kpduty51
Well-Known Member
I have a question about how my first batch of goats milk honey oatmeal soap went last night. I froze the milk and added the lye to it, but it never got hot-like I expected it to -only to about 74, but it did seems as though the lye was well dissolved. I think it should have been slushy instead of frozen solid, which is what the recipe called for. Since I am a novice at soap making, I felt I needed to heat it up to the 92 degrees the recipe said to shoot for to match the oil temp of around 92 degrees before mixing. I used my blow dryer on the outside of the lye/milk bowl and heated up to 84 degrees before mixing it with the oils so they were close in temps. I know this sounds like desperation, but I was trouble shooting and trying not to explode or blow things up.
When I decided to just go ahead with the lower temp lye, I added the lye/milk mixture (around 85 degrees) to the oils and mixed to a light trace, which happened easily, then added the honey and ground oats and poured into molds. I had read the milk soap book and also seen a posting from the creator of my recipe recommending pouring into shallow trays instead of my bigger box mold to avoid over heating and browning of the milk sugars. Well, I put the soap outside for half an hour (Wisconsin cold) and then into my unheated porch for a few hours, then into the house. I didn't cover it. Tonight I cut it--seems like it worked and is not brown at all. But it did not have a gel phase or heat up. Here is my ignorant question: did I make soap? It looks like soap, smells great and the scraps make lather. It needs to cure now. Should I worry about it not having gotten hot enough? Should I test the ph later on before using?
This is only my second batch of soap and first with milk. My first batch was CP and worked perfectly. I am just hoping the low temp will not give me a bad result. Can anyone reassure me? thanks
When I decided to just go ahead with the lower temp lye, I added the lye/milk mixture (around 85 degrees) to the oils and mixed to a light trace, which happened easily, then added the honey and ground oats and poured into molds. I had read the milk soap book and also seen a posting from the creator of my recipe recommending pouring into shallow trays instead of my bigger box mold to avoid over heating and browning of the milk sugars. Well, I put the soap outside for half an hour (Wisconsin cold) and then into my unheated porch for a few hours, then into the house. I didn't cover it. Tonight I cut it--seems like it worked and is not brown at all. But it did not have a gel phase or heat up. Here is my ignorant question: did I make soap? It looks like soap, smells great and the scraps make lather. It needs to cure now. Should I worry about it not having gotten hot enough? Should I test the ph later on before using?
This is only my second batch of soap and first with milk. My first batch was CP and worked perfectly. I am just hoping the low temp will not give me a bad result. Can anyone reassure me? thanks