Used cooking oil with "Expired" Breast Milk?

[annalaicn1991]

Greetings!

(I'm not very good at English grammar, so do forgive some silly mistakes made in my description, trying my best to have my English improve here )

It's a long story here, besides asking question above, I would like to share the story that brings me to this situation.

So it begins with me found a bottle of expired olive oil and coconut oil in my cupboard when I do some clearing. I search online and found that making soap is one of the solution of making use of the items before I trash it into the bin. The soap I made, although does have a bit smell, but works very well, and caught my friend's attention. She is a volunteer teacher in a refugee school, so she think this is a great idea to teach the children about preserving the environment, so I went to the school and had a mini soap making workshop there, the kids there were very happy to see the soap forming from 2 liquid :-D

Later on, my friend was doing fundraising for the school in a season day booth (it's nearly Christmas, so there are all sorts of booths and carnival in the shopping centers), and she though of : why not we have these soap as souvenir for the people who are making donation? That would be great to let them know what the kids have learnt. And yeah, the soap were too much for me to wash it all (as the expired oil provided from my friend was collect from some neighbors, it's like 10+ liters, no way I could wash myself with this much of soap.)

Then on the day where the booth was ongoing, seems like people were very interested in the soap made by expired oil, and actually willing to buy those soaps! So the soaps were all end up selling instead of becoming a souvenir for people making donation, all profit from the soap goes for the refugee school, manage to get the kids a school trip :-D

This gets to a clearer idea for me to make soap from soon-to-bin-scrap, and have all the profits goes to charity, for now would be for the refugee school. If in future, the refugee school was ok without my contribution, then the profit would goes to other charities...well, this is how I plan to do. My friend supports my idea, so she found me 3 barrels of used cooking oil from a vegetarian restaurant (which the manager of restaurant was quite surprise, as he though that my friend would comes along with a truck, but my friend come with a small car instead. This somehow proof that the restaurant have tons of oil to dispose, but they haven't find a nice way yo dispose off).

Later, during my scrolling on Facebook, a lady in my community was burden by a batch of expired breast milk in her fridge. She said it is no longer safe for consumption, but suitable for soap making, so I think it is good to add it into the soapmaking idea of mine, so I get the milks from her. (I didn't ask why or how these milks comes from, I just get it from her, and it's a lot!)

So I have now been experimenting on how to make a better soap with these 2 materials.
I'm facing 2 main problems in the making process.

1. The soap made by used cooking oil is a bit smelly.
I made a batch for my friend, she said the odor was very minor, she don't this this would be a problem for charity funding, as long as the soap function well. But I do hope to improve it, at least lessen the smell.

The oil are all filtered, no solid chunks, and it's quite clear, just the color turned red-brownish, gives out a very delicious smell of fried wonton (a kinda snack/side dishes here).

I did not want to buy anything extras to covered the smell (such as buying essential oil or something), as the main idea of this soap making was to save the soon-to-bin-scrap, reuse what ever is possible. (The mold I used actually made from milk carton I get from the community as well)

So I think of making some scented oil from orange peel (by heating the peels in oil 5 minutes and kept it aside for some time). It works a bit, the oil absorb the orange scent, but it requires a lot of oil, and quite time consuming. I don't think this would work, so I tried to search other ways, and it seems like I could wash out the smelly odor from the used cooking oil by salt water?

Most of the tutorial were using lards/bacon fat as example, I didn't found example that clears vege oil (this is the oil used by the vegetarian restaurant). Are the steps same? Or that it would be different?

Some said high salt content solution is necessary, some said plain water would be enough, some suggest 2 times of water from oil, some suggest 1/2 the water content...Which should I followed?


2. The breast milk that is not consumable result in a weird looking soap.
At first I was quite confused why these milk are not consumable, but the I soon found out why: the milk separates into layers after I let it warmth till room temperature from iced pack. (I'm not sure if this is how a breast milk should look like, but it doesn't really seems to be ok for consumption)

I tried to substitute all the water content by iced milk, but the results is a bit weird. Usually the soap bar that I make were all plain in color, a very uniform color, but the soap bar made from this method shows many lighter color spots. I'm not sure why, the soap bar feels alright, just the color looks very weird, the spots are dense, but the color difference is minor in my phone camera, so I couldn't keep a record on how is the look except from my description.

What could cause this problem? I actually don't mind if color difference were the only problem as long as the soap works fine and not skin irritating. I'm just very curious on what is happening.

Hope you enjoyed my story, and I really hope to find a way to solve these problems. Thank you in advance!

 

[TheGecko]

The reason why your soap smells when using expired olive and coconut oil is because the oils are rancid (bad). Not a good idea to use them as skin and clothing will pick up that smell until it fades.

There is a lot of information online about "recycled cooking oil soap"; this include instructions, recipes and videos.

Breast milk is no different than any other milk that comes from a mammal. While freezing the milk right away can extend the life of the milk, it eventually starts to break down.

When using fresh milk, regardless of source, it's best to start with frozen milk, then add in the lye in small amounts over a period of time so the temperature doesn't get high enough to scorch/burn the milk. I use goat milk and I usually use an ice batch (my mixing bowl sat inside another mixing bowl) which includes a little salt to keep temperatures down. Because milk contains fat, the lye will start binding with the them right away. It's kind of like what happens when you have raw milk...the cream floats to the top and if you don't mix it in real well, you get little bits of cream floating through your milk. Of course, the spots would also be from using expired milk. I'm not an expert in this.

 

[Kcryss]

The reason why your soap smells when using expired olive and coconut oil is because the oils are rancid (bad). Not a good idea to use them as skin and clothing will pick up that smell until it fades.

There is a lot of information online about "recycled cooking oil soap"; this include instructions, recipes and videos.

Breast milk is no different than any other milk that comes from a mammal. While freezing the milk right away can extend the life of the milk, it eventually starts to break down.

When using fresh milk, regardless of source, it's best to start with frozen milk, then add in the lye in small amounts over a period of time so the temperature doesn't get high enough to scorch/burn the milk. I use goat milk and I usually use an ice batch (my mixing bowl sat inside another mixing bowl) which includes a little salt to keep temperatures down. Because milk contains fat, the lye will start binding with the them right away. It's kind of like what happens when you have raw milk...the cream floats to the top and if you don't mix it in real well, you get little bits of cream floating through your milk. Of course, the spots would also be from using expired milk. I'm not an expert in this.

If the milk separates at room temp, could it be refrigerated until thawed, then remove the solid (assuming fat?) from the top to mix with the oils and use the remaining liquid with the lye? Just wondering if that would prevent the lye from interacting with the fat while attempting to dissolve it in the milk.

 

[TheGecko]

If the milk separates at room temp, could it be refrigerated until thawed, then remove the solid (assuming fat?) from the top to mix with the oils and use the remaining liquid with the lye? Just wondering if that would prevent the lye from interacting with the fat while attempting to dissolve it in the milk.

As I said, I'm no expert so I don't know. You could try it and see if it makes a difference.

 

[annalaicn1991]

The reason why your soap smells when using expired olive and coconut oil is because the oils are rancid (bad). Not a good idea to use them as skin and clothing will pick up that smell until it fades.

There is a lot of information online about "recycled cooking oil soap"; this include instructions, recipes and videos.

Breast milk is no different than any other milk that comes from a mammal. While freezing the milk right away can extend the life of the milk, it eventually starts to break down.

When using fresh milk, regardless of source, it's best to start with frozen milk, then add in the lye in small amounts over a period of time so the temperature doesn't get high enough to scorch/burn the milk. I use goat milk and I usually use an ice batch (my mixing bowl sat inside another mixing bowl) which includes a little salt to keep temperatures down. Because milk contains fat, the lye will start binding with the them right away. It's kind of like what happens when you have raw milk...the cream floats to the top and if you don't mix it in real well, you get little bits of cream floating through your milk. Of course, the spots would also be from using expired milk. I'm not an expert in this.

Thanks for the reply!

I never made soap with milk before, so I don't know what to expect actually (furthermore, the tutorial I found, none of them use the kinda of expired milk as I do, so I could only experimenting on it and see how it goes.)

May I know what would happen if the milk is scorched/burnt? Does it affect the soap making?

If the milk separates at room temp, could it be refrigerated until thawed, then remove the solid (assuming fat?) from the top to mix with the oils and use the remaining liquid with the lye? Just wondering if that would prevent the lye from interacting with the fat while attempting to dissolve it in the milk.

Thanks for the reply!

Yesterday I tried to make a batch of soap by using room temperatured milk. I stirred it well and pour lye into it, the soap made by this method seems fine, I don't fine any spots form on the soap's cross section!

But I'll need to prepare a ice bath at the mean time of pouring the lye, the solution was very hot, and a mini volcano of foams form....I really don't know what to expect

 

[Verde]

Greetings!

(I'm not very good at English grammar, so do forgive some silly mistakes made in my description, trying my best to have my English improve here )

It's a long story here, besides asking question above, I would like to share the story that brings me to this situation.

So it begins with me found a bottle of expired olive oil and coconut oil in my cupboard when I do some clearing. I search online and found that making soap is one of the solution of making use of the items before I trash it into the bin. The soap I made, although does have a bit smell, but works very well, and caught my friend's attention. She is a volunteer teacher in a refugee school, so she think this is a great idea to teach the children about preserving the environment, so I went to the school and had a mini soap making workshop there, the kids there were very happy to see the soap forming from 2 liquid :-D

Later on, my friend was doing fundraising for the school in a season day booth (it's nearly Christmas, so there are all sorts of booths and carnival in the shopping centers), and she though of : why not we have these soap as souvenir for the people who are making donation? That would be great to let them know what the kids have learnt. And yeah, the soap were too much for me to wash it all (as the expired oil provided from my friend was collect from some neighbors, it's like 10+ liters, no way I could wash myself with this much of soap.)

Then on the day where the booth was ongoing, seems like people were very interested in the soap made by expired oil, and actually willing to buy those soaps! So the soaps were all end up selling instead of becoming a souvenir for people making donation, all profit from the soap goes for the refugee school, manage to get the kids a school trip :-D

This gets to a clearer idea for me to make soap from soon-to-bin-scrap, and have all the profits goes to charity, for now would be for the refugee school. If in future, the refugee school was ok without my contribution, then the profit would goes to other charities...well, this is how I plan to do. My friend supports my idea, so she found me 3 barrels of used cooking oil from a vegetarian restaurant (which the manager of restaurant was quite surprise, as he though that my friend would comes along with a truck, but my friend come with a small car instead. This somehow proof that the restaurant have tons of oil to dispose, but they haven't find a nice way yo dispose off).

Later, during my scrolling on Facebook, a lady in my community was burden by a batch of expired breast milk in her fridge. She said it is no longer safe for consumption, but suitable for soap making, so I think it is good to add it into the soapmaking idea of mine, so I get the milks from her. (I didn't ask why or how these milks comes from, I just get it from her, and it's a lot!)

So I have now been experimenting on how to make a better soap with these 2 materials.
I'm facing 2 main problems in the making process.

1. The soap made by used cooking oil is a bit smelly.
I made a batch for my friend, she said the odor was very minor, she don't this this would be a problem for charity funding, as long as the soap function well. But I do hope to improve it, at least lessen the smell.

The oil are all filtered, no solid chunks, and it's quite clear, just the color turned red-brownish, gives out a very delicious smell of fried wonton (a kinda snack/side dishes here).

I did not want to buy anything extras to covered the smell (such as buying essential oil or something), as the main idea of this soap making was to save the soon-to-bin-scrap, reuse what ever is possible. (The mold I used actually made from milk carton I get from the community as well)

So I think of making some scented oil from orange peel (by heating the peels in oil 5 minutes and kept it aside for some time). It works a bit, the oil absorb the orange scent, but it requires a lot of oil, and quite time consuming. I don't think this would work, so I tried to search other ways, and it seems like I could wash out the smelly odor from the used cooking oil by salt water?

Most of the tutorial were using lards/bacon fat as example, I didn't found example that clears vege oil (this is the oil used by the vegetarian restaurant). Are the steps same? Or that it would be different?

Some said high salt content solution is necessary, some said plain water would be enough, some suggest 2 times of water from oil, some suggest 1/2 the water content...Which should I followed?


2. The breast milk that is not consumable result in a weird looking soap.
At first I was quite confused why these milk are not consumable, but the I soon found out why: the milk separates into layers after I let it warmth till room temperature from iced pack. (I'm not sure if this is how a breast milk should look like, but it doesn't really seems to be ok for consumption)

I tried to substitute all the water content by iced milk, but the results is a bit weird. Usually the soap bar that I make were all plain in color, a very uniform color, but the soap bar made from this method shows many lighter color spots. I'm not sure why, the soap bar feels alright, just the color looks very weird, the spots are dense, but the color difference is minor in my phone camera, so I couldn't keep a record on how is the look except from my description.

What could cause this problem? I actually don't mind if color difference were the only problem as long as the soap works fine and not skin irritating. I'm just very curious on what is happening.

Hope you enjoyed my story, and I really hope to find a way to solve these problems. Thank you in advance!

Hi annalaicn1991! I read your story with great interest. I too got some kitchen cooking oil that I wanted to dispose but couldn't because of covid. So, I did some research and made it into soap. I just strained out the bits the first time and the unscented soap came out smelling like soap. Then, I asked my friend who has access to a restaurant oil to give me some of the oil. The oil this time was so much darker than mine. I did try to clean it in water. Salted and unsalted. These procedures didn't work for me. The oil remained as dark as before. The separated water was very clear. I strained the top part of the mixture which I hope is pure used canola oil, with coconut and castor oil. I mixed lye with coffee and made coffee soap. So the dark oil won't matter as it is coffee soap. My question is, did you ever try to clean the soap with water and did it work? Thanks fir your reply.

 

[Relle]

Hi annalaicn1991! I read your story with great interest. I too got some kitchen cooking oil that I wanted to dispose but couldn't because of covid. So, I did some research and made it into soap. I just strained out the bits the first time and the unscented soap came out smelling like soap. Then, I asked my friend who has access to a restaurant oil to give me some of the oil. The oil this time was so much darker than mine. I did try to clean it in water. Salted and unsalted. These procedures didn't work for me. The oil remained as dark as before. The separated water was very clear. I strained the top part of the mixture which I hope is pure used canola oil, with coconut and castor oil. I mixed lye with coffee and made coffee soap. So the dark oil won't matter as it is coffee soap. My question is, did you ever try to clean the soap with water and did it work? Thanks fir your reply.

This person you quoted has not been here for 6 months, so probably won't see your question.