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goat's milk soap

Rosemary Peppermint Goat's Milk Soap

This simple all-natural soap recipe has no frills. It's a minty, refreshing soap that lathers generously. It is gentle on the skin. In this recipe, I will share both the percentages and measurements for a 10 x 3 x 2.7 inch mold. (approximately 42 ounces of soap). Using SoapCalc and the included percentages, you can adjust this recipe for any size mold. See the Notes section of this recipe on how to use SoapCalc.
Prep Time5 hours 1 minute
Curing Time42 days
Total Time42 days 5 hours 1 minute
Course: Soap
Keyword: cold processed soap, milk based soap
Servings: 10 bars
Author: Barbra-Sue Kowalski-Kowalski Mountain
Cost: $36.00
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Equipment

  • safety equipment googles and gloves
  • immersion blender
  • 2 stainless steel bowls
  • spatula
  • containers for measuring
  • digital scale
  • infrared thermometer
  • Soap mold
  • double boiler
  • ice bowl

Ingredients

  • Sodium Hydroxide- Lye 112.13 grams
  • Frozen Goat's Milk 227.66 grams
  • Olive Oil 313.50 grams
  • Coconut Oil 76 deg 189.75 grams
  • Shea Butter 165 grams
  • Cocoa Butter 66 grams
  • Avocado Oil 49.50 grams
  • Castor Oil 41.25 grams
  • Oatmeal 1 1/2 tablespoons
  • Prepared Peppermint Leaves 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint leaves optional
  • Fragrance Weight 24.75 grams you will mix them based on your preference. I used a 50/50 mix for my essential oils, mixing the Rosemary essential oil and peppermint oil 12.375 grams each to equal a total of 24.75. I adjusted this from a recommended 4 part rosemary essential oils to 1 part peppermint oil.

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. Ideally, 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 lye mixture to the oils. Pour the lye mixture 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.

Video

Notes

Directions for Using SoapCalc. Fill in the following fields.
#1 Type of Lye: NaOH
#2 Weight of Oils: 825 grams (adjust to meet your mold size)
#3 Water : Lye Concentration 33%
#4: Super Fats 6%
#4 Fragrance 30 g/kg (adjust to meet your preference)
# 6 Choose Oils:
Olive Oil 38%
Coconut oil, 76 deg : 23%
Shea Butter: 20%
Cocoa Butter: 8%
Avocado Oil: 6%
Castor Oil: 5%
#7 Calculate Recipe
The printed version will show the Soap Weight before CP (cold process) cure or HP (hot process) cook. For this recipe the total amount of soap will be 41.96 ounces. Keep adjusting the Weight of Oils until this amount is sufficient for your mold. All other fields will automatically adjust based on your percentages when you change the oil weight.
"Burp" the Stick Blender AKA Immersion Blender
Do your best to prevent adding air to your mixtures. When using a stick blender, place the end of the stick blender into the mixture on an angle to allow air to escape. Next burp the stick blender by tapping it on the bottom of your bowl. This allows air to escape.
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