Instructions

• Prepare in advance: Freeze goat's milk into ice cubes.
• If you'd like to make your own oatmeal, grind oatmeal in a food processor and sift if you desire. Measure 1 1/2 tablespoon, set aside. Colloidal oatmeal can be purchased instead.
• Mix your fragrance oil. Set aside.
• Prepare an Ice Bath
• Gather all your soap making supplies before beginning. Work in a well ventilated area and be sure to wear the appropriate safety equipment. Gloves, goggles, long sleeves, long pants and shoes.
• Place your stainless steel bowl (or heat safe bowl, NO glass) on your digital scale and tare the weight to zero. Measure your frozen goat's milk. Cubes of goat's milk can be cut to get exact measurement.
• Place your stainless steel bowl into an ice bath bowl.
• At this step, you need to begin wearing your safety equipment, goggles and gloves.
• NOTE: Always tare scale before each measurement.
• Measure lye into a glass container (I use a sacrificed mason jar).
• Keep the bowl with the goat's milk in the ice bath. Add lye in small batches, just a little at a time and stir. WARNING: Mixture will get VERY hot!
• As the goat's milk cubes begin to melt, add more lye, continuing in small batches.
• After all the lye has been added, continue stirring until all the lye is completely dissolved. Stir longer than you think. I look for signs of undissolved lye on the side of my bowl and spatula. Lye is completely dissolved when the temperature is no longer increasing, check the temperature using a digital or infrared thermometer. You can strain the lye mixture through a strainer to remove undissolved lye prior to mixing with oils if you desire. Once lye is completely dissolved, set aside. I remove the bowl from the ice bath at this time.
• Measure oils in order of longest melt time.
• Start with cocoa butter, measure and melt partially..
• Measure and melt shea butter, add to cocoa butter.
• Measure and melt coconut oil, add to other butters. Stir until completely melted.
• Measure olive oil, avocado oil and castor oil and add to melted butters.
• Mix the melted butters and oils completely together. You can use a stick blender. See notes below on how to "burp" the stick blender.
• Add oatmeal to oils and mix well.
• Take the temperature of both mixtures, the lye solution and the oils. The ideal temperature for soap making when using milk is between 75 to 80 degrees. At minimum, the two mixtures should be within 10 to 15 degrees of each other.
• Be sure to use a heat safe bowl at this time. Add the oils to the lye mixture. Pour the oils over the handle of the spatula to lessen air added to the mixture.
• This is where saponification will take place. Using your stick blender and spatula mix the mixture until trace. It's best to use your stick blender in short bursts. This takes time. Just keep mixing. If adding peppermint leaves, mix until light trace. Mix in peppermint leaves and continue mixing until medium trace. Trace is achieved when drizzled soap from the stick blender holds it's shape. Light trace will lightly hold it's shape, medium holds it's shape better, it looks like pudding.
• Once you achieve medium trace, add fragrance oils. Mix well. Be aware fragrances can accelerate trace, be prepared to work quickly.
• Once fragrance is mixed well, add to soap mold. Use a spoon to shape the top. If you want to add any decorative touches to the top, it's time to do it now.
• Spray the soap mixture lightly with alcohol to prevent soda ash.
• Place in freezer for 5 hours
• Move to refrigerator for 2 days.
• Remove soap from mold and cut into bars. Allow the soap to cure on a wire rack where it gets good air flow. Be sure its away from animals and children's for 6 weeks.
• Once the soap is fully cured, it is safe to use.
• NOTES: On the day you are making your soap, continue to wear the safety equipment while you clean your bowls and equipment.