New to goat milk soap making and have an idea / question.

[DaveTDG]

I am drowning in milk. Got tired of making cheese so am going to jump in and try soap. I was kinda bummed to learn that not a lot of goats milk is used. But today I had an idea. What if you separated the fat/curd from the whey with citric acid and used the curd in soap making. Without adding the rennet and just using citric acid, the break is light. When I scooped some up and massaged it in with my hands it turned into almost a watery cream. Like lotion but much much lighter.

Has anyone ever done this? Could I exchange say a butter or even the goats milk soap with this if it turns out and stays as described above? Its not as think as cocoa or shea butter. More like a coconut oil near melting temp. Or could I use it as a superfat? Once the separation is done, I am going to see if it has a melting point. If its mostly fat it should have.

In any event, would be great to get some feedback from you all. Thanks

 

[Arimara]

I never did that, I couldn't if I wanted to and I REALLY hope that's not anything like a butter soap because... Where to start.....

 

[KristaY]

I'm of no use to you what-so-ever in regards to soap. All I know about goats milk is, I like the cheese. I just wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum! :wave:

There are lots of folks here that use goats milk routinely so they should be along shortly to help you out. Good luck with it!

 

[Susie]

Actually, goat's milk is used quite a bit in soapmaking. There are lots of folks on here that use goat's milk in soap. And every time I see soap for sale, there are goat's milk soaps. I have no clue how you got the idea that not a lot of goat's milk gets used.

 

[lenarenee]

I think he means there's not a large amount of goat's milk used in a batch of soap.

 

[shunt2011]

You can use the whole amount of liquid required in a batch as goat's milk. I use GM powder or evaporated and use enough powder/mil to equal full GM.

Though I'm no help with the separating the whey from the curds.

 

[earlene]

This sounds like a great idea you had. I do not have goats, nor an abundance of goats milk, but I would certainly want to try this if I did. I agree, when you have an abundance of a particular liquid (for me it was carrot juice) the amount of liquid required to make the soap is just SO SMALL it would take huge batches of soap and forever to use it all up. And you probably have this never-ending supply from your own goats (or am I wrong in that assumption).

Anyway, I don't know the answer, but it appears that you can purchase goat milk butter at various places so it seems with a little searching you are bound to find someone who has at least used it before for soap making. If not, it would certainly be worth while to test it out, in my opinion.

I would suggest researching the fat content and fatty acid profile of goats milk butter to get a better idea of how that would affect you final superfat value. I read that goats milk can contain anywhere from 3-6% milk fat depending on the breed and other factors. But I couldn't find anything about the saponification value of it, which would be what I would really want to know. Still there are some sciene-types here who could probably address those issues with some real clarity, which I cannot.

In any case, if it were me making the first test batch, I'd use a very low SF (no more than 1% to start with) so that however much GM Butter I added wouldn't bring the SF way over the top. I'd use a high lye concentration to offset the extra liquid being introduced by using an unknown quantity of additional fluid to the soap and so the soap would solidify faster. I would also consider adding some ROE to the mix to help prevent DOS.

 

[dixiedragon]

Sounds like an interesting experiment! Christmas is coming, so I do recommend making some large batches of goat milk soap now. Keep them in your car and you have impromptu Christmas presents if you need 'em.

 

[DaveTDG]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Yes I have about 4-6 gallons of extra goats milk everyday at this point. All our babies are weaned and the does are still at high production just now starting to drop em down and dry them off. Though we have does that refuse to dry off and will milk well into December.
I am thinking that making goat milk butter and using that might be an easier and better way to go. The separating went well but still left a lot of fat in the whey. I was able to extract 1/2 gallon outta 4 gallons of goats milk. I found that I needed to raise the heat a bit in order for the fatty acid chains to kinda cling together. Was a pain in the butt to strain the separated fat from the whey. Had to use a very tight screen strainer. I didnt wanna use to much heat for fear of turning the curd into more of a cheese consistency. Goat milk is a little tougher to make butter outta but I really think that would be the proper way (no pun intended) to go. I dont know how the citric acid is going to react with the lye.

 

[cmzaha]

If you are talking about making butter from gm and using it in soap save your time. The Butric acid in butters stinks in soap, not knowing much about it, and to lazy to look it up, I assume the butric acid is more concentrated in butter than the whole milk, all I know is butter Stinks in soap. You could always make some nice cheese curd and send it to me!!!!

 

[DeeAnna]

There is an odor issue with soap made from butterfat like Carolyn says. I don't find it offensive, but it is distinctive and many don't care for the smell. The scent mellows a bit but doesn't entirely fade with time, so this is a factor you'd really want to test this out before committing to making soap with goat butter.

Also a soap made from fat high in butyric acid and similar shorter chain fatty acids found in butterfat will tend to be harsher and more stripping to the skin than soap made with the longer chain fatty acids -- the effect would be similar to the irritant/drying effect of soap made from coconut oil or fractionated coconut oil. You'll probably want to treat the butterfat like most people use coconut oil -- make the butterfat only a portion of the total fat in the soap.

 

[dixiedragon]

I think it's so funny that we've got multiple folks here saying "I need to use up this goat milk!" but goatmilk is so expensive in the store! I am wondering if you could possibly sell the goat milk if you specify "for animal consumption only"? I spend $6 a pint on goat milk at the pet store for my dogs.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Or even look at getting a machine to powder it down? Powdered goats milk is very handy for soapers and easier to store/transport

 

[cmzaha]

For me the butter fat smell would smell worse after I rinsed off the soap.
Like anything, I donot think you can just decide to sell Goats Milk and go sell it, like most things there is red tape... I am sure DaveTDG can explain it. It was explained to me once the issues with selling Goats Milk, but I do not remember what the gal told me. This is a lady who has sis that supplied her with gm for her soaps and lotions but no longer can because she is now a dairy. It has been to long since I talked to her and do not remember the actual reason

 

[soapygoat]

I'm not sure about using just the milk fat. I imagine it could be used, but cmzaha's concerns would deter me, personally.

In Alaska, you can sell goat milk for pet consumption. The only thing they require you to do is to put this special dye in it. It's harmless to consume but deters most people from buying it to drink themselves. You can also sell goat shares in Alaska as a way to get around not being able to sell milk for human consumption. The idea is that a person pays you for a share (here it's usually $40-60 per share, and a single goat will typically have up to 4 or 6 shares), and the idea is that that money is used to fund the goat's maintenance, essentially making you a part-owner in that goat for a time specified in a contract. As the owner of an animal, you can drink the milk that animal produces. If a goat has been divided between 4 shares, then you'll typically get 1/4 of the milk that goat produces, either weekly or twice weekly. You would have to check your state laws on both of these options.

My best advice though for getting rid of lots of goat milk is to get a couple pigs.

 

[green soap]

When I make goat milk soap I use about 300 g goat milk liquid for 900g soaping oils. So yes indeed, one does not use as much goat milk as one would like, if trying to use up a lot of milk.

Have you ever made goat milk yogurt? it is delicious. If you have an ice cream maker, pour a little honey on the goat milk yogurt to make frozen honey-goat milk yogurt. One of the yummiest things I ever made. Even as plain yogurt it is great though.

On your question about the curds, hmmm, maybe problematic. The curds also have a lot of protein, not just fat. Not sure how that would work on soap, and also it would be tricky to find a saponification value.

 

[DaveTDG]

wow great input everyone. The smell thing I didnt even think about but seems logical. There is an inherent smell in goats milk naturally. There are ways to clean up the smell and taste. Mostly by feeding after milking and leaving a few hours between when they last eat to when they are milked. The quality and kind of feed play a huge part as well. Thus why large cow dairies dry lot and feed the same thing at the same time. Much the same way you get a cleaner taking meet by finishing out a butcher animal. So condensing the butter fat and getting the smell makes total sense to me.

Here is the deal on goat milk sales. Each state is different. Here in Washington state, you have to be grade certified to sale any milk. Even milk for animal consumption. The certification is the same so no one sales it for animals when they can sell it for humans. But if you did sell it for animals, it has to be dyed and labeled as such. Its not as difficult here as it is in say California to get certified but its a process. You cant even time or trade share here in Washington. But just over the boarder in Oregon, you can milk upto 9 does and sell the milk with no certification. Guessing they figure with such a low number of goats, even if you did something wrong, you wont hurt that many people...

I was going to try do to a high temp milk break with ACV. The way you make ricotta but after hearing about the smell. It really wouldnt matter how you condensed the fat. BUT I am curious enough to give it a try on a small test batch Rest of my supplies come tomorrow. So might have an update in the next few days. Thank again everyone!

Side Note: Considered pigs as they are least likely to have a disease that would transfer to the goats (cows are ruminants so many disease can jump species, so calf are out as well). But we are not set up for pigs and have no interest in the extra feed bill or smell. But good news there is, I posted an ad on craigslist a few days ago and got contacted by a pig breeder who loves using milk to finish her pigs. So going to do a trade. Free milk for an equal amount of meat+butcher costs. Which brings up another question... anyone ever try to put bacon in their soap? LOL j/k

 

[Susie]

Not bacon. But lard, glorious lard makes wonderful, marvelous soap!

 

[dixiedragon]

A friend if mine raises (I think) 1 pig per year. Her husband manages a restaurant so he brings home waste food - and they feed the pig that, so the cost to them is very low.

I do wish we had some kind of "Consume at your own risk" type laws. So people could sell/trade things like this.

I may be REALLY reaching here, but perhaps you could contact a local animal shelter and offer to donate the milk? If you are that keen to get rid of it? Assuming the pig farmer doesn't use it all.

 

[mattiesmom]

Fresh goat milk frozen in plastic bags in the appropriate amount needed for the batch works great in cp soap. I buy the milk frozen in gallon jugs from a neighbor with the same problem you have. I thaw a gallon at a time and measure into the baggies and back into the freezer. There is some separation when the gallon of milk thaws but a stick blender quickly takes care of that. Goat milk can be used to entirely replace the water in a recipe and makes a wonderful soap. 50/25/etc% combined with other liquids, also works. GM soap is very much in demand around here and I always worry I'll run out. So, I buy as much as I can (lots of gallons) when its available. Your ideas on unique ways to use it for soap sound interesting hope to hear how they turn out.