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Simple recipe and instructions for how to make goat milk soap, plus a clever tip for getting bright white bars. With its creamy lather, this nourishing soap recipe is especially good for sensitive skin and also easy to make.
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There’s a good reason that soapmakers love using goat milk to make soap. It creates bars of soap that are super gentle, beautifully creamy, and ideal for all skin types, especially sensitive skin. When other soaps and washes feel harsh, goat milk soap can make your skin happy and healthy. That’s why we make goat milk soap – it’s popular with customers and popular with our loved ones!
I’ve been using it on and off for some years and know how challenging it can initially be to use, though. That’s why I’m sharing this recipe with you. It’s a natural cold-process goat milk soap recipe that uses liquid goat milk and a simple technique that ensures that your final bars are creamy white. Not only is that important from an aesthetic aspect, but it also stops the milk from scorching, leading to an unpleasant scent. That scent can also interfere with any added essential oils or fragrance oils.
There are several ways to make goat milk soap. The most common include using a goat’s milk soap base – melt-and-pour soap – or cold process soap recipes using either liquid goat milk or powder. Powder seems to be more popular with soapmakers who have had trouble with their previous soap batches turning yellow or smelling odd. I use two very easy methods to avoid this happening, though. One I share in the recipe below and the other in the goat milk soap recipe in my online soapmaking course.
How to Make Goat Milk Soap
Some years ago, when I first began teaching myself how to make soap, I tried a recipe for goatmilk soap. I tried and failed abysmally. The bars I cut at the end were yellowy-brown, smelled off, and were crumbly. I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. I’ve made a lot of soap since then and understand now that high temperatures scorch milk and can lead to the issues I was having. You must be mindful when using sugars in soap, including milk soaps, along with using raw honey to make honey and beeswax soap or granulated sugar as a lather booster.
The way that most cold-process soapmakers make goat milk soap is to replace all the water called for in making the lye mixture with goat milk. The typical method is to freeze all of the goat milk into ice cubes, sprinkle the lye onto them, and allow the lye and frozen milk to slowly melt, dissolve, and blend. Then make soap with it once the milk-lye-solution is around 90-100°F (32-38°C). The benefit of this is that you get more milk into the recipe, but the downside is that it can take a long time.
In this recipe, I’ll show you a way to make pure white goatmilk soap with a time-saving tip. It’s one that I created that combines a typical milk soap recipe with soaping at room temperature. The end product is a conditioning and very gentle bar of soap perfect for the most sensitive of skin. It’s also clean, and bright, and won’t smell of burned goat milk.
Benefits ofGoatMilk Soap
You can make perfectly lovely soap without using goatmilk, but once you’ve tried it, you’ll swear by it. It’s creamy, nourishing, gentle, and ideal for those who have sensitive and inflamed skin. That means if you have eczema, psoriasis, or acne, goatmilk soap could help the redness, dryness, and itching.
Goat milk contains saturated and unsaturated fats, boosting lather and gently cleaning your skin. It makes soap feel less harsh, and the nutrients and fats in the goatmilk work to clean while not stripping your skin of its natural oils.Goat milk also contains a small amount of lactic acid, which can help remove dead skin cells and reduce soap scum.
Sourcing Goat Milk for Soapmaking
If you have access to organic, grass-fed goatmilk, that’s the best milk to use in this soap recipe. Happy goatscreate healthy and wholesome milk! It’s filled with all of the nutrients and fats that will make great soap and can make all the difference to your recipe. One place that I get goatmilk from is the local farmer’s market. Clare knows and tends all of her goats, and most have names. I even visitedher goatfarmto better understand how the goatswere raised. If you don’t have access to farm-fresh goat milk, you can also source goatmilk at your local supermarket.
Soap Making at Room Temperature
This recipe is a little different from many others in that the temperatures are low. They’re low so the milk in the recipe doesn’t scorch and change color, and they’re low to avoid strange crumbly messes.
The lyesolution will be at room temperature when we mix it into the oils, and the oils themselves will be just twenty degrees above that. I don’t usually soap at these temperatures, but it needs to be done to avoid your milk soap turning brown. Oh, and you’ll need space in your freezerand refrigerator for this recipe too.
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Natural Goat Milk Soap Recipe
Lovely Greens
Simple goat milkcold process soaprecipe that makes 8-10 bars. Technical information:28 oz / 800 g batch — 7% superfat — 35% lye concentration. For full information on soap-making safety and equipment pleasehead over here. It’s important to read it before trying to make soap the first time.
5 from 18 votes
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Author Lovely Greens
Cost 20
Equipment
Stainless steel pan for melting the solid oils
A large bowl for measuring the liquid oils into
Silicone Soap Mold (3.5 x 8 x 2.5 inches) or silicone cavity molds, or a slab mold lined wiht parchment paper
Materials
Lye solution
- 107 g Sodium hydroxide 3.77 oz
- 100 g Distilled water 3.5 oz
- 100 g Goat milk 3.5 oz
Solid oils
- 200 g Coconut oil (refined) 7.05 oz
- 150 g Shea butter 5.29 oz
Liquid oils
- 400 g Olive oil 14.11 oz
- 50 g Castor oil 1.76 oz
Add at Trace
- 7 tsp Lavender essential oil Optional
Instructions
Freeze theGoatMilk
Pourthegoatmilk into an ice cube tray and freeze.
Prepare to Make Goat Milk Soap
Get organized before you make your batch of soap. Make sure that you have safety equipment ready, including goggles and gloves, and that you're dressed appropriately with long sleeves and flat, comfortable footwear. Have the soapmaking equipment laid out, ingredients pre-measured, and ensure that you'll be working undisturbed.
Make theLyeSolution
Put on your rubberglovesand eye protection (goggles), and set yourself up in an area with good ventilation. Under a hob, on the doorstep, or outdoors is perfect.Pourthesodium hydroxideinto the water andstirwith a stainless steelspoon. Be careful not to breathe in the fumes.Stiruntil thelyeis completely dissolved, and then set the jug aside to cool to 100°F (38°C).
When thelyesolution has cooled, add all of thegoatmilk ice cubesto the jug. Allow the cubes tomeltand for thelyesolution to lower to room temperature — that’s between 68-72°F (20-22°C)
Melt the Solid Oils
As soon as you add the ice cubes to thelyesolution begin melting the solid oils. In a stainless steel pan, heat thecoconut oiland shea butter on very low heat until just liquefied. They’llmeltquicker than you think so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat.
Add the Liquid Oils
When the solid oils are melted, take the pan off the heat andpourin the liquid oils. If youpourthe liquid oils against aspoonorspatulaheld just inserted in hot oils, it will help to reduceair bubbles.Pouringit straight in is the main cause ofair bubblesin your bars, butpouringit against something will help stop that from happening. The oils flow down into the other oils rather than splashing in.
Being already room temperature, they’ll cool the hot oils down.Stirwell and keep an eye on the temperature. You want the oils to cool to 90°F (32°C).
Pour the Lye Solution into the Oils
When thelyesolution is fully melted, and the oils are at the right temperature,pourthelyesolution into the oils. Again,pourthelyesolution against aspoonor other implement to reduceair bubbles.It's also good practice to pour the lye solution through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any undissolved bits of lye.
Make the Goat Milk Soap
Immerse astick blender (immersion blender)into the pan and use it (turned off) tostirthe contents together. Then bring thestick blenderto the middle of the pan, hold it still, and pulse for a couple of seconds. Repeat thestirringand pulsing until themixturebegins to thicken. It will take a couple of minutes, and the consistency will change to that of warm custard. If you dribble some of the soap batter from the stick blender back down, you'll also see trails forming on the surface.
If you're using the optional lavender essential oil, you can stir it in now.
Mold and Cool the Goat Milk Soap
Pourthe soap into yourpreferred mold, whether it’s a silicone mold, an empty paper milk carton, or something else. Protect the exposed part of the soap with plastic wrap and pop themoldinto the refrigerator. Leave it there for 12-24 hours.
Cut and Cure the Goat Milk Soap
Take thegoatmilk soap out of the refrigerator the next day but leave it inside themold. Set it someplace on the counter and leave it there for three or four days to harden up a bit. This soap is very soft when it comes out of themoldand could break or get stuck if you try to cut it too soon.
Use an ordinary kitchen knife to cut it into bars. Their thickness is up to you. After you cut them, leave the bars someplace airy and out of direct sunlight tocurefor at least four weeks. The soap is safe to touch 48 hours after making it but it needs the extra time to allow the excessmoistureto evaporate out. For fullinstructionson how tocurehandmade soaphead over here
Using your Homemade Goat Milk Soap
The lather and feel of this handmadegoat milk soapis fluffy and silky. Thescentis softly milky and making the recipe just as it is will create bars ideal for sensitive and dry skin. If you’d like toscentthese, you may addessential oilat trace. Read more about scenting soap withessential oilhere— the article also provides recommendations on how much to use of each when making handmade soap.
Once made, your soap will have a shelf-life of up to two years. Check the oil bottles that you're using though — the closest best-by date is the best-by date of your soap. That's because some of that oil is free-floating in your bars as the superfat, and it can go rancid over time.
Notes
If you’re looking for a goat milk soap that requires NO freezing, no waiting, and no goat milk powder, you’ll find one in Natural Soapmaking for Beginners Online Course. Learn more
Tried this project?Let us know how it was!
More Soapmaking Inspiration
If you enjoyed this goat milk soap recipe, you’ll like these ideas too:
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