M&P Breastmilk Soap

[amd]

My husband's cousin sent me a FB link asking if this was a good recipe. She is wanting to make breastmilk soap and is concerned about using a lye based soap (because of the pH) on her 5 month old son.

I clipped the recipe here because I know not all have access to FB. I'm skeptical of adding breastmilk to M&P. I suspect the recommendation to refrigerate is to reduce the risk of spoilage, but it would eventually spoil (IMO).

Is this a bad recipe?
Is there a better recipe for breastmilk and M&P?
I have a recipe I've used in the past for CP breastmilk soap, but my cousin-in-law is skeptical of using a lye based soap on her son, and I'm not one to push the issue. If you have a concern about something, don't use it. I even tell my regular customers to wait until age 1 to use bar soap.

 

[Kamahido]

The most you should add to melt and pour soap would be about 1 tablespoon of additive. A cup of breast milk would not go over well.

 

[dibbles]

I'd have to agree with @Kamahido - 1 cup of milk added to 1/2 lb of M&P base seems like it wouldn't work very well. But, I've never tried adding that much (or any for that matter) water based liquid to soap base, so I don't really know. Also, even though it isn't CP soap like we make, M&P is still made with lye.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm with them. I wouldn't add that much breastmilk to a MP base. may not even set up appropriately. And I'd be concerned with rancidity as well. Even if it's a liquid soap base I wouldn't add it. Again, I'd be concerned about rancidity. When I did MP I never added more than a tablespoon or two of additional oils. I didn't do it for long as I found CP.

 

[DeeAnna]

my cousin-in-law is skeptical of using a lye based soap on her son

Huh. Apparently your relative doesn't understand melt and pour is lye-based soap. Just a meltable and pourable kind. Look at the ingredients lists for SFIC bases -- http://www.sficcorp.com/pdfs/mp-ingred.pdf -- and see for yourself. The pH of M&P soap is going to be alkaline just like any other lye-based soap.

 

[amd]

Huh. Apparently your relative doesn't understand melt and pour is lye-based soap. Just a meltable and pourable kind. Look at the ingredients lists for SFIC bases -- http://www.sficcorp.com/pdfs/mp-ingred.pdf -- and see for yourself. The pH of M&P soap is going to be alkaline just like any other lye-based soap.

Quite honestly, I don't know as much as I should about M&P soap either (and I use it occasionally)! I was thinking that Hobby Lobby m&p (Soap Expressions brand) was detergent based, but when I double checked online - you're right it has Sodium Cocoate and sodium stearate, which is "saponified" coconut oil and stearic acid in addition to SLES (also noted is sodium laureth, but I'm not sure what that is, Google only pulls up sodium laureth sulfate in the search). It also has triethanoalamine which is also alkaline. Thanks for the push to double check my memory!

I'll follow up with her regarding alkalinity, as well as recommending that if she does decide to try it that she reduces the amount to 1TBSP. Or maybe I can get her to order a CP soap. She struggles a bit getting her breastmilk to come in, so I know she doesn't want to waste any of it.

 

[dixiedragon]

It seems strange to me that she wants to make breast milk soap and she doesn't have an over abundance of it? What's her goal here? It might be simplest for her to mix a little breast milk in a travel-sized bottle of Johnson and Johnson.

 

[amd]

The impression I got is just that she is looking for soap that isn't "a bunch of chemicals" and "safe for babies". I know she's in several mom groups that have a lot of bad information regarding "natural products" - this isn't the first time that she's asked me about stuff that's been posted in one of the groups. She's young, a new mom, and I know she has skin issues herself which is probably making her hyper-vigilant for taking care of baby's skin. She made a comment about finding a hard time finding "soap" to use on him. [Soap in quotations because non-soapers tend to use that word for everything that gets you clean, so I'm not sure if she's meaning true soap, syndets, body wash, etc.] Although now that I'm thinking outloud... I wonder if a syndet shampoo bar would be gentle enough for baby skin? It wouldn't incorporate the milk, but it might be a gentler option... If I could get her over the bad chemical mindset.

 

[IrishLass]

I personally wouldn't add any kind of milk to MP, not even a tbsp. worth. If you ask me, when it come's to foody liquids, they are best added up front when the lye is still active and can react with it, or you'll risk rancidity. Personal case in point....my sis once had a friend who used to make MP soap with goat milk, and they always devolved into smelling like vomit not too long after making them. I had the misfortune of washing my hands with a bar of it once while at my sis's one day (she just happened to have a bar of it by the kitchen sink). Blech! My sis was glad it wasn't just her that thought it smelled gross. She said all the bars her friend gave her always devolved into smelling icky before they were even halfway used up and she'd always have to toss them out.


IrishLass

 

[MGM]

Put the breastmilk in the baby's mouth. Put the baby in the bath rarely, certainly not every day as the commercials imply. Done.

Also, if she and/or her baby have skin issues and she's been making her own "natural" laundry detergent, PM me. I spent 2 years on food eliminations for my infant only to find that it was my all-natural, HM detergent that was doing it to him. I can give you a list of things to watch out for.

 

[Donee']

Young new mothers are like that. I have had three kids and the first one I was the normal, average over hysterical mom - by the time the third one arrived.............. well - he was lucky to have been bathed at all......

 

[melinda48]

My husband's cousin sent me a FB link asking if this was a good recipe. She is wanting to make breastmilk soap and is concerned about using a lye based soap (because of the pH) on her 5 month old son.
View attachment 34961
I clipped the recipe here because I know not all have access to FB. I'm skeptical of adding breastmilk to M&P. I suspect the recommendation to refrigerate is to reduce the risk of spoilage, but it would eventually spoil (IMO).

Is this a bad recipe?
Is there a better recipe for breastmilk and M&P?
I have a recipe I've used in the past for CP breastmilk soap, but my cousin-in-law is skeptical of using a lye based soap on her son, and I'm not one to push the issue. If you have a concern about something, don't use it. I even tell my regular customers to wait until age 1 to use bar soap.

This might be a perfect opportunity to educate her about how saponification works.

 

[Donee']

I just have to ask this because it has been bugging me.
Why use breastmilk?

 

[dixiedragon]

It's very "in" right now to think of breast milk as having almost magical properties. I've seen people recommend putting it in a baby's eye for pink eye, etc. And I suppose if you've built up a surplus in your freezer, then you don't want to throw it away.

Breastmilk jewelry is pretty interesting, actually. It seems like they remove the proteins and discard the rest, and then it's encased in resin.

 

[eden]

nope ...my bad - there was lye ...ignore this

 

[DirtyKnuckles]

I just have to ask this because it has been bugging me.
Why use breastmilk?

Because we are in the new Middle Ages and actual, real science is considered witchcraft and evil and "unnatural". There are entire websites out there about the health benefits of pee for curing everything from cancer to the crack of dawn. Gravity is the law, science is real, and soap happens.

 

[melinda48]

But once it has saponification it is no longer milk, right?

 

[zanzalawi]

Yes @MGM!! Spot on
Babies don’t need to be bathed very much, their delicate skin can usually be cleaned up pretty nicely with just water and a gentle rag
With the over washing comes slathering them in lotions that are full of stuff she probably doesn’t want her baby’s skin absorbing
If production is low- I absolutely wouldn’t waste a certain drop anywhere other than that baby’s mouth lol (I took fenugreek- I smelled like maple syrup haha)

 

[Donee']

Because we are in the new Middle Ages and actual, real science is considered witchcraft and evil and "unnatural". There are entire websites out there about the health benefits of pee for curing everything from cancer to the crack of dawn. Gravity is the law, science is real, and soap happens.

pee is good for the skin as well - i tried it once (it was my pee and I figured why the h*ll not) - makes your skin very sticky though so that didnt last long.
Except maybe for diabetics pee that are in ketanosis (or those on the keto diet) - that may be to sweet i would think.

But I was living in saldanha bay (waaaaayyy down the cape coast) about 3 years ago and I picked up a bacterial infection of some sort and I came out in the most horrendous breakout all over my body - similar to leprosy i thought but i googled leprosy and it wasnt - so I whipped up a batch of MP with a combination of tea tree and other herbs - used that for three days and infection was gone.

Yes @MGM!! Spot on
Babies don’t need to be bathed very much, their delicate skin can usually be cleaned up pretty nicely with just water and a gentle rag
With the over washing comes slathering them in lotions that are full of stuff she probably doesn’t want her baby’s skin absorbing
If production is low- I absolutely wouldn’t waste a certain drop anywhere other than that baby’s mouth lol (I took fenugreek- I smelled like maple syrup haha)

agree with you on that one.
even better is just plain old acqueous cream rubbed over baby and then taken off with a damp cloth.

 

[earlene]

I would recommend that she speak with her pediatrician regarding what type of soap to use for bathing. Although we used regular soap when my grandparents, mother and even myself were young mothers, it's not what they recommend these days.

Regarding MP soap, I don't know if she has ever used it herself, but there are so many variables with the different brands available, I'd be reluctant to say she is going to find a mild MP soap base to begin with. The ones I have used are not as mild as my skin prefers, so no matter what additive I would not use any on a baby.