Our first Goats Milk Soap!

Sweet Pea and Ivy Goats Milk Soap

Monday September 15, 2014

How can half of September have passed already? Seriously this time flying stuff has to stop! We have already been hearing commercials and seeing Facebook references alerting us that there are only so many Saturdays until a certain day. Come on! That's just too much pressure.  Can't we just enjoy Grandparents Day (September 7th in case you wondered) without being pressured to buy Halloween candy or Thanksgiving decor?  Ok, we didn't mean to whine too much, just a little maybe, but not too much.

Since time is flying by we are desperately trying to make some of the soaps that our customers have requested during the past 8 months.  One particular soap that customers have asked for (over and over) is a Goat's Milk Soap.  We listened and we have responded.

On Friday we received a shipment from +Bulk Apothecary  that included cocoa butter, shea butter, 40 pounds of coconut oil, and our powdered goats milk.  

Honestly we are like little kids with a new bike; we couldn't wait to make something.  We have a couple of shows coming up pretty soon, so for the next few weeks almost everything we make will be using the hot process method so the soaps will be ready quickly.

The recipe we used today had the following oils:  palm kernel, olive, sweet almond, coconut, Castor, and avocado.  Since we are strictly following a recipe, we did not use silk.  The extra ingredients in this batch are powdered goats milk and honey.

The Goats milk powder came from Bulk Apothecary and the honey was locally grown in the Persimmon area of nearby Rabun county.

The recipe called for 12 Tbsp of goats milk powder to be mixed into 3 ounces of water then frozen into a slushy mixture to be mixed back into the soap later.  We felt that if we mixed 12 Tbsp of powder into 3 ounces we would get a gooey paste that wouldn't mix very well.  So, we cut the amount of GM powder in half and only used 6 Tbsp in 3 ounces of water.  The above photo shows us mixing the powder into the  water.

We don't want this batch of soap to be brightly colored, so we added Light Gold Mica from +Bramble Berry. It should give us just a hint of light gold sparkle.

This time we added the colorant a bit differently.  Usually we mix it into a teaspoon or 

so of oil and add it to the batter later.  This time as we measured out our oils we 

dumped about 3/4 of a teaspoon of light gold mica into the olive oil before we added 

it to the rest of the oils. 

We mixed it a little and it was a beautiful shimmery light gold color.

As we mixed it emulsified into a nice smooth golden color. Maybe this is how we should add our colorants from now on; it seems much easier.

We added the golden olive oil into the rest of the melted oils in the crock pot, then mixed in the lye/water mixture, put the lid on, and started cooking in fifteen minute increments.

While the soap was cooking we lined the 18 bar wooden mold and tidied up a little.

We decided to use a scent from +Lebermuth Co  called Sweet Pea and Ivy. They describe it as follows:

"A fragrance with a beautiful floral bouquet that intermingles with green ivy. Top notes include lily of the valley, fresh floral, sweet pea and a delicate pear. The heart of the fragrance is a melody of hyacinth, rose, gardenia, carnation and lavender. Base notes of violet, a light coconut and a gentle lingering musk".  We think it smells divine.  It has a light sweetness to it, but it is not at all overpowering.

We almost decided not to stir this batch, to wait for it to fall over into itself etc. as is the philosophy of some hot processors, but we couldn't stand it (Kathy mainly couldn't stand it). We went ahead and mixed the batter up each time we checked it.

We think the soap cooked about an hour and a half.  We did a zap test at 1 hour, 15 minutes, then let it cook another quarter of an hour.  This recipe did not cook with much water because we would be adding some of the water after the cook this time.  We were very cautious about overcooking as we did not want it to dry out.

Once we decided it was "done," we added the honey/water and stirred it well.   

                                     

Next we retrieved the frozen (-ish) goat's milk mixture from the freezer. It wasn't completely frozen, but it was slushy, which is what it was supposed to be.

We added the goats milk mixture into the soap batter and stirred like crazy.

Finally we added the Sweet Pea and Ivy FO and stirred and stirred making sure that the fragrance was completely incorporated throughout the soap.

Once we had added the additional liquids that were in the honey/water; the scent, and goats milk, the batter became quite manageable and went into the mold easily.

When we had scraped every last bit we could out of the crock pot and had smoothed it into the mold, we tamped (think slam the mold on the counter several times as hard as we could) it down to eliminate air bubbles as much as possible.

(our fingers are crossed)

Kathy inserted the dividers into the mold and we put it away until tomorrow (Tuesday) when we will take it out of the mold and then take its picture.

Tuesday update:  

Here is what the soap looked like this afternoon when we started removing it from the mold.  It is nice and light, almost creamy white.

This is when we wish we had smell-o-vision. The scent is just perfect; we love it.

It's hard to see but the mica sparkle is shining through in this soap. It's subtle, but it is there and it gives the soap an almost luminescent look.

No air bubbles either, guess all that tamping down helped.

Our Sweet Pea and Ivy Hot Process Goats Milk Soap will be ready to use next week.