GOAT MILK DILEMMA

[jojo]

Hi guys, wondering if anyone has had problems with goat milk soap going mouldy before?? I made them end of january and they were perfectly fine when wrapped in cellophane (after 5 weeks curing). Now, though, I have discovered small areas of furry mouldy bits growing on imperfections in the soap surface. The soap still seems fine, but just looks YUCK! I wasn't aware that a preservative needed to be added, but is this the problem??
Here is my recipe, any advice would be lovely..
500g coconut oil (25%)
500g palm oil (25%)
800g x virg. olive oil (40%)
200g sunflower oil (10%)
646mL goat's milk (frozen)
277g NaOH (5% discount)
60g sweet almond oil (superfat)
(When combining goat milk and sodium hydroxide, kept temps below 30 degrees celsius) apologies for metric measurements!

 

[dagmar88]

Replace the sunflower (I'd go for 7% castor and an extra 3% to the olive oil) and allow your soap to breath.
No need for a preservative.
Do I understand correctly you used both a lye discount AND superfat?

 

[jojo]

yes, i do. i superfat at 2% of base oil volume and discount lye 5%, so should be discounted/superfatted in total 7%... is this not a good thing???

 

[needtosoap]

You probably have too high of a superfat. The 7% you figured only takes in to account your oils/fats in your recipe. It doesn't take in to account the natural fat in your GM which can be considerable depending on the breed of goat and days of lactation. I never go over 5% superfat for that reason and I even monitor the butterfat content of my dairy goats milk.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I've made GM soap with as high a lye discount with no mould problems in 2 year old soap. I'd re-work the recipe to exclude the sunflower oil.

One of my recipes is:

55% Olive Oil
30% Coconut Oil
15% Palm Oil

6% lye discount + extra hemp or almond oil at trace. I also add some honey.

PS: I don't have irritation problems with the high % of CO in this recipe. Cures hard as a rock over time. No DOS (dreaded orange spots).

 

[jojo]

Thank you all for your help.. this was my first batch and i was really happy with it until this turn of events. i will alter the next recipe minus sunflower oil and superfat at a lower percentage and see how i go.. thanks again for all your advice

 

[madpiano]

Hi guys, wondering if anyone has had problems with goat milk soap going mouldy before?? I made them end of january and they were perfectly fine when wrapped in cellophane (after 5 weeks curing). Now, though, I have discovered small areas of furry mouldy bits growing on imperfections in the soap surface. The soap still seems fine, but just looks YUCK! I wasn't aware that a preservative needed to be added, but is this the problem??

hmm - is that "real" cellophane or is it actually plastic which is called cellophane quite often ?

I find soap wrapped in plastic, even after 8 weeks cure, tends to sweat and could go mouldy, especially if there are organics in the soap (like milk, oatflakes etc)

I made my GM soap with 6% SF and had no issues at all, but I didn't wrap it for 8 weeks and then I tend to wrap it in paper.

 

[Best Natural Soap]

Free and Breezy

I agree- I let my soap be free and breezy until it's time to sell. Then they get a simple band wrapped around them. Plastic looks nice and protects the soap from "shop wear" but holds in moisture. Most of my soaps have flowers/herbs etc., in them, and I would be very worried about mold.