The recipe pages represent soap formulations we have used successfully, but they include oils and additives we had available at the time. If you have one single oil in your house - even if it is only vegetable oil, you can make soap with it. In fact, you can create your own soap formulations or recipes quite easily. Read About Oils and Additives and visit our "create formulations" page using the navigation buttons above.
This is an experimental batch where a combination of three
of our favorite EO's - Rosemary, Grapefruit and Lime were blended together to
create a surprisingly pleasant scent. We used 1/8 oz Lime, 1/8 oz Rosemary, and
1/4 oz Grapefruit EO's. The grapefruit has the least dominating fragrance, thus
the larger percentage used.
Remember, it is not
necessary to have all the oils listed. You can easily substitute oils, as long
as you write down the name of oil and weight as you place them in your
container. The formulations in this website are meant to give you ideas of the
oils you can use. Check out their properties on our
About
Oils
page.
Goat
Milk/Water
With this particular batch,
we also added a higher percentage of condensed goat milk to the distilled water
at 12 oz (Milk) to 11 oz (Distilled Water) for a total of 23 oz. Normally, we
add ¼ milk to ¾ water ratio, while this time it was a little over ½ condensed
goat milk to less than ½ water.
INGREDIENTS
Almond Oil, Sweet - 1
Ounce
Avocado Oil - 1 Ounce
Canola Oil - 10 Ounces
Castor Oil - 1
Ounce
Coconut Oil - 15 Ounce
Grapeseed Oil - 1 Ounce
Jojoba Oil - 1
Ounce
Olive Oil - 3 Ounces
Palm Kernel Oil - 10 Ounces
Palm Oil - 15
Ounces
Shea Butter - 1/2 Ounce
Sunflower Seed Oil - 5 Ounces
You can
tell that I loved to experiment with a variety of oils.
Chilled Condensed Goat Milk - 12 Ounces
Distilled Water
- 11 Ounces
Lye @10% Discount Factor or 9 Ounces
Lye @5% Discount Factor or 9.5 Ounces
Grapefruit Essential Oil - 1/4 Ounce
Rosemary Essential Oil - 1/8
Ounce
Lime Essential Oil - 1/8 Ounce
See soapmaking instructions
for additional prep information including gathering equipment, supplies and
ingredients, preparing your work surface and lining your soap mold.
Goat Milk/Water
With this
particular batch, we also added a larger percentage of condensed goat milk to
the distilled water at 12 oz (Milk) to 11 oz (Distilled Water) for a total of 23
oz. Normally, I'll use at ¼ milk to ¾ water ratio, while this time it was a
little over ½ condensed goat milk to less than ½ water.
The water and
milk were weighed into the 4-Cup Pyrex Measuring Cup and placed into the
refrigerator to chill.
Oils
As the milk chilled, the oils were weighed into the
stainless steel stockpot. Then, the stockpot was placed on the stove over low
heat. A candy thermometer was attached to the side to monitor the temperature of
the oils. As always, the Palm Kernel oil is the last to dissolve at about 130°F.
I also added the Rosemary Extract at this stage.
Preparing to Add Lye to Milk
Next, a large bowl was placed in the kitchen sink and the
measuring cup of milk/water was placed in the middle of the bowl. Enough ice is
added to completely surround the measuring cup and water is added to as a filler
and helper. I clip a meat thermometer to the side of the measuring cup to
monitor the temperature of the lye/milk mixture.
With safety gear on, the lye is now
measured into a lye-safe container and is then added in increments into the
chilled water/milk. You must keep stirring to help the mixture cool more quickly
by swirling against the sides of the measuring cup. Try to keep it below 130°F
and above 80°F. When it cools to a temperature between 80° and 90°F, more lye
can be added and stirred until it has all been dissolved. It takes a little
time, but not long enough to complain about.
By the time the lye mixture and oils were mixed, the lye
mixture had cooled to 120°F and the oils had cooled to 125°F. Each of the three
stick blenders were used in succession for approximately 1 to 1.5 minutes per
blender before reaching trace. Rosemary EO, Grapefruit EO and Lime EO were added
together at trace.
The mixture
was poured into a prepared mold and set aside. Since I used goat milk, I did not
insulate the mold. Again, a vigorous gel stage is easily reached without
insulation when milk is added to a formulation.
Just poured -
This is a picture of the soap batch just after it was poured into the mold.
There were no problems at mixing or at trace. With all three stick blenders, it
took a total of about 5 minutes to go from the initial mixing of the oils and
lye solution to pouring. I added the EO's just before heavy trace.
Gel Stage
- This batch successfully entered the gel stage a little over an hour after it
was poured. Within 12 hours, it will be ready to remove from the mold to be cut
into bars, trimmed, and stamped. Usually, I make a batch and leave it overnight.
Almost always, it is ready by the time I get up. I never insulate batches made
with Goat Milk as it tends to create a hotter environment during the gel stage
than soap made without goat milk.
Freezer Paper - As you can see, I have cut the bars
on the same sheet of Freezer Paper used to line the mold. Unwrapping the soap is
extremely easy as the freezer paper peels right off the soap without any added
lubrication. I also use freezer paper to protect my work surface from splashes
or spills that might occur. These bars are now ready for trimming, stamping, and
curing.
How
does it lather? A trim piece was tested for lathering ability using cold,
extremely hard water and it passed with flying colors.
Stamping and
Wrapping
I have one soap stamp to date -
"Goat Milk", which is good because I make a lot of goat milk soap. The stamps
are made by Milk Way and sold by a variety of soapmaking suppliers.
This is a natural colored mulberry paper ordered from
Creative Express, a craft store. I've used Mulberry Paper in the past to wrap my
soaps and it is porous enough to allow the soaps to continue to breathe.
Therefore, even if they're wrapped prematurely (before 4-weeks), it hasn't
hindered the curing process. As shown here, I've precut the paper and run single
sheets through the printer. The Name of the Soap is in large letters at the top
of the bar, while the ingredients and any other information is printed in
smaller letters on the sides, just like commercially wrapped bars. If the paper
is too dark for printing, I use labels.
Formulations,
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or on to the
Next formulation - Ylang Ylang Goat Milk Soap
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