Category Archives: Soaping Tips & Tricks

Soaping with Hemp Milk – Milk in Oil Method

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Hemp milk is a great alternative to animal milks such as goat or cow if you want your soap to be vegan. Hemp milk contains omega essential fatty acids, proteins, amino acids and many more goodies. It has a great label appeal on soap and is perfect for certain target markets.

hemp milk soapThis tutorial follows the milk in oil method of milk soapmaking.  In the “Milk in Oil” method…you make a lye solution with equal parts lye and water. Then you add another equal part milk to the oils before you add the lye solution. This prevents the milk from burning in the lye solution. You also don’t have to go through the hassle of freezing your milk. For some people it is just easier to do.

Let’s make soap!

The recipe:
Coconut oil – 20 oz
Olive oil – 20 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Sweet almond oil – 5 oz
Hemp milk – 9 oz

Sodium hydroxide – 9 oz
Water – 9.5 oz

Gear up in your goggles and gloves!  If you are new to soapmaking…visit our beginner tutorial first.

The first step is to make our lye solution.  I mention above to make the lye solution with equal parts of lye and water.  I always add a splash more because sometimes the mixture can fall out of solution if there is not enough water.  Usually equal parts is the most concentrated you should go.

Measure out the water and the lye.  Add the lye to the water and mix in a well ventilated area.

lye solutionPut that to the side.  Weigh out the shea and coconut oil and melt.

coconut and sheaOnce melted, add all of the liquid oils to the melted oils.

IMG_2303Add 9 oz of hemp milk to the melted oils.  I was able to find hemp milk at whole foods.  Check out natural food stores.

IMG_2305I also used a fragrance oil blend from Lebermuth – Rosemary, Grapefuit and Lime.  I used 3 oz.

IMG_2307Take a look at the lye solution.  You might see some floating white filmy stuff.  Give it a mix.  This is just because it is such a concentrated solution and the lye is reacting to the carbon in the air and forming sodium carbonate.  Lye (undissolved crust) stuck to the bottom of your container is bad…white floaties are not.

lye solution Add the lye solution.  Make sure you have your goggles on!

IMG_2310Now it is time to stickblend!

IMG_2311Blend until trace.

IMG_2316I wanted to do some textured tops.  I filled the molds full.

IMG_2319I let the leftover soap in the pot get thick.  Then I piled it on with a spoon.

IMG_2321Then I took a craft stick and played with it until I got texture that I liked.

IMG_2324IMG_2325IMG_2326Let sit overnight, cut and cure for 4 weeks!

Happy (Hemp Milk) Soaping!

The Classic Oatmeal, Goat’s Milk and Honey Cold Process Soap – Milk in Oil Method

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Oatmeal, Milk and Honey is a classic soap to make. It’s one of the first soaps that I made when I first started to make soap. This method of milk soapmaking is a bit different than the other method where we used frozen milk in the lye solution. This method uses equal amounts of lye and water for the solution and then another equal amount of milk is added to the oils. Some people find this method easier when soaping with milk. You can use this method for any type of milk including goat, cow, hemp, coconut, soy, oat…etc.

Oatmeal milk and honey soap

In standard milk soapmaking you typically freeze your milk into ice cubes and use them for your lye solution. This helps keep the temps of the lye solution down and the milk from burning. It can still cause issues such as burning and burnt fat (from the milk) leaving specs in your soap. Not always…but it can happen.

oatmeal milk and honey

In the “Milk in Oil” method…you make a lye solution with equal parts lye and water. Then you add another equal part milk to the oils before you add the lye solution. This prevents milk fat from burning in the lye solution. You also don’t have to go through the hassle of freezing your milk. For some people it is just easier to do.

I like to run my oatmeal through a mini food chopper or a coffee grinder to grind it down some.  The larger the pieces…the scratchier the soap.  I prefer instant as it is softer in the soap but you can use any kind.  I get fresh goat’s milk from another local soaper, Donna.  Learn about her goat’s here.

Let’s make soap!

The recipe:
Coconut oil – 20 oz
Olive oil – 20 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Sweet almond oil – 5 oz
Fresh goat’s milk – 9 oz
Oatmeal – 4 tablespoons
Honey – 4 tablespoons

Sodium hydroxide – 9 oz
Water – 9.5 oz

Gear up in your goggles and gloves!  If you are new to soapmaking…visit our beginner tutorial first.

The first step is to make our lye solution.  I mention above to make the lye solution with equal parts of lye and water.  I always add a splash more because sometimes the mixture can fall out of solution if there is not enough water.  Usually equal parts is the most concentrated you should go.

Measure out the water and the lye.  Add the lye to the water and mix in a well ventilated area.

lye solutionPut that to the side.  Weigh out the shea and coconut oil and melt.

shea and coconut oilOnce melted, add all of the liquid oils to the melted oils.

melted oilsAdd 9 oz of milk to the oil mixture.

IMG_2271Next add the oatmeal.  I like to use 1 tablespoon per pound of oils.  We have 4 pounds so I added 4 tablespoons.  You can add more or less depending on your preference.

oatmealI use the same amount for honey; 1 tablespoon per pound of oils.  I added 4 tablespoons.

IMG_2277You can go ahead and your fragrance oil to the oil mixture as well.  My favorite oatmeal, milk and honey fragrance is from Bramble Berry.  I used 3 ounces.

IMG_2278

So now we have the oils, milk, honey, oats and fragrance.  Give this a good stickblend to make sure everything is well mixed.

IMG_2279Take a look at the lye solution.  You might see some floating white filmy stuff.  Give it a mix.  This is just because it is such a concentrated solution and the lye is reacting to the carbon in the air and forming sodium carbonate.  Lye (undissolved crust) stuck to the bottom of your container is bad…white floaties are not.

lye solution Add the lye solution.  Make sure you have your goggles on!

lye solution added to oilsNow it is time to stickblend!  Your mixture might turn bright orange from the lye and milk reacting.

IMG_2284IMG_2286IMG_2287Mix until trace and then pour into your mold.

IMG_2288IMG_2294IMG_2296Okay…so this soap likes to heat up.  Honey and (the sugar in) milk like to heat up when in the mold.  I prefer my soap gelled so I really have to keep an eye on it.  I cover, but I check on it every ten minutes or so.  If you don’t want your soap to gel or are afraid of overheating…you can put your soap somewhere cool like in the fridge or freezer…or even outside if its cold outside.

There is definitely a difference in color between gelled (darker) and ungelled (lighter) soap.

gelled and ungelled soapSo…some things to remember:

You can soap milk two different ways – full milk in lye solution or milk in oils as above.

Additives used:
Oatmeal – rate of 1 tablespoon PPO
Honey – rate of 1 tablespoon PPO

Happy (Goat’s) Milk Soaping!

-Amanda

This week in searches…

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benefits of using less water in cp soap making

Soap is harder when unmolding – This is great for when you are using silicone molds and individual cavity molds especially when using a high percent of soft oils. Using a water discount makes the soap less sticky, harder and easier to pop out.

Gel phase can more easily be prevented – According to Kevin Dunn, soap with less water is less likely to go through gel phase. Want to learn more? Get his book, Scientific Soapmaking. I know some soapers who prefer un-gelled soap because of how it effects colors or fragrance.

Soap is hard and can be cut earlier – I’m one of those soapers that likes to make a soap and cut the same day. When you are using less water, the soap is initially harder faster and can be cut sooner.

The cure time is shortened – Cure time is all about giving time for evaporation of water and the last bit of saponification to happen. If you initially use less water then there is less to evaporate out during the cure. You still need to allow time for the soap to become milder. I typically cure discounted water soap for three weeks.

On the flip side…the disadvantages are…

Makes your soap trace and move faster. Just keep that in mind if you are wanting to execute a complicated swirl. You can counter-balance this by using a high percentage of liquid oil…especially olive oil which is slow moving.

Can be harder to force gel (If you prefer gel like I do) – I use a heating pad a lot to force gel!

why goat milk does not make enough lather

It’s probably nothing to do with the goat’s milk. Especially since milk contains natural sugars that actually help to boost lather. I would take a look at your recipe. What oils are you using? Use more coconut oil to boost lather and castor oil to help suspend it. But goat’s milk shouldn’t be to blame.

the best mold for cold process soap

This is all a matter of opinion…but at the moment my favorite molds are silicone loaf molds. I like the one from Bramble Berry but many suppliers sell them.

how to pipe cold process soap

Here is a tutorial on cupcakes.

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/07/piping-soap-cupcakes-another-palm-free-recipe/

Check out youtube for piping techniques for cupcakes and cakes (not necessarily soap) and you’ll find all sorts of great videos. Also, check locally for a Wilton Cake Decorating class. The techniques you learn for sweet confections can easily be done with soap.

best soap recipe with rice bran oil?

Certainly a matter of opinion…but this is one of my favorite recipes using rice bran.

The recipe:
Almond oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Olive oil – 18 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Coconut oil – 18 oz
Water – 12 oz (I did a discount since I have all of the soft oils)
Lye – 8.4 oz

I love rice bran in soap. It is a good replacement for some of the olive oil and seems to contribute a sheen or shininess to the soap.

my cold process soap is oily

See my troubleshooting page – http://www.lovinsoap.com/troubleshooting/

Oily cold process soap could be caused by a few different reasons.

Overheating – Overheating in the mold can cause oils to separate out and cause an oily film on the top or sides of a soap. Usually if you let it sit…it will reabsorb in a few days.

Fragrance oil – Some fragrance oils can be finicky in cold process soap and do weird things. I have seen a fragrance oil seep out of or almost separate from soap. Usually it is a very thin film and the soap will reabsorb it if you let it sit for a couple of days.

Mis-measurements – If you cut your soap and it is really oily and spongy then you might not have used enough lye. Check your scale, if you need to change the batteries and try to see if you might have mis-measured the lye. Also, lye that is old and clumpy (soaked up moisture from the air) can easily be mis-measured and mess up your recipe. So check your lye.

hot to tell if hot process soap is done

Hot process soap is done when it is translucent and doesn’t zap. The easiest way to check for zap is to dip out a little hot process using a popsickle stick, swish it in the air to cool and harden, touch it to your tongue and see if it zaps. If it doesn’t…it’s done. If it does…keep cooking.

safe clean up after soap making

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2011/08/cleaning-up-after-a-soapy-session/

palm oil versus shea

Palm oil and shea are similar but different in soapmaking. Palm oil is high in palmitic and oleic fatty acids. Shea is high in stearic and oleic fatty acids. The palmitic and stearic properties both contribute to the hardness of a soap. However I don’t consider them one-to-one subs for each other. I like to use a mixture of (additional) olive oil and shea as a sub for palm oil. The two reasons I like to use a mix of shea and olive is that shea butter doesn’t seem to make as bubbly as a soap as palm and it can also be quite expensive to sub that much shea butter into a recipe. Olive oil is soft upon un-molding but cures out really hard so helps with the hardness of a bar.

does felted soap get moldy

No, it doesn’t. Wool dries quickly between uses and is anti-microbial so it doesn’t grow yuckies! Check out this felted tutorial… http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/10/fuzzy-felted-soap-balls-and-bramble-berrys-spectacular-givember-promotion/

can i use palm oil in my salt bar recipe

Absolutely! But do I? Nope. Salt kills lather so you need to use mostly coconut oil (if lather is important). So if you do use palm oil, use 10-20% palm and 80-90% coconut oil. I personally like a butter or specialty oil in a salt bar instead of palm.

is palm oil and palm kernel oil the same in soap making

Nope. They are two different animals in soap. The only thing they have in common is that they make a hard bar of soap. Palm oil makes a hard long lasting bar of soap. Palm kernel is similar to coconut oil and makes a hard bubbly bar of soap.

Happy Soaping!
Amanda

Calculating your water amount for soapmaking

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water in soapmaking

I get questions all the time about how I come up with my water amounts. I do not use a lye calc to get my water amounts. I simply use a lye calc to get the correct amount of lye to use.

My standard water used is equal to 2 times the lye. So if a recipe calls for 12 oz lye, I will use 24 oz water. This is even true for advanced swirling recipes. You hear a lot “use full water for fancy swirls so that you have time to play”. I create my slow moving recipes with special mind to the oils more than the water amount.

I can’t stand unmolding soap the next day and for it to be softer than play dough. (This is what you get when using a water:lye ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 plus soft oils such as olive that contribute to a slow moving recipe.)

For recipes high in olive oil and other soft oils (50%+) I will use a water amount equal to 1.5 times my lye. Why?

High olive oil recipes are longer to trace, softer initially upon unmolding and typically take longer to cure. Discounting the water helps with all of these issues. It speeds up trace (though still allows plenty of time to design the soap), makes a harder bar for unmolding and reduces the cure time.

When I am doing a 90-100% castile or bastile type of soap I will actually use 1.1 times my lye. So if a recipe calls for 8 oz lye, I will use 8.8 oz of water.

You should never use less than 1.1 times your lye. Lye needs at least an equal amount of water to form a solution. If you use less water the lye will actually fall out of solution and you will not have properly dissolved lye. I typically add the .1 amount to just give myself a bit of a buffer.

Take care when working with a higher concentrated solution. Your soap will move faster, your solution is stronger which means it could burn fast/worse and keep an eye on it when you initially make it as it heats up faster and hotter.

I prefer ratios and I prefer simplicity. 2 times lye, 1.5 times lye and 1.1 times lye are really easy to remember and figure out.

The amount of water you use is simply a personal decision. There really isn’t a right or wrong but it can effect the way a recipe moves, sets up and cures out.

-Amanda

Converting a recipe from percentages to ounces

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IMG_0975

Many times you run across recipes that are written in percentages. These are great because you can convert them into workable recipes for any size of mold or production.

Sometimes the process of converting percentages to the recipe size that you need can be confusing. Let’s walk through it.

http://www.brambleberry.com/10-Silicone-Loaf-Mold–P5199.aspx?afid=5
I’ve got this nifty silicone mold from Bramble Berry. After checking out the website I see that it holds 50 oz of soap and measures 10″ x 3 5/8″ x 2.25″. Before I convert my recipe from percentages to ounces…I need to know the amount of oil that it holds.

50 oz of soap means it holds 50 oz of finished soap (water + lye+ oils). I need to know how much oil it will hold so I can convert my percentages to ounces of oils.

I use the formula l (length) x w (width) x h (height) x .4 to determine how many ounces of oil my recipe needs to be.

So for the BB loaf mold:
10 x 3.625 x 2.25 x .4 = 32.625 oz

I like to do fluffy tops so I will add about 4 extra ounces so I have enough soap on top.

My recipe needs to contain 37 oz of oils.

My recipe in percentages looks like this:

Olive oil – 50%
Coconut oil – 32%
Shea butter – 8%
Avocado oil – 8%
Castor oil – 2%

To convert the above percentages you will multiply each ingredient’s percentage by 37 oz which is your total oils needed (or the 100%).

Olive oil – 37 x .5 = 18.5 oz
Coconut oil – 37 x .32 = 11.84 oz
Shea butter – 37 x .08 = 2.96 oz
Avocado oil – 37 x .08 = 2.96 oz
Castor oil – 37 x .02 = .75 oz

So your oils needed will be:

Olive oil – 18.5 oz
Coconut oil – 11.84 oz
Shea butter – 2.96 oz
Avocado oil – 2.96 oz
Castor oil – .75 oz

Run this through a lye calc to get the lye amount needed.

Lye – 5.28 oz (5% SF)

I double my lye amount to get my water amount. (Ignore the water amount the lye calc gives you.)

Water – 10.56 oz

So my final recipe is:

Olive oil – 18.5 oz
Coconut oil – 11.84 oz
Shea butter – 2.96 oz
Avocado oil – 2.96 oz
Castor oil – .75 oz
Lye – 5.28 oz

Water – 10.56 oz

This recipe will make a total of 52.85 oz of soap.

BB’s site states that the mold will hold 50 oz…so we’re good! I always prefer to have a bit extra than not enough.

If you want extra to make higher peaked soap…then calculate for extra soap.

Happy Soaping!
Amanda

This week in searches…

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I love that my stats tell me the search strings that are being used to lead people to my blog. Some questions aren’t completely answered so I want to start a new feature where I go into more details on some of the topics searched. So…this weeks searches include:

cold process soap how long to umold in freezer

Sometimes we use molds for CP soap that can be tricky to unmold. These molds include silicone loaf molds (usually non-glossy) and individual cavity hard plastic molds such as Milky Way Molds and ELF molds from Bramble Berry.

If you find that you can not unmold from your silicone loaf mold, simply stick it into the freezer until it is frozen solid. Usually a couple of hours will work. Then pull the sides away from the soap. Turn it upside down and press on the bottom. If you find that your fingers go into the soap…it isn’t frozen enough. Put it back into the freezer.

If you use individual hard cavity molds for CP soap you might find that when you unmold your soap the details break off. Freezing can sometimes help with this. After your soap has been in the molds for 24 hours and has hardened up…place the molds in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and set on the counter. This will cause the soap to sweat a bit. Turn the mold upside down and press on the bottom of the individual cavities to push the soap out. Hopefully the soap will come out with all of the details intact.

soap will not reach trace

Zoinks. Okay…I have to ask. Did you add your lye water? I only ask because I’ve been there…done that. I get distracted…start stick blending…nothing. I glance over to the sink and there is my lye water sitting in a cold water bath waiting patiently. Oops.

If you did add your lye water and you are still not reaching trace…take a look at your recipe. Is it high in olive? Olive oil is slow to trace…so keep mixing. If you’ve been mixing with a stick blender for more than 30 minutes then something is probably wrong.

How much water did you use for your lye solution? A recipe high in olive and a lye solution with too much water can prove almost impossible to trace or when you do trace it will un-trace. But I’m talking about 4 times the lye amount or more. You probably aren’t using that much water.

Did you find a new or maybe shady source of lye? If you are using new lye…where did it come from? Did you buy it off of Craig’s List? Maybe its not really lye. Always buy lye from a reputable supplier.

what cp oils and their percentages will create more of a white bar of soap?

Some oils that create a white bar of soap include lard, tallow, coconut oil, babassu, mango butter, refined avocado, sunflower, grade A olive (not pomice or virgin which can have green or yellow hues) and castor. Aim to have at least 70% in your recipe but it is really a matter of preference and will just take some experimentation to find your right mix.

Shea, cocoa butter, rice bran and sweet almond can lend to a yellow hue. Un-refined avocado and pomace olive can lend to a green hue.

If you are not opposed to using lard, I would recommend starting with a recipe that looks something like this: 35% lard or tallow, 20% coconut oil, 30% regular olive oil and 5% of a butter, 5% of a specialty oil such as sweet almond and 5% castor.

If you do not like using animal fats then I would recommend a recipe that looks something like this: 40% regular olive oil, 30% coconut oil, 10% sunflower, 10% refined avocado oil, 5% butter and 5% castor oil.

You can also whiten up a bar of soap by using titanium dioxide or white mica (which contains TD).

Ungelled soap is typically whiter than gelled soap. So make sure your soap does not go through gel phase to keep it white and bright. You can put your loaf into the fridge or freezer after you pour it to keep it from gelling.

oil characteristics chart soap making

Check out my chart here.

mixing lavender flowers in to soap

Awww…lavender soap.

I personally do not have issues with lavender buds in soap but I do want to mention that it can look like mouse poop. The lavender buds lose their beautiful purple/blue color and turn brown almost blackish. Just keepin’ it real. Don’t think you did something wrong…it happens to most herbs added to soap.

I like to top loaves with lavender buds as they have a better chance of keeping their color. It’s all just a matter of preference.

how to make artistic soap

Check out my tutorial selection. Also do a search for soap making on Youtube. There are some incredibly creative soapers on there that offer all types of creative videos.

cp soap troubleshooting, layer of liquid on the top

Check out my troubleshooting chart here.

Typically a layer of liquid on top of your soap in the mold can mean two things. Overheating or emulsion issues. If your soap has been in the mold for 24 hours and when you go check on it the next day it has a coating of liquid on top it could mean that the soap overheated. Let it sit and it will usually reabsorb this liquid.

If there is a large layer of oil floating on top and the bottom is mooshy like pudding then you probably have an emulsion issue. Your soap separated and fell out of emulsion. If this happens soon after molding I would dump it back into a bowl and stick blend. If you find it the next day I would dump it into a crock pot and try to HP it. As long as you measured all of your ingredients correctly…this can usually be fixed.

overheating soap

Check out my troubleshooting chart for info and pics on overheating soap.

make soap with mailing tubes

Why yes you can… and I sell the liners that you can line the mail tubes with. They make for easy to use, inexpensive molds!

how long does lard soap need to cure

I cure most of my soap for a minimum of 3 weeks…though 4+ weeks is better. Try a bar after 3 weeks, see how you like it…but keep curing and try it after 4. You might see a difference but might not…depending on how much water you used.

Soaps higher in olive oil (50% +) need a longer cure and I like to cure these for 5+ weeks.

can you pipe cp whipped soap onto m&p?

This is a great question…and I don’t really know the answer! I would assume that you could. Would it stick okay? Not sure. I would almost have to think it would because the whipped CP is moist and when you pipe it onto MP it wets the MP so that it sticks when it dries. But I haven’t tried it!

using juicer pulp in soap recipes

Check out my ginger soap that I made with ginger pulp from my juicer!

If you have any tips or thoughts on any of these topics please feel free to post in the comments!

Thanks!
Amanda

Felted Sweater Ball Soaps by Holly Port

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Its sweater weather in Colorado and that is exactly what inspired Holly Port of Lotion Bar Cafe to make these adorable felted sweater soaps with the help of her neighbor.

She started out with soap balls from Bramble Berry’s new silicone sphere mold.  Then she felted them.  Here’s a tutorial on how to felt the balls.  Then she needle felted the cute little design onto them and strung them on some twine to hang on the Christmas tree!

You’ll need wool!  Wrap your sphere soap so that it is completely covered.

Here’s a cool technique to hold everything in place when you first start felting.  Place your soap covered with felt into the foot of knee highs.  This holds everything together and in place as you start agitating, rubbing and patting.

Dunk it into hot water and start rubbing and patting.

Once it is mostly felted take it out of the pantyhose and test the felt.  Try to pinch some off.  Do fibers easily pull away?  If so…keep felting.  If it is nice and tight and doesn’t pinch off…then it is probably ready.

Give it a quick rinse in cold water to shock it and then roll it up into a towel to squeeze the water out.

While they are still wet, start needle felting your design.  You’ll need felting needles that have the little barbs on them.  You can find them at most craft stores.

String them on some twine and hang as ornaments!  These will make great gifts!

Thanks so much, Holly!

You can find Holly at her website Lotion Bar Cafe or on Facebook.

(psst…I asked Holly if she would do a detailed tutorial on how to needle felt and she said yes!  She has some great techniques and tricks for needle felting.)

-Amanda

Fuzzy Felted Soap Balls and Bramble Berry’s spectacular GIVEMBER Promotion!!

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Bramble Berry was sweet to ask if I would be interested in participating in their month of Givember which will include weekly tutorials and free gifts with purchases as a way of saying “thank you” to their customer during the month of November.  They sent a little package with some goodies including the silicone sphere mold, cranberry chutney fragrance oil and fuchsia lab color!  I immediately tried the sphere mold and loved it so I’ve already bought another one.  It makes perfectly adorable round soap balls.  So I’m going to show you how to work with the sphere mold and make adorable felted sphere soaps.

This is gonna be a long one!  But stay with me because at the end I’m going to give you an exciting coupon code to use during Bramble Berry’s Givember event.

This recipe fits nicely into two of the round sphere molds.

Apricot kernel oil – 2 oz
Avocado oil – 2 oz
Coconut oil – 8 oz
Olive oil – 9 oz
Shea butter – 1 oz

Lye – 3.17 oz
Water – 4 oz

Cranberry Chutney FO – 1.2 oz
Fuchsia LabColor (diluted) – 15 drops

If you are new to soapmaking…visit my basic tutorial first as it goes into more details on the basics.

Let’s make soap!

Make your lye solution.

Weigh out and melt the coconut oil and shea butter.  Add the liquid oils to the melted oils.

Add the fragrance oil and fuchsia color to the melted oils.

Get everything ready to go.  You should have your melted oil (with fragrance and color), the lye solution and two sphere molds.

Be sure you have on your safety gear!

Add the lye solution to the melted oils.

Check out that beautiful color!  When you reach a light trace…pour into the molds.

Let them sit overnight and unmold.  I wanted mine to gel so I put them onto a heating pad and covered with a towel until they gelled.

Unmold!

They can require a bit of cleanup.  Simply take a knife and cut off the nub.  You can then smooth it down with your finger.

Adorable!  And even more adorable felted!  So let’s make some cute felted soap balls!

Let your soap balls cure at least three weeks before you felt them.  You will need some wool roving.  Make sure its the kind that shrinks down and felts.  Look around locally and see what you can find.

Pull the wool into thin pieces as shown below if you want to create a striped pattern.  If you don’t…just use single colors similar in size as shown below.

Wrap your ball as evenly and tautly as you can.

Dunk your soap into hot water.

Bring it out after it is completely wet.  Then start squeezing and patting.  You don’t want to rub at this point or it will move your fibers around too much.  Dunk again.  Squeeze and pat some more.  It should start felting.

Now you can rub.  Alternate between squeezing, patting and rubbing your soap to felt.  You don’t want to dunk it into water too much but do it a few more times.  You can also use bubble wrap or a woven dinner mat to help with the agitation and felting.

Once you feel like you have it felted enough…where you pull on the fibers and they don’t pull up…then shock it with cold water.  This is a tip I learned from Bobbie at the Texas Soapmakers Conference.  Cold water shocks wool and causes it to felt as well.  So give it a good shock in ice cold water.

Then roll it in a towel to squeeze out the water.

And there you have it!  Adorable felted soap balls!

Cute!  And this one above came out with a little face on him.  So why felted soap?  Felted soap is a wash cloth or luffa and soap in one!  The felt causes the soap to lather like crazy and gives your skin a gentle exfoliation.  Wool dries quickly between uses and is anti-microbial so it doesn’t grow yuckies!

Are you still with me?

Remember up above when I mentioned being a part of Bramble Berry’s Givember promotion?

Enter the code GIVEMBER200 on any order when you check out at brambleberry.com to be entered into a drawing to win a $200 gift card from Bramble Berry.  This code is good on orders placed during the month of November only.  Thanks, Bramble Berry!

-Happy Soaping!

Amanda Griffin

How to make Goats Milk Soap Using Farm Fresh Goat’s Milk

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Goat’s milk soap is a very popular soap to make. You can make it with either fresh goat’s milk or you can use goat’s milk powder. The milk adds a creaminess to the soap and the sugars in the milk add to bubbly lather. Here is how to make soap using fresh goat’s milk. You can also use this method using other types of milk including coconut, hemp, almond, soy or even cow milk.

The main concern with making goat’s milk soap is overheating of the milk/lye solution or overheating in the mold. When the lye solution overheats you can get scorched milk which means it will darken and even speckle your soap. When the soap in the mold overheats you can get all kinds of issues including mushrooming, separation, cracking or other issues. (Take a look at my troubleshooting page to see what some of these issues look like.)

To keep the lye solution nice and cool I start with frozen goat’s milk. As you sprinkle on the lye…it melts the goat’s milk gently without getting too hot. I also set the lye solution in an ice bath.

So let’s make goat’s milk soap!

The recipe:
Coconut oil - 20 oz
Olive oil – 20 oz
Rice bran oil – 5 oz
Avocado oil – 5 oz
Castor oil – 4 oz
Shea butter – 5 oz
Sweet Almond oil – 5 oz

Goat’s milk – 18 oz
Lye – 9 oz

First we create the lye solution. My goat’s milk is frozen in plastic freezer bags.

Take the frozen milk out of the bags and chop into smaller pieces.

Weigh the required amount. I like to put a splash of water with the goat’s milk to start the lye dissolving. You don’t need much; I used about an ounce.

Create an ice water bath by putting ice cubes and water into a bowl big enough to set your lye container into (red bowl above). Sprinkle about 1/4 of your lye and start mixing. One of the cool thing about soaping with milk is that you don’t get the fumes like you do when making a lye solution with water. I have no idea why…but you don’t. Its important to sprinkle your lye while mixing and not dumping it entirely into the goat’s milk. If you just dump it, it can create crusty lye clumps that are hard to dissolve because there is not initially enough liquid to dissolve it all at once. Some of these lye clumps can go without getting dissolved and end up in your finished soap. You don’t want that! So start with sprinkling about 1/4 of the lye and mix mix mix. It will start melting the goat’s milk.

Once it melts a bit, add another 1/4 of the lye and mix some more. Do this until you have completely mixed in the lye.  Please note that your lye solution can turn bright yellow!  This is a bit shocking, but it is normal.

Put your lye solution aside. I keep it in the cold water bath and just set it in the sink. Let’s prepare the oils.

Melt the hard oils. This includes the coconut oil and the shea butter.

Add the liquid oils to the melted oils. Adding the liquid oils to the melted oils helps to bring the temperature down. If we were to measure out all of the oils (liquid and solid) and then melt…the temperature of the total mixture would be hot and we’d have to wait to bring the temps down. It is unnecessary to heat the liquid oils along with the solid ones.

Once we have the oils ready…its time to make soap!  You can add your fragrance to the melted oils.  I used a bit of litsea and tea tree essential oils.  The litsea tinted the soap a bit towards yellow.

Give the lye solution a good stir. You can see there are some globs in it. Milk contains fat so this is a bit of that fat turning into soap. I like to give it a good whisk to break the globs up a bit…but I’m sure the stick blender does that as well.

Add the lye solution to the oils.

Bring the mixture to trace.

Pour into your molds. I’m using a couple of Bramble Berry silicone loaf molds and trying out their new sphere mold. You can use any type of molds that you want but realize that larger volume loaf or block molds will hold more heat and can cause your soap to overheat. You can even put your molds in the fridge or freezer to help keep the in-mold temps down but mine were fine as they were.

Un-mold 24 hours later, slice into bars and cure for 4 or more weeks. When you first cut the soap it can have an ammonia type of smell. It should go away after a couple of days. (So don’t think you did something wrong! It’s normal.)

The sphere mold – I was trying this mold out for the first time. The soap did not gel and its a softer recipe so I was a bit concerned with un-molding. Because the inside of the mold is smooth as glass, I had no issues with the soap sticking. It un-molded beautifully and created some super smooth, super cute round soaps! I can’t wait to use it again. I guess if I were concerned enough…I could have put it in the freezer first but I didn’t have any issues. It created 3.6 oz soap balls which will probably cure to be about 3.5 oz. They fit nicely in the hand.

A special thank you to my friend Donna and her sweet goats for the milk.

Happy (Goat’s Milk) Soaping!
-Amanda

Getting started in soapmaking without spending a ton of money

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I get this questions a lot! How can I get started in soapmaking with spending the least amount of money? And I want to do it tomorrow! Yeah…I’m one of those people too! I get it in my head to try something and I want to do it tomorrow.

Here is the minimum that you will need.

A digital scale that measure ounces and grams – You simply can’t get away with measuring by volume (cups, tablespoons…etc.). You’ll need a digital scale. Check out Ebay, Craigslist or ask your friends. Post on Facebook! Somebody is bound to have one! Here is the scale I use in classes. http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Multifunction-Kitchen-Elegant/dp/B004164SRA/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1349729615&sr=8-18&keywords=digital+scale

Something to stir with. To save time we now use stick blenders, but you can do it “old school” and use a stainless steel spoon or a silicone spatula. You can find good silicone spatulas at the dollar store. You can find a decent stick blender from Walmart for about $25 bucks.

Containers for mixing lye solution (get two). 1 quart paint mixing containers work well. I like using these from Home Depot (most home improvement/paint stores have them). http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-202264024/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=bucket&storeId=10051

Containers for mixing soap. Since you’ll be doing 2 pound batches starting out (that’s what I recommend) get a couple of the 2.5 quart containers (same as above…just bigger). http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-202264029/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=bucket&storeId=10051

A mold. You probably already have something on hand to use. The easiest beginner mold to use is a plastic food storage container. Or maybe even easier than that is an empty milk carton (the square cardboard kind).

Goggles and gloves for safety! You can find these at hardware stores. Do not make soap without the proper safety gear.

You’ll need lye. Locally we can still get lye at Ace Hardware. But depending on where you live…it might be hard to find locally. Chemical suppliers sell it but you might have to buy and 50 lb bag and I don’t recommend messing with a 50 lb bag when just starting out. If you can’t find it locally…you’ll simply have to order it from a supplier such as www.brambleberry.com, www.essentialdepot.com, www.thelyeguy.com…or anywhere else that sells soapmaking supplies.

Then you’ll need some oils to soap. I would start with a very bare bones basic recipe using oils that you can find at the grocery store. If you are not opposed to using lard you can find lard, coconut oil (Lou Ana) and olive oil (regular Bertoli is what I use) at Walmart. Or you can get soapmaking oils from a supplier…but again this tutorial is for those that want to get started over the weekend. You will definitely save money buying oils in bulk from a supplier but there’s nothing wrong with buying oils from Walmart to knock a batch out and make sure this is something that you want to delve into.

Oh and last but not least…its best to use distilled water.  That’s easy to find.

For your very first batch of soap…I recommend not using fragrance or color. You want to get the very basics down and not have to worry about anything else. And believe me…fragrances can be tricky if you don’t know what you are using.

So here are a couple of recipes that you can try using oils from Walmart or locally.

Extra Bubbles
Coconut oil – 8 oz
Lard – 16 oz
Olive oil – 8 oz
Lye – 4.5 oz
Water – 9 oz

Extra Gentle
Coconut oil – 8 oz
Lard – 8 oz
Olive oil – 16 oz
Lye – 4.46 oz
Water – 9 oz

No Lard
Coconut oil – 18 oz
Olive oil – 18 oz
Lye – 5.4 oz
Water – 9 oz

So how much is it gonna cost to get started?

Scale – $16.00
Mixing utensils (2) – $2.00
Lye containers (2) – $2.40
Soap containers (2) – $3.96
Gloves & Goggles – $4.00
Lye (32 oz) – $4.00
Coconut oil (Lou Ana) (31.5 oz) – $5.98
Bertoli Regular Olive oil (51 oz) – $13.98
Lard (64 oz) – $5.88

So you are looking at about $58.20 to get started. $75.00 if you add a stick blender to that.

There are some fantastic beginner soapmaking videos and tutorials out there. Don’t get hung up on the fancy molds, the fragrances, the nice colors…adding oatmeal, goat’s milk or poppy seeds. Remember…for your first batch…you are just learning the basic process.

Get started!  Here is my basic process.

Happy Soaping!

-Amanda