Liquid Goat Milk Soap

[ackosel]

I am relatively new to CP soapmaking (around 25 batches) and have never made liquid soap. I gave soap from one of my first batches to my sweet in-laws. My father-in-law LOVES the bar soap, but my mother-in-law asked if I could make liquid soap for her dispensers. I looked at liquid soap instructions, but the process seemed daunting and time consuming.

Fast forward nine months and I searched again for liquid soap instructions and recipes. Since I raise dairy goats, I have only ever made goat milk soap. I want to carry that on to liquid soapmaking. I found this easy-looking recipe online and wonder what experienced liquid soapmakers think of it.

https://shadyoakandsassafras.com/simple-liquid-goat-milk-soap-recipe/

It looks too easy to work. Is it worth a try for a beginner?

 

[AliOop]

Looks like a decent recipe to me. A few notes:

1. The author doesn't seem to realize that, like bar soap, you can make any LS recipe via cold process. There is nothing magic about cooking LS or bar soap; heat just speeds up saponification. Once you have measured correctly and mixed everything well, saponification will happen on its own, with or without added heat/cooking.

2. The batter will be less likely to separate if you SB past trace to the paste stage. This is quite different from how we think about bar soap, isn't it? Remember that with LS, we are making a sticky, taffy-like paste that will eventually be diluted, not a solid, pretty bar. So, going beyond trace to paste is a good thing in LS.

3. Sadly, LS takes longer to trace than bar soap, because KOH is a weaker alkali than NaOH. So, usually we try to speed up LS trace by using hot lye solution and hot oils. But as she correctly noted, you don't want to do that with GMS due to potential scorching. Another way to speed up trace is to use some glycerin in place of some water. My lye concentration is normally 20-25% with LS. For some odd reason, this recipe only uses a 36% lye concentration, which is on the high side even for bar soap, let alone LS. Low water can help it trace faster, but will also make the dilution process more lengthy and arduous, especially since we won't be using heat. So, I'd decrease the lye concentration to 25% by adding 3.2 oz glycerin after the KOH has been dissolved in the GM.

4. Another way to speed up trace is to add a couple squirts of already-diluted LS. I'd use LS made from the same recipe so as not to mess up my ingredient list.

5. I disagree with her decision not to stickblend during dilution. Cut or tear the paste into small pieces, and let it soften awhile in the water before you try blending in quick bursts. Use a tall, narrow mason jar for this; that way, it doesn't make a mess, and it definitely speeds up dilution. The bubbles will subside over a few hours. You can also spray them once or twice with alcohol to knock them down a bit, but don't go overboard with that so as not to make your LS go wonky.

6. You don't have to cure LS paste; you can dilute it immediately. I like to dilute once it is zap-free, but you don't even have to wait for that. Of course, like bar soap, LS does become milder over time, whether before or after dilution.

7. She also is a little confused about the issue of preservatives. Because there is no KOH left in the LS once saponification is complete, the fact that KOH was used in the recipe doesn't prevent stuff from growing in the LS. One of the commenters correctly noted that it is the highly alkaline environment of soap that discourages (but may not completely prevent) the microbial growth.

 

[AliOop]

Another thought: she and a fair number of commenters noted that sometimes their LS separated after dilution. They didn't understand what caused this, because other batches were just fine.

I would be willing to bet that it's too much superfat due to variances in milk fat at different times of year, or differences in lye purity, or small variances in oil measurements - or any combination thereof. Unlike bar soap, LS doesn't take well to superfatting without a solubulizer or emulsifier to hold it together. Even a .5% increase in unsaponified oils can cause separation in LS. I typically stick to 1% SF unless I know for sure that the recipe will hold at 2%. This should include the milkfat, not just the oils.

The other issue is that she apparently doesn't weigh her EOs, which is wrong on several levels. First, she should make sure she is using an amount that is skin-safe for each specific EO. Can't do that without looking it up and weighing it out.

Second, some EOs and FOs will cause LS to thin, or thicken, or separate. If she weighed her EOs carefully and kept good notes, she could probably figure out which ones might be causing her trouble.

 

[ackosel]

Oh wow, thank you for all that great information! You are a guardian angel to a beginner!

So basically, when I have to scratch my itchy trigger finger on my stick blender, I should make liquid soap instead of bar soap? Just buzz it until it's too thick to buzz? I understand there are A LOT of variables that would affect time to trace, but approximately how long are we talking? Most of my CP soap comes to trace in about 10 minutes, give or take. Would I SB the same way I do for CP, short bursts with lots of stirring, or can I just turn the blender on and have at it?

Is there any way to accurately account for the fat in the goat milk to avoid separation issues? From what I understand, goat milk fat content slowly and slightly increases throughout lactation as quantity decreases. So there's less butterfat in the milk 4 weeks into lactation than there is 4 months in. The breed of goats I raise typically has a 4% butterfat content, but like you said, that is an estimate and varies according to the time of year, diet, length of lactation, quantity of milk produced, and from animal to animal.

Is there a good place to get a nice, pure KOH? Where do you get glycerine? Would you recommend using a solubulizer or emulsifier to account for excess SF? If so (my ignorance shines!) what do I use for that and where do I get it?

I have come across several soap recipes that use teaspoon measurements instead of weight measurements for essential oils. I ALWAYS run those through an EO calculator and often find huge and potentially dangerous discrepancies in the amounts called for.

Should I dilute the LS before sending it to my mother-in-law, and just keep diluting and sending more from the same batch as she needs it? It seems more cost effective to send her the paste (we live 1,200 miles apart) and have her dilute it, but proper dilution seems like part of the art of LS making and therefore my responsibility. Is the shelf life of LS similar to that of bar soap? Are the factors that cause rancidity similar in both mediums?

As if I didn't already have enough to do, now I am beyond excited to try a batch of liquid soap! Thank you, @AliOop, for all your help! I'm no longer nervous to try making LS!

 

[DeeAnna]

"...when I have to scratch my itchy trigger finger on my stick blender, I should make liquid soap instead of bar soap? Just buzz it until it's too thick to buzz?..."

I personally don't do this because it's a good way to overheat a stick blender and ruin my good humor and patience.

Stick blend for 30 seconds or so. Stir for 5-10 minutes or so. SB again. Stir. Etc. Even walk away for a time if it's safe to do so (off heat, well covered, in a safe place away from curious critters).

Stick blending furiously isn't necessarily all that effective at forcing KOH soap to come to trace. At least that's been my experience.

 

[ackosel]

"...when I have to scratch my itchy trigger finger on my stick blender, I should make liquid soap instead of bar soap? Just buzz it until it's too thick to buzz?..."

I personally don't do this because it's a good way to overheat a stick blender and ruin my good humor and patience.

Stick blend for 30 seconds or so. Stir for 5-10 minutes or so. SB again. Stir. Etc. Even walk away for a time if it's safe to do so (off heat, well covered, in a safe place away from curious critters).

Stick blending furiously isn't necessarily all that effective at forcing KOH soap to come to trace. At least that's been my experience.

Thank you so much, @DeeAnna. So, it's looking like an hour or two or three of blending/stirring/waiting would be an appropriate amount of time to expect to be working on it? At some point, it will become too thick to SB, so that's when I should just keep stirring until it's too thick to stir, and then it's done? I'll bet 30 second bursts will satisfy my itchy trigger finger!

 

[dmcgee5034]

You will have to keep us (me!) posted on this, if you try it @ackosel - I have yet to try LS

 

[ackosel]

I have two batches of bar soap that must be made before I can try LS, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to make the time to do it all. I will certainly post about my LS adventure whenever it happens!