Goats Milk & Honey Soap

[peace-love-and-suds]

Hi guys. Just wondering about goats milk and honey soap. I'm sure this is a common question and before I posted I spent almost an hour reviewing old posts on the subject. I still have questions.

1. Are the enzymes and such in honey important to a soap maker? If so at what temperature is damaging to honey?
2. Can honey combs be used for anything? Anything else regarding a bee operation that can be used in soap?
3. I measured a teaspoon of honey to be approximately 7 grams and I figured 7 grams per 2 pounds of soap. Is this a good starting point?
4. Pros & cons of using 100% goats milk or 50/50 water/milk mix?
5. How long does goats milk keep in the freezer? Does freezing mess it up at all?
6. When mixing lye with the goats milk, at what temperature does the milk begin to degrade? I saw a post about mixing milk ice cubes with lye and never letting it get above 80.
7. Good news! I found a goat dairy farm and bee farm to get fresh product from. Any advice on dealing directly with the farmers? The milk can come straight from the goat right? It doesn't need anything done to it?

I know these are a lot of questions... Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I can answer some of these. All I make is GM soap.

Hi guys. Just wondering about goats milk and honey soap. I'm sure this is a common question and before I posted I spent almost an hour reviewing old posts on the subject. I still have questions.

1. Are the enzymes and such in honey important to a soap maker? If so at what temperature is damaging to honey?

Soap cool because you're using milk, so the heat shouldn't be any issue. Sugars in honey tend to heat up the soap and can cause overheating. I don't think it will damage the honey either way. Personally, I can't tell the difference between a w/ honey and w/o honey bar. It's more of a label appeal thing.


2. Can honey combs be used for anything? Anything else regarding a bee operation that can be used in soap? You can use the comb as a stamp I suppose, but nothing more to my knowledge. Someone else can answer this better.

3. I measured a teaspoon of honey to be approximately 7 grams and I figured 7 grams per 2 pounds of soap. Is this a good starting point? Experiment and see what you like best. I'd go for a bit more myself.

4. Pros & cons of using 100% goats milk or 50/50 water/milk mix? I use 100% milk. You have to work slower and cooler with 100%. I find it's easier than measuring twice, and I think doing 50/50 is almost cheating in a way. Go big or go home!

5. How long does goats milk keep in the freezer? Does freezing mess it up at all? I've had my raw milk in the freezer for months and it's fine. The consistency will be different, but the soap will all be the same.

6. When mixing lye with the goats milk, at what temperature does the milk begin to degrade? I saw a post about mixing milk ice cubes with lye and never letting it get above 80. Try to stay as low as possible, under 100 works well for me. If it gets above that, even has high as 140, it's never given me a problem.

7. Good news! I found a goat dairy farm and bee farm to get fresh product from. Any advice on dealing directly with the farmers? The milk can come straight from the goat right? It doesn't need anything done to it? Nope. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze right away. I use mine fresh from my goats w/o any pasteurization.

I know these are a lot of questions... Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

[peace-love-and-suds]

My dairy supplier told me that the milk from a goat at the beginning of the season yields better milk, especially for things like making cheese, etc. If this is the case, would the same apply to soap? Also, is there a particular type of goat that is best, such as one that produces higher fatty content? Does feed and things affect anything?

 

[krissy]

My dairy supplier told me that the milk from a goat at the beginning of the season yields better milk, especially for things like making cheese, etc. If this is the case, would the same apply to soap? Also, is there a particular type of goat that is best, such as one that produces higher fatty content? Does feed and things affect anything?

i think your questions are interesting however you might be worrying over much about the topic, at the end of the day it is just soap.

 

[peace-love-and-suds]

I intend on selling these soaps when the recipes are finely tuned. And if I can squeeze .01 percent quality out of being a little overboard in a few places, soon my bar is several percent better in quality... its worth it to me. Even if it wasn't, it is like you say, still an interesting question. Does anyone have an answer?

 

[adoptapitbull]

Milk from a newly freshened goat is higher in fat/protein because a growing kid needs the most at that time. However, it's negligible for soap making.

To be honest, GM doesn't make some that much better than non-milk soaps. I bet if you tested 20 bars, and 1 had GM, you would not notice the difference.

Sure, I use it in every batch because I have dairy goats. If I didn't have the milk readily available, though, I would not go searching like mad to find it.

There are plenty of awesome soaps with other ingredients out there. GM will not be a life changer, but if you still want to use it, then go for it. Makes for nice label appeal.

 

[judymoody]

I don't have access to fresh goat's milk so I'm no help there. However both milk and honey will cause your soap to heat if you don't soap cool, hence the advice to freeze/chill the milk before adding the lye. It will also minimize darkening of your soap as the sugars won't caramelize as much.

My batch size is about 750 grams of oils. I use about a tablespoon of honey and could go higher. I don't think a teaspoon per 2 lbs as you propose is enough quantity to make a difference in your finished soap.

A small % of beeswax can yield a harder bar. Too much can inhibit lather. I'd not go above 1%.

Good luck!

 

[Fragola]

A small % of beeswax can yield a harder bar. Too much can inhibit lather. I'd not go above 1%.

Still working on my BW percentage, but the lather problem definitely appears much above 1%, depending on recipe.

By the way, besides the BW, I have used honeycombs to decorate soap. I would probably try pieces mixed into soap aswell, if it wasn't the problem of clogging the drain.

And if I can squeeze .01 percent quality out of being a little overboard in a few places, soon my bar is several percent better in quality... its worth it to me. Even if it wasn't, it is like you say, still an interesting question. Does anyone have an answer?

Sorry, no answer, but I do have a question that's been flying around my head lately: what's better - milk soap or cheese soap ? I am sure this answer has the chance to squeeze more than .01%