Making Goat Milk Soap
My mom came for a visit from Hawaii so I talked her into helping me in my first attempt to make soap. I had many different recipes. Unfortunately, I could not find one that I really liked so I had to be a little creative. My recipe is a combination of several different recipes. The scariest part was the chemical reaction with the lye. Now that I have done it; it was not that scary.
As my mom and I stirred our own pots. She had the milk and lye mixture. I had the melting lard mixture. We wondered how people in the past found out that mixing lye and fat would create a cleaning product. We certainly don’t have the answer, but it made for an interesting conversation. If you happen to know, please share it with me.
The following is my recipe for Goat Milk Soap.
3 pints of ice-cold goat milk with frozen ice crystals
Bars of my goat milk soap. I just wish you could smell them!
12 oz. Lye
1/3 cup honey
5 ½ lbs lard, melted
2 tbsp borax
2 oz. glycerin
Essential oils (I used lavender and tea tree oil.)
I believe in being prepared so I measured out all of my ingredients beforehand. I found a shallow cardboard box I wanted to use as a mold and lined it with a plastic kitchen trash bag. I got out two stainless steel pots and spoons. I set a bottle of vinegar on the counter. If you get burned by the lye mixture, pour vinegar on the spot. It alleviates the pain of the burn. Also wear your rubber gloves at all times during the soap-making process. I also set out my hand-held mixer within reach.
Now that you are ready to begin, fill your kitchen sink about half-way with cold water and then add some ice cubes. Push one of your stainless pots down into the water while pouring in the ice-cold milk. Slowly pour in the lye a little at a time while constantly stirring. The lye will heat up the milk and the mixture will turn orange. This is normal. Add the honey while stirring. Let the lye mixture cool to 85 degrees. In another pot, melt down the 5-½ pounds of lard. Warm the lard to 90 degrees.
It was a hot day when we were making soap. We could not get either the lye mixture or the lard to reach 85 and 90 degrees respectively. The most important thing in my opinion is that the temperature are close to the goal temperature and the lard is hotter than the lye mixture.
Slowly add the lard to the lye mixture stirring constantly. Add the glycerin and borax. Now start stirring with a hand-held mixer to get the mixture to “trace” as soon as possible. The mixture should be as thick as pudding. When you lift up your spoon, the drippings should make a design on the surface of the mixture before sinking down. If you have a small enough pot, your spoon should be able to stand up. These are all signs your mixture has traced.
Add your essential oils. I choose lavender for its cleaning properties and scent. I choose tea tree oil for its ability to treat acne and other skin problems. I lost count of how many drops I used of each, but I used a ratio of 2:1. There is twice as much lavender as there is tea tree oil. I just kept adding drops until it smelled good to me. This is the really fun part. Be creative. Try any combination you desire.
Pour into you lined box or soap molds. Cover with an old towel or blanket and let it rest. The next day you can remove the soap and cut it into bars with fishing line. Then, line a cookie sheet (I use the top of a broiling pan) with paper towels or freezer paper. Stack your bars of soap on the paper towels and cover with more paper towels. This allows the bars of soap to breathe as well as keeps the dust off of them. It has to cure for 4-6 weeks before you can safely use it.
This recipe makes enough soap for my family to use in probably a year’s time. Next time I am going to use soap molds. I am really happy with the soap. It produces a lather, it is creamy, and it is gentle enough for my face. The best thing about making my own soap: no formaldehyde worries for Jake.
[...] Original post by Lara DeHaven [...]
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Hi, good post. I have been thinking about this topic,so thanks for writing. I’ll definitely be coming back to your blog.
thank you, best site and description on goats milk soap!!!I’m going to try it out in a couple days
Thank you so much for your kind words! Anyone who has tried my bars of soap has really liked them. I wish you the best of luck on yours.
Sorry to keep asking so many questions on your blog today, but I love everything I am reading.
Can you tell me where do you get all of your ingredients for making the soap? If I don’t have access to raw goat milk, does store bought work?
Thanks
You are asking great questions. Don’t apologize. I get the lye and borax from our local Brookshire Bros. in the cleaning aisle. Red Devil Lye is what most people recommend to use, but I have seen where people buy drain cleaner making sure that the ingredients are 100% lye. I don’t know why store bought milk would not work. Canned goat milk if concentrated or evaporated would have to be diluted. I would try buying the milk in the refrigerated section before I tried the canned personally. As far as soap is concerned, I am sure that goat milk is goat milk whether it is fresh, raw, or pasteurized.
I like this blog. i really appreciate your expertise in skin care and natural products. I shall follow your posts.
I appreciate your knowledge in natural soap molds and organic skin care products. Looking for more articles on natural soap molds
I can’t wait to try this one out. I’ve never made my own soap but have wanted to for awhile. I have Rosecea and have got to be very careful what I use on my skin (especially my face). Will let you know how it goes when I give this one a try.
Wanted to say you make soapmaking sound so simple compared to other recipes I read. Thanks for giving me the courage to try this.
I absolutely want to know how your skin feels after using this recipe. If you need more moisturizing qualities, you can add vitamin E oil to the mix. Just a thought. Good luck making the soap.
Hi, I love the way your goats milk soap looks a creamy white that’s the way I hoped mine would look. Is yours lighter because of using lard? I will be trying your recipe because it looks so luxurious. Thanks
I don’t know why mine is lighter in color, but every batch is the same color. Good luck making your soap.
Lara
Just wanted to know, do you pour your melted lard into the lye & goat milk mixture or pour the lye & goap milk mixture into the melted lard? Or does it matter? I’m still new at making soap. Thanks
Meadows,
It is important that you pour the lard into the lye mixture. The lye mixture is caustic. You do not want it to splash. Pour carefully.
Lara
This is a great resource, useful for anybody interested in this topic.
Useful info provided I am quite delighted to read this write-up..thanks for providing all of us nice tips.Great walk-through. I enjoy this post.
Hi all. Your soap looks beautiful; very nice and creamy white for goat’s milk soap! I just wanted to say that, as a fellow soap maker, I have never heard of pouring the oil into the lye mixture. Every source I’ve seen cautions that you pour the lye mixture very carefully into the oil.