Full milk or half?

[Cally]

I plan on stopping at my mom's house tomorrow and picking up some of the fresh goat milk she has. I'll have enough for several batches but I'd prefer not to loose any of my soap. I've heard of so many people having trouble with goats milk soap and I'm curious as to if people prefer using goats milk for half the water, all of the water, or some other combination?

If half an half, when do you add it? Mix the milk and water and add the lye, add the lye to the water and then add the milk. Add the lye to the water and then the water to the oils and then the milk to the oils... there are so many ways I can think of doing it and I'm not sure which one would be best. But I do LOVE the idea of making a goats milk soap...then maybe hemp milk...and almond milk...oooh coconut milk...

Oh my head is so full of ideas right now. Though I would love to know what qualities the milk will add to the bar. Will the sugars in the milk (specifically goat) make it lather more?

 

[IrishLass]

I've used fresh GM at 30% of my water amount, 50% of my water amount and 100% of my water amount, and each of the different amounts add something nice to my soap. That 'something' is usually an extra bit of hardness and silkiness from the goat milk protein, and a creamy 'oomph' from the extra milk fat. As far as bubbly lather from the sugars is concerned, that would depend on the amount of goat milk you add, plus your superfat percent. For example, in my 100% goat milk soaps superfatted at 5%, I've found the goat milk to actually decrease my bubbly lather quotient in spite of the sugars in the milk, because of the extra fat from the milk. Lowering my superfat to 3% in my 100% goat milk soaps has helped tremendously in this area for me.

There are a few different ways to add milks of any kind, and they are each based on the soaper's preference and what works well for them. For me- I hate dissolving my lye directly into my milk....passionately. Some do well with the direct method, but not me. I like doing it the 'split method' way where I dissolve my lye in (at least) an equal amount of water in weight, and then add the remainder of my water amount as goat milk directly to my oils instead. This works very well for me. Of course, one can only add up to 50% fresh milk this way, which puts a damper on doing a 100% milk soap using fresh milk with the 'split method', but it can still be done if you fortify your fresh milk with enough goat milk powder to double the concentation (which I often do with excellent results).

Hopefully more will chime in with their favorite way to add goat milk. In the meantime, though, a search using the words 'split method' will yield a plethora of goat milk discussions here on the forum.

IrishLass

 

[Half Caper Farm]

I do only 100% goat milk as I always have far too much milk in my fridge!

I freeze it ahead of time, weighing out what I need for each batch in individual containers. I then add the lye to the frozen milk, a bit at a time, making sure I keep stirring the slush as it becomes liquid. It's a bit tedious, but doesn't usually take much more than 5 or 10 minutes until the milk is completely liquid. (I put the pot in the sink, but I haven't found it necessary to fill the sink with ice water.) I've melted my hard oils ahead of time and added my liquid oils, so the milk/lye solution gets added directly to the oils. Stickblend, add my essential/fragrance oils and pour into the mold. I have yet to have a failed batch using this method and everyone raves about my soap. 8)

Hope that helps.

 

[dcornett]

I use the split method also. I add my lye to the water portion and mix that with the oils as usual, then add the milk at slight trace. I don't have access to fresh goats milk so I use the canned which is evaporated, so I still have the benefits of full goats milk essentially...but I use this same technique with coconut and buttermilk and still get super nice results.

 

[aussie]

I use fresh frozen goats milk for 100% of my liquid. I make this soap for myself and a few family members with excema, so we want as much goaty goodness as we can get. My official superfat is 5% but of course with the fat in the milk it's really going to be higher. The lather is slightly less big and bubbly than soaps with the same oils, but made with water... but then I am aiming for a soothing moisturising soap, rather than a fluffy one, so I am ok with that.

The only thing I do differently to 'half caper farm' (cool nickname!) is to freeze the required amount in icecube trays rather than one bigger container... I find that makes it a bit faster/easier to mix the lye in, as there is more surface area melting and mixing. But I still go bit by bit - adding maybe 1/5 of the lye at a time - and mix it really well before adding a bit more.

The only hiccup I had was that I thought for a while the lye was not dissolving properly as I could see white flecks in the liquid... then I realised the lye was saponifying already with the fat in the goats milk - once I figured that out it has been smooth sailing

 

[Relle]

I do only 100% goat milk as I always have far too much milk in my fridge!

I freeze it ahead of time, weighing out what I need for each batch in individual containers. I then add the lye to the frozen milk, a bit at a time, making sure I keep stirring the slush as it becomes liquid. It's a bit tedious, but doesn't usually take much more than 5 or 10 minutes until the milk is completely liquid. (I put the pot in the sink, but I haven't found it necessary to fill the sink with ice water.) I've melted my hard oils ahead of time and added my liquid oils, so the milk/lye solution gets added directly to the oils. Stickblend, add my essential/fragrance oils and pour into the mold. I have yet to have a failed batch using this method and everyone raves about my soap. 8)

Hope that helps.

I do the same as this except for one thing and thats crush the frozen GM with a meat mallet before adding the lye and I SF at 10%. Never had a fail as well.

 

[soapcakes]

If this is the first time you're making goat milk soap, I would suggest starting with just half to see how it behaves, then I would try using 100% to see the difference. I wish I had access to fresh goat milk, you're so lucky! Have fun!