!
If you are buying a mold from a soap-making vendor, they make it very easy......they normally tell you what amount of soap can be made in it. What you can do is type "1 lb soap molds" into google and you'll get all kinds of hits.
Since you are new to soapmaking, start out with 1 lb batches at the very least or 2 lb batches at the absolute very most until you get the hang of things. If something were to go wrong, then you won't have wasted a lot of oils/lye.
I think I understand your instructions for the 50:50 split. Is this just to make it so the soap doesn't overheat? How much does this reduce the milk "benefits" and feel to the soap?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I use the split method because it means I can make a really nice-looking off-white/ivory colored milk soap without having to go through the extra time and hassle it takes to dissolve my lye into frozen milk. I take the weight of the lye required for my batch and mix it with an equal amount of water in weight, and whatever liquid amount for my batch is still needed to fulfill the total amount, I add it as fresh (not frozen) goat milk or coconut milk directly to my oils, either before or just after adding the lye solution to the oils. This will make a nice, roughly 30%-ish milk soap which will come out more creamy than if I had not used any milk at all.
And if I want to make a 100% milk soap, which is creamier (i.e. milk as 100% of my liquid amount), I can still accomplish this using the split method: I just add enough powdered goat milk or powdered coconut milk to the fresh milk portion to bring the milk concentration up to what would be 100% for my total required liquid amount for my batch.
Or if I don't have any fresh goat or coconut milk on hand, I can just use all powdered goat milk powdered coconut milk (which I always seem to have some on hand) by mixing the lye with an equal amount of water in weight, and taking the remaining needed water amount and dissolving enough powdered into it to bring the concentration up to what would equal a 100% amount of milk for my batch, and add that to my oils either before or after adding the lye solution to my oils.
For what it's worth, in the end, I really don't see any difference whether using fresh milk or powdered milk. They both produce a nice, creamy feeling soap.
Also for what it's worth, my milk soaps do not overheat or discolor to tan, in spite of soaping them between 110-120F and encouraging them gel in a warm (110F) oven. I should probably mention that I use a 33% lye concentration, which matters, i.e., the higher the lye concentration, the harder it is for the soap to get internally hot enough to go through full gel without applying some form of outside heat.
IrishLass
Not sure if that's of any help to you though..
