Fresh goat's milk for soap ingredient?

[alan_ogz83]

Hi to all,

I understand that some soap makers actually use goat's milk for their products.
I'm wondering if we can actually use fresh goat's milk from the farm rather than ordering them in powdered form from the suppliers?

Thanks!

 

[Half Caper Farm]

Absolutely! I raise goats and I use the milk in my soap. You need to freeze it pretty solid before you add the lye - so measure out your quantities before freezing and give it a good 12 hours to freeze. It's a bit tedious to mix the lye - pour a little bit on the frozen milk, scrape off the slurry, add a bit more - usually takes me 10 or 15 minutes to get it mixed.

 

[alan_ogz83]

Absolutely! I raise goats and I use the milk in my soap. You need to freeze it pretty solid before you add the lye - so measure out your quantities before freezing and give it a good 12 hours to freeze. It's a bit tedious to mix the lye - pour a little bit on the frozen milk, scrape off the slurry, add a bit more - usually takes me 10 or 15 minutes to get it mixed.

Hi!
It's great to know that we can actually use fresh milk. Erm btw, i'm worrying that once the milk expires will it cause some stinking on the soaps?
Additionally, could you explain why would you freeze the milk? Why not pour the milk into the lye straight slowly?

Cheers!

 

[calico21]

First always pour lye into"liquid" to avoid a volcanoing of your mixture. Second it will scorch your milk and turn the resulting soap orange and may caramelize bits of your milk from the natural sugars in it.

 

[Lindy]

The other thing you can do is freeze the milk into ice cubes so you can measure them out to get the right amounts for your lye. In soap the milk is not going to go bad over time so not to worry about it.

I actually prefer to use fresh/frozen milks for my soaps rather than using powders...

 

[jennikate]

I don't have goat milk but when i use cow milk I mix lye into 1/2 liqud amount water let sit littlee bit than mix in cold milk. To avoid any smell oe issues from sugars in milk.

 

[MeadowHillFarmCT]

Absolutely! I raise goats and I use the milk in my soap. You need to freeze it pretty solid before you add the lye - so measure out your quantities before freezing and give it a good 12 hours to freeze. It's a bit tedious to mix the lye - pour a little bit on the frozen milk, scrape off the slurry, add a bit more - usually takes me 10 or 15 minutes to get it mixed.

I do the same exact thing and get no discoloration.

I freeze mine in batches. I use cups with 6oz which is good for each 1 lb batch 16oz oil. Then I freeze in 36oz for a 6lb batch or 100oz oil (rounded). This is about 36% liquid ratio

I bought 5 thick plastic 6 cup measuring containers at a job lot ( they were $1 each) to mix my lye in. I use these to freeze the larger batches of GM so I know it will fit perfectly. After the are frozen I sit them in a dish pan with some hot water and let them melt a just a little around the edges so I can unmold and store in gallon size zip lock bags.

When I am ready to soap I just take out the appropriate size for the batch i am doing.

Works great!!!!!!!!!!

 

[alan_ogz83]

Thank you for being so kind to share your experiences with me!
I really learn a lot from there.

One more question, so am I right to say that if I were to use the powdered form of goat's milk, I can mix it with lye directly or..should I mix the powder with water then freeze it before mixing it with lye?

Cheers!

 

[judymoody]

You can mix your powder into your oils or mix your powder with your water. Many people dissolve their lye into water and then add a slurry of reconstituted goat's milk at trace.

However, I strongly recommend that you start with the simplest possible recipe - maybe two or three different oils and either unscented or with a fragrance that is known to be easy to work with. Goat's milk is challenging for experienced soapmakers, much less beginners.

Try www.millersoap.com as a great place to learn all the basics.

 

[alan_ogz83]

You can mix your powder into your oils or mix your powder with your water. Many people dissolve their lye into water and then add a slurry of reconstituted goat's milk at trace.

However, I strongly recommend that you start with the simplest possible recipe - maybe two or three different oils and either unscented or with a fragrance that is known to be easy to work with. Goat's milk is challenging for experienced soapmakers, much less beginners.

Try www.millersoap.com as a great place to learn all the basics.

Ok sure thanks for sharing ur experience and sharing the link with us here.
Cheers!