Comments on: How to Make Goat’s Milk Soap

By: Amy Warden

Amy Warden — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:57:30 +0000

@shillu – When soap goes through the process of becoming soap (saponification), the lye heats it up. If you mix up your soap and leave it in the mold, most of the time it will go through the gelling stage where the soap gets so hot, it turns translucent. You can help it do this by insulating it with towels or blankets. Or you can prevent it from heating up and going through gel stage by putting it in the refrigerator or freezer right after pouring.

By: shillu

shillu — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:45 +0000

Hi,the one thing i’m new to is gelling ….can u pls explain that gelling GM part.

By: Amy Warden

Amy Warden — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:17:17 +0000

@Nitya – Thank you for your comment! Yes, my husband made all my molds, so they are extra long.

By: Nitya

Nitya — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:12:32 +0000

You have one large mold there!! The soap looks so lovely…I bet it must be heavenly to use as well!!

By: Melani

Melani — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:42:42 +0000

Going to give it another go this morning and stir for much longer, see if that helps!

Thanks SO much for the info!
Melani´s last blog post ..Goat’s Milk Frustrations

By: Amy Warden

Amy Warden — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:46:39 +0000

Ok, so now maybe we are getting somewhere!! I realized that I need to update this post because I have been gelling my goat’s milk soaps and stirring my lye solution a lot longer to make sure it’s fully dissolved and heated up to at least 80 degrees F / 30 C before adding it to the oils. I’m also using a silicone spatula when I stir the lye solution to make sure I’m scraping the edges of the container that I’m mixing it in really well. I haven’t had any trouble since I started doing this.

I hope that’s the answer you need!!

By: Melani

Melani — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:40:59 +0000

LOL, googling and I just came across one of your other posts that appears to have the same spots as mine!

http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/index.php/so-disappointing/

The info in the comments was good. I’m 99% sure it has to do with the GM and Lye not mixing in properly. Will have to test some things tonight I think…
Melani´s last blog post ..grrr huphenstuff!

By: Amy Warden

Amy Warden — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:56:24 +0000

@Melani – I have to admit I’m stumped. I make goat’s milk soap with just olive oil and it seems to work out ok, so it can’t be the lack of palm. But there must be something about your recipe that isn’t cooperating. I guess I would try leaving out the beeswax – increase the coconut for hardness and let the oils cool to 30 degrees celsius, so they are about the same temp as the lye solution when you combine them.

By: Melani

Melani — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:44:49 +0000

The stearic acid isn’t an ingredient I add – I was told that’s what it was. But my oils are heated to 80 degrees celcius to melt the beeswax, so I doubt that’s the problem. The beeswax is included to harden the bar because I don’t use Palm oil of any sort. Even prior to the beeswax however, I get these white spots when using goat’s milk.

I make about a 2kg batch, my Milk/Lye solution got to about 30 degrees celcius, my oils to 80. I let the oils cool to about 40-50 degrees (c) before adding in the milk/lye mixture. As soon as I pour though, there are the white spots.

They are firm too – like if you pluck out a ‘spot’, you can’t crush it in your fingers. But it’s not Lye as I don’t get a zap and there’s no grainy feeling to the milk/lye mixture when I stir.
Melani´s last blog post ..grrr huphenstuff!

By: Amy Warden

Amy Warden — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:37:23 +0000

@Melani – Can you reformulate your recipe without the beeswax & stearic acid? I don’t think melting your oils the night before is the answer if it’s not getting hot enough. My recipe is pretty large, but I’ve discovered that I can stir the lye solution quite awhile before it starts heating up, so I will stir until it reaches at least 80 degrees before adding it to the oils.