Goat Milk Soap threads

[Spice]

are they any threads for making goat milk soap?

 

[penelopejane]

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=65246

Go to google
Type in
goats milk soap search:soapmakingforum.com

And lots of threads come up.
That's the way I search the forum.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Do you have a specific question, Spice? I've been making only (Jersey) milk soaps for 17 years.

 

[Spice]

Yeah, I wasnt sure how much lye to use for the milk, do I even include the milk into my lye count?

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=65246

Go to google
Type in
goats milk soap search:soapmakingforum.com

And lots of threads come up.
That's the way I search the forum.

I read this, wonderful.

I read this, wonderful.

I see this is going to be a long learning process. I have never made goat milk soap, will be using you search a lot.

need to get some sleep, will pick up again in the morning. Thanks all.

 

[penelopejane]

Yeah, I wasnt sure how much lye to use for the milk, do I even include the milk into my lye count?

Get the recipe that you want to use and put it in soapcalc.
Don't worry about the fact that you are going to use milk.
It is easiest for your first milk soap to use the split method.
I always use this method for milk soaps but I don't have goats.

Use half the water in the recipe to dissolve the lye then add it to the oils.
Then add the other half of the water amount in the recipe as milk.

Make your soap. Just treat it as you normally do ie: CPOP it etc.

The milk is going to increase the SF of your soap a bit but not significantly.
If you feel it bothers you after you use the soap then drop the SF a little in your next batch.

If you don't have goats but want to use 100% goats milk. Do the split method then add the right amount of goats milk powder to the milk to make it up to 100% concentration. See instructions in the thread I gave the link to above.

If you have goats then it's a little more complicated.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

There are a lot of different ways to utilize milk in your soap recipe.

To answer your first question

do I even include the milk into my lye count?

No. You do not include it as part of your oils. Milk is used as part or as all of the liquid in your lye solution for some or all of the water.

Have you made soap before? If not, I highly recommend making a batch or three using water for your lye solution before venturing out using milk.

Using whole, raw milk isn't all that complicated ... you just have to adjust when you make your lye solution and work fast. :mrgreen:

Freeze your whole, raw milk. I freeze the milk in zipper bags laid on their side.

When you're ready to soap, have your oils weighed, the solid oils melted and the liquid oils added to the melted solid oils FIRST.

Next, chunk up your frozen milk into 1 inch less pieces, weigh them out. Put on your eye protection. Weigh out your lye.

Dump about 1/3 of your lye on the frozen milk and stir to get the milk just starting to melt. Dump about 1/2 the remaining lye into the frozen milk and stir some more until more of the milk has melted. Dump the remaining lye into the container. Get out your stick blender, and keeping it fully submerged and on low, mix the lye solution until all the frozen milk has liquefied and your lye has dissolved. Pour immediately into your waiting oils. It should only take a few minutes to complete your lye solution from first dump to pour.

Soap as normal.

This technique results in a light colored milk soap

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

While I agree, don't account for it in the oils part of the recipe, you might still want to use a lower superfat than usual to account for the fact that the fats in the milk will react with some lye, effectively increasing your superfat

 

[Primrose]

I only make goat milk soaps ... And I use the frozen milk method as I have my own goats this is how I learned, despite people suggesting I try a water based soap first LOL I didn't find it too difficult. I use the default 5% superfat and haven't seen a problem, but to be fair I've only been soaping about nine months, also I do have a breed of goat that naturally has a low butterfat content around 2-3%

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

While I agree, don't account for it in the oils part of the recipe, you might still want to use a lower superfat than usual to account for the fact that the fats in the milk will react with some lye, effectively increasing your superfat

This is true. How much the milk will increase your superfat depends on the milk you use. Milk fat (butterfat) content can vary breed to breed, and within the same animal is dependent on where they are in their lactation & what they are eating.

Primrose has her own goats. She knows they have a low milk fat (butterfat) average percentage.

We no longer have our Jersey milk cow, however I still get raw Jersey & Guernsey milk from a local homesteader. These two breeds have the highest milk fat content. (North Dakota State University puts them at an average 4.9% & 4.7% respectively). In the goat world, the Nubian has the highest average milk fat percentage at 4.6% (IIRC, I'm not a goat person).

So how does play out in our soaps?

If we take a simple 16 oz 100% Olive Oil recipe using a 25% lye concentration, you would need 2.06 oz of lye to achieve a 5% superfat.

With the 25% lye concentration, you would use 6.18 oz of milk. Using the average milk fat for a Jersey, you would have an additional 0.30 oz of fat in your recipe. For a Nubian, you would have an additional 0.28 oz of fat.

To keep a 5% superfat, you would have to increase your lye amount to 2.10 oz.

Essentially, using the milk with the highest milk fats, you are increasing your superfat by approximately 1.9%

Me? I don't worry about it and set my superfat at 5% and enjoy the extra fat and protein from the Jersey milk!

this is how I learned, despite people suggesting I try a water based soap first LOL I didn't find it too difficult.

It isn't difficult, as long as you don't burn the milk! I suggest using water for the first soap only so folks don't have to worry about that one extra step.

 

[Misschief]

The only piece of advice I can offer is to make sure your goat milk is frozen and, as suggested earlier, add the lye just before you intend to use it. Even though I've used goat milk before, it's been a while and my last soap was anything but spectacular. (See this thread.)

 

[DeeAnna]

Interestingly, it's not just the fat in milk that reacts with NaOH. The fat in full-fat cow milk (3.5% butterfat) increases the superfat only about 1%. The sugar (lactose) consumes a lot more NaOH than that according to tests by Kevin Dunn. He found goat milk increased the superfat by 4% to 6% due to the fat and the sugars combined. (And I would think findings for cow milk would be similar.)

So if you want a 5% superfat in your soap AND you use milk, you can set the superfat % in Soapcalc or Soapee to zero and let the milk take care of creating your superfat.

Here's a thread on this topic: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=54117

 

[Roselyne]

Hello, I always made my goats milk soaps by replacing the total amount of water by the same amount of milk, It's ok isn't it? I've only been soaping for about 10month and I'm new to the forum..

Thanks Roselyne

 

[IrishLass]

Hello, I always made my goats milk soaps by replacing the total amount of water by the same amount of milk, It's ok isn't it? I've only been soaping for about 10month and I'm new to the forum..

Thanks Roselyne

Welcome, Roselyne! :wave: Don't worry- your method is a-okay. Lots of folks successfully make goat milk soap in the same manner. As MullersLaneFarm said- there are lots of ways to utilize milk in your recipe.

My favorite way is called the 'split-method', where I dissolve my lye with an equal amount of water in weight, and then add the remainder of my liquid amount as fresh goat milk to my oils. This will only provide me with a roughly 25% - 30% goat milk soap, but I can make a 100% goat milk soap with the spit-method by fortifying my fresh goat milk with enough goat milk powder to bring the milk concentration up to where it needs to be to equal 100% for my total liquid amount.

The reason I like using the split-method is because I'm one of those that hates mixing my lye with anything but water (I don't have enough patience for it).


IrishLass

 

[penelopejane]

Hello, I always made my goats milk soaps by replacing the total amount of water by the same amount of milk, It's ok isn't it? I've only been soaping for about 10month and I'm new to the forum..

Thanks Roselyne

A lot of people have trouble with burning the milk (smells bad forever or just makes dark fawnish soap). If you use frozen milk and add it slowly you should be ok. Then be careful how you get it to saponify as it as it can overheat (create splits in the soap).

I do the split method but make it up to 100% GM and CPOP at a very low temp and end up with whitish soap.

Irishlass and I typed answers at the same time. I learnt from her so hopefully our answers won’t conflict!

 

[Roselyne]

That's great, thank you both for your answers. I always freeze the milk, I can only get fresh goats milk here, and because it's also with honey I put it in the freezer for a day to have a nice white soap, don't use colors or smell on that one as my husband had very sensitive, hitchy legs after the shower, but since i make those, the problem seems to be gone.

I did burn milk before, it had a horrible smell, had to dump it, but could have been worse, i didnt go through with my plan to have 2 batches of the same recipe, one using frozen milk for the white and the other fresh mik for the orange( was going to do swirls). I let it gel though, but I'd rather the whiter version of it.

Have to say this forum is great, have been on it on and off all day!!

 

[bountifulsoaps]

I do not like making milk soaps but when I do the split method works best. I use to make them with sheep milk but now I buy the goat milk. Sold the sheep! Wondering how different cows milk would be to goat milk. The sheep milk was heavier or more fat than the goat milk I buy. Cow milk is thinner and probably easier to use in a recipe but does different milk make a difference? Just wondering!

 

[Spice]

The only piece of advice I can offer is to make sure your goat milk is frozen and, as suggested earlier, add the lye just before you intend to use it. Even though I've used goat milk before, it's been a while and my last soap was anything but spectacular. (See this thread.)

Wow, I saw your soap....I read that some put the soap in the frig or freezer. That is an idea I was thinking of doing.

Interestingly, it's not just the fat in milk that reacts with NaOH. The fat in full-fat cow milk increases the superfat only about 1%. The sugar (lactose) consumes a lot more NaOH than that according to tests by Kevin Dunn. He found goat milk increased the superfat by 4% to 6% due to the fat and the sugars combined. (And I would think findings for cow milk would be similar.)

So if you want a 5% superfat in your soap AND you use milk, you can set the superfat % in Soapcalc or Soapee to zero and let the milk take care of creating your superfat.

Here's a thread on this topic: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=54117

I wondered about the SF too, if the milk is high in fat.

Hello, I always made my goats milk soaps by replacing the total amount of water by the same amount of milk, It's ok isn't it? I've only been soaping for about 10month and I'm new to the forum..

Thanks Roselyne

I was thinking of doing this method, only because I had surprises. When I am done, I am done.

Thanks every one for your wonderful insights and suggestions. I have a lot to learn, I think I will try both methods, the split and the 100% milk. I want to see which is the one I mess up less.

 

[Primrose]

This is true. How much the milk will increase your superfat depends on the milk you use. Milk fat (butterfat) content can vary breed to breed, and within the same animal is dependent on where they are in their lactation & what they are eating.

Primrose has her own goats. She knows they have a low milk fat (butterfat) average percentage.

We no longer have our Jersey milk cow, however I still get raw Jersey & Guernsey milk from a local homesteader. These two breeds have the highest milk fat content. (North Dakota State University puts them at an average 4.9% & 4.7% respectively). In the goat world, the Nubian has the highest average milk fat percentage at 4.6% (IIRC, I'm not a goat person).

So how does play out in our soaps?

If we take a simple 16 oz 100% Olive Oil recipe using a 25% lye concentration, you would need 2.06 oz of lye to achieve a 5% superfat.

With the 25% lye concentration, you would use 6.18 oz of milk. Using the average milk fat for a Jersey, you would have an additional 0.30 oz of fat in your recipe. For a Nubian, you would have an additional 0.28 oz of fat.

To keep a 5% superfat, you would have to increase your lye amount to 2.10 oz.

Essentially, using the milk with the highest milk fats, you are increasing your superfat by approximately 1.9%

Me? I don't worry about it and set my superfat at 5% and enjoy the extra fat and protein from the Jersey milk!



It isn't difficult, as long as you don't burn the milk! I suggest using water for the first soap only so folks don't have to worry about that one extra step.

Because I'm a goat nerd, the Nigerian Dwarf has on average the highest butterfat content of all goat breeds, around 9%. The Nubians are definitely up there around 4.5-5.5%. My saanens are generally in the range of 2.5-3.5%. Its something I've thought about as I will be milking a Nubian later this year and Nigerians next year fingers crossed. I was thinking of skimming the milk to make it more like the saanens milk I'm used to working with (mmm butter and ice cream). But it's good to know you've used rich jersey milk without any issues