My first four batches! (with pic)

[courtneygood]

Here are my first four batches of soap. I'm just making them for my husband and me, so we aren't too concerned with how they look (fortunately)

From left to right:

1. Tea tree, citrus, & aloe (smells so yummy!)

2. Honey, milk & oats (with chai spices) - I don't think I'll use cow's milk again. While the bar smells like a delicious oatmeal cookie, when I tried the scraps, I feel like it left a faint sour milk smell on my hands? I don't know - it could be in my head, but I certainly don't want to walk around smelling like sour milk!

3. Chamomile & calendula (with coconut milk) - this one gave a false trace, but I think I was able to save it through a quick rebatch. Also, I let my husband mix up whatever leftover essential oils I had... never again He just dumped stuff in without any regards to what smells good together!

4. Rosemary & lavender shampoo bar (with coconut milk)

Now the problem is that since I'm only making soap for me and my husband, I'm not sure how to justify making more, since this is probably a year supply for us!

 

[Hausfrau007]

Oh wow wow wow! I love the size of them and (forgive the quirkiness) the square, 90 degree corners. Those can't be your first four batches; they're too perfect.

 

[Genny]

Gorgeous!
When you made the oatmeal, milk & honey ones did you freeze the milk first?

 

[courtneygood]

Thanks, Esther! I think it's just beginner's luck

Genny, I didn't freeze the milk. I think that might be next level for me! I used the split method I read about here and just added milk at trace, along with the honey, oatmeal, and chai spices. Waiting to see what it smells like as it cures. Tried using it again, and didn't smell the "sour" odor, so it might be fine. I'm hoping!

 

[courtneygood]

Genny, could freezing or not freezing the milk affect the odor of the milk at all?

 

[Genny]

Sometimes when the lye heats up the milk, it curdles it. So, I freeze the milk and add the lye very slowly.

 

[lsg]

Beautiful soaps, but I have to disagree about the cow's milk. Cow's milk and cream are one of my favorite additives. You can also use half water and half milk, dissolving the lye in the water and adding milk or cream at thin trace.

 

[maiseycat]

Lovely soaps! Even though you are not concerned with how they looked, they actually look quite nice

Now the problem is that since I'm only making soap for me and my husband, I'm not sure how to justify making more, since this is probably a year supply for us!

Well, there's gifts, for one. I have also read where some soapers who don't sell donate their extra to places such as women's shelters, because they always appreciate toiletries and when you are down, having something special like a luxury soap bar can help a lot.

 

[courtneygood]

lsg - I'm hoping I was imagining the odor, because the soap is so wonderfully creamy. I did have a stomach flu when I smelled it, and everything was making me queasy! I didn't notice a smell today. For reference, I used 5 oz water to dissolve the lye, and added 4.88 oz milk and cream. About 3/4 of that was cream and a quarter of it was skim milk - I was trying to use up the contents of my fridge. I saw in previous posts something about butyric acid in cow's milk, so I didn't know if that was the problem. I'll wait and see how it turns after cure before I give up on it!

When using cream, do you take that into consideration with your superfatting? After making it, I read that cream affects your superfat %, and I superfatted at 8% to begin with. If I understand correctly, using cream as half my water weight possibly upped my superfat percentage to 12-14%. Is that a problem?

Sorry if that's a silly question! Just eager to learn

 

[Maythorn]

Great soaps. They have a lot of handmade charm and the scents sound really nice, too. I don't know what to do with all of mine I keep at making. Some found homes for Christmas at least.:smile: I haven't heard of changing the lye amount for milk and cream as long as it already isn't high like I guess beyond about 7 or 8%.

 

[Fran2]

Hi. I am pretty new here but I have made milk soap both split method and frozen ice cubes. I did notice that it has a funny smell when I first un-mold and for the first few days. But after a few days curing the smell goes away and I start to smell my EO. I love making milk soap. I also made oat milk soap which was so easy. I did the split method with the oat milk.

 

[LovelyMalia]

those soaps look scrumptious!

I really like the idea of aloe, tea tree, and citrus together...I imagine that does smell AMAZING!