Oat Milk Soaping (Mis)adventures.

[KiwiMoose]

Some of you may have noticed I've been fishing around for advice on using oat milk over the past few weeks.

I first started asking in this thread here: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...ng-lye-water-with-oat-milk.70789/#post-767692

Well, last weekend I made my own oat milk in preparation. I did it this way: https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/how-to-make-oat-milk

Then I started pondering fragrances. I settled on a blend of (wait for it) Banana Crunch, Oat Milk and Honey, and Creamy Coconut. pretty much 1/3 of each but slightly more of the banana one.

Well - let me tell you about adding the lye to the oat milk. I used 50/50 frozen oat milk, and the rest refrigerated. It turns into porridge! God's honest truth! Anyway, @dibbles had assured me it would be OK despite this so I soaped on, unconcerned (well maybe a little concerned). I wondered how I was going to get it to mix with the oils when it was actually thicker than the oils (it was like heavy traced soap batter already).

I decided to pass it through a strainer into the oils. This took forever because it was so thick I had to force it through. I kept a whisk in the oils to stir after each sieve-ful.

Well, blow me down if it didn't all mix up just fine! It just took a while is all ( about 6-7 lots had to go through the sieve). And then I mixed and mixed with the stick blender, and mixed, and mixed. Would it ever come to a trace? Finally, yes. Then i added 1 Tbsp of ground oatmeal and 1 tbsp of ground flax seeds and mixed some more. Added FOs and mixed....eventually a medium trace came and I poured it.
Waited a bit for it to thicken and then textured the top and added oatmeal flakes.

Now we wait...

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

Mine also looked like that, kinda, a bit less thick. Then i used 50-50 with water. Both times turned out fine. I liked it because the soap ended up looking very creamy, i didnt use any color for that. Good luck on yours!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Your soap looks and sounds great. I’ve read some blogs where they describe using nut milk (or mylk) bags to squeeze the milk out of the mixture. Someone mentioned using cheesecloth to strain the milk (on the other thread). You could do that, probably with multiple layers, or use any finely woven cloth, even a dish towel. The benefit of using cloth is that you can squeeze it, which is hard to do with a coffee filter. In chemistry, “colloidal” is an “operational definition” for substances that fall into a size range between dissolved molecules and the tiniest particles. If you’re adding oatmeal for its skin soothing properties or to get a silky feeling, it would theoretically be a plus to keep the “slime” because it’s the colloids that make the liquid feel slimy.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes - I ended up using a cheesecloth to make my milk.
I unmolded today and it looks and smells delicious. Made me want porridge with bananas and maple syrup for breakfast
I'm hoping the FOs don't discolour too much - a little yellowing or some beige is OK because it will compliment the type of soap. But dark tan? Noooo. It was one of the reasons I mixed them - some said they discolour and others not so much, so i figured one might counteract the other.

 

[dibbles]

It looks good KiwiMoose. Glad you didn't get to concerned with the thick lye solution. I know the first time it happened I had serious concerns, but went ahead with the thought that if it fails, it fails and lesson learned.

 

[KiwiMoose]

It looks good KiwiMoose. Glad you didn't get to concerned with the thick lye solution. I know the first time it happened I had serious concerns, but went ahead with the thought that if it fails, it fails and lesson learned.

Did you pass it through a sieve? I was worried if I didn't that it might have lye clumps.
I'm glad I added the ground flaxseed - it gives a little bit of a darker fleck which makes it look more 'oatmeally'. Funnily enough I had some ground flaxseed already here that I'd made too much of last weekend when I was making some gluten-free bread. I knew it would come in handy for something!

 

[dibbles]

I did, at least the first time. I was a very new soap maker and the thickness and opacity was a bit alarming - I wanted to make sure the lye had all dissolved. I've only made this probably 3 times, but I think I would have always strained it.

Now you just need to add real banana to the mix

 

[Obsidian]

I also had oat water thicken when adding lye but it didn't get clumpy like yours.
I don't have a sieve so I would have just hit it with the sb before adding to the oils.

I've also used some kind of store bought nut milk, it also thickened. I think it was almond.

I stick to water or aloe these days

 

[Cess]

Hi!
Lovely looking soap! I've just finished a little batch with oat bran. I made a ACV soap and added some honey too. They are sitting in the fridge now (first time I try this, I made my very first batch with honey and I am happy with the result in terms of going to gel phase, but would like this one to look different). I am still looking for a soap I will be using at home and oats sound like an ingredient I will want in my soap!

Haven't tried anything with oat milk yet, but it's good to know in advanced it will be a bit messy with the lye, just to be prepared! Thanks!