Question about Milk/Lye mixing...

[christianthecelt]

Hi friends,

So I just unmolded my second batch of goat milk soap (5th batch of soap total now). This 2nd batch of gm soap turned out really well; the 1st batch is still a little spongy (I'm assuming that's a lye problem though).
My question revolves around the milk/lye mixture. For milk soaps, I was taught that you must first freeze the milk then let it thaw to about 40*. I did that both times. Then I partially filled my kitchen sink with ice, set the mixing pan down in it then added more ice. So far so good. After I added the milk, I slowly added the lye. I was taught that the process of adding the lye to the milk should take no less than fifteen minutes so as not to scald the milk. Since I'm still new to this, I took about twenty min to add all the lye to the milk (13.2oz milk, 5.2oz lye). Both times I noticed that the milk/lye mixture turns into a pudding consistency. A little worried, but I still pressed on, adding it to the oils. The first time, the mixture got thicker but never traced. That soap is still curing, but a little spongy. This time I got it to trace after about 12 minutes. The soap looks and smells amazing. Anyway, is this normal for milk/lye mixture to get so thick?

Thanks a million, y'all!

Christian

 

[ToniD]

Yes, it is normal for the milk/lye to get thick It is the fats in the milk saponifying.

I think it may be taking you a while to get to trace because your lye mixture will be so cool with adding your lye so slowly and sitting it in ice. I don't know how warm your oils are, but if both are cool, that will slow trace time. That is not a problem, just an observation. If both are cool, you may also not be gelling. Again, that is fine--many choose not to gel, especially a milk soap, but that will make the soap take a bit longer to get firm.

You didn't ask about this, and I don't necessarily want to mess with what works, but I would say you could add your lye a bit faster if you would want to. I now do the split method--add my lye to water and make up the rest of my liquid with milk added to the oils--and so have not added lye to milk in a while. But when I was doing it, I took maybe 5-7 minutes to stir it into the frozen milk. I never scalded my milk.

Congrats on your first few batches!

 

[Mellifera]

I freeze my goat milk in ice cube trays, measure them out, and use them frozen. I add the lye pretty quickly-over a minute or two. No ice bath. And no problems.

 

[christianthecelt]

Thanks, y'all! Very helpful indeed.

 

[IrishLass]

Hi friends,

For milk soaps, I was taught that you must first freeze the milk then let it thaw to about 40*.

The frozen method is only one of the ways to make milk soaps. There are a few other tricks/methods to get 'er done, so to speak. :wink: I really like using the split method that that TonyD mentioned. It is my preferred method of soaping with milk because there's no hassle with freezing the milk and then painstakingly mixing it with lye, etc.. If you do a search on "split method" it will bring up several threads in regards to how-to, and also the other different ways/methods that are used.


IrishLass

 

[krissy]

when i do milk soaps, i pour my milk into a thin flat lid from a bowl with weird lids. it is just deep enough to hold the milk and let me mix with out it being too deep. i then sprinkle my lye over the milk and scrape it and mix as it melts. i get while soap everytime i do it this way.