How to Make Goat's Milk Soap

If you have severe allergies, pets, or small children around it's probably a better idea to buy liquid or bar goat's milk soap.

Learning how to make goat's milk soap at home is not easy. The process can be challenging and precision is important. But for those who want to save money and/or really practice green living, the benefits are rewarding once you get the basics down pat.

To make liquid goat’s milk soap, you need the following supplies:

A double boiler with a stainless steel pot inside. This MUST be stainless steel to avoid corrosion and other problems.

A stick blender with a stainless steel blade inside. Again, this MUST be stainless steel. Using only stainless steel when learning how to make goat’s milk soap can’t be emphasized enough.

• Five-gallon bucket with a pour spout lid.
• Plastic spoon.
• Funnels.
• Rubber gloves.
• Blankets or towels.
• Goggles.
• Scale.
• Measuring cups suitable for liquid.

A sieve and cheesecloth will also make your soap-making effort easier, but is not mandatory.

You will need to obtain the following ingredients to make one gallon of liquid goat’s milk soap:

• 9 ounces coconut 76-degree oil
• 16 ounces sunflower seed oil
• 8 fluid ounces water
• 5.2 ounces potassium hydroxide
• .4 to .5 gallons of dilution water
• 3 ounces of goat’s milk

Learning how to make goat’s milk soap at home must be done carefully, even when using a liquid recipe.

Use the following steps:

• Weigh all ingredients.

• Place the pot on a stovetop and turn to medium heat.

• Pour distilled water into pot.

• Next, add potassium hydroxide into the water.

• Once the water is about to roll into a full boil, put the pot aside.

• Weigh oils and heat to about 120 to 130 degrees.

• Mix the oils with water and potassium hydroxide using the stick blender for about 2 to 3 minutes.

• Wait 5 minutes.

• Use the stick blender again for 2 to 3 minutes on the mixture in the pot.

• Wait about 10 minutes. Check the mixture occasionally with your spoon. This helps ensure proper consistency for liquid goats milk soap.

• Repeat the blend, rest, blend, rest process until the soap thickens and holds droplets on its surface for only a moment.

• Place the inner pot inside the double boiler.

• Fill the outer pot with water. This pot should have about as much water as the inner pot has soap.

• Heat until both pots are boiling. Make sure the outer pot consistently has around the same amount of water as the amount of soap in the other pot.

• Check the soap pot about every 15 minutes and stir thoroughly. At some point, you should notice soap curds and oils gathering.

• Continue mixing. As the mixture blends, you will need to check less often (perhaps every 20 to 30 minutes.) The soap will cook into gel and usually take 4 to 8 hours to complete.

• When no liquid is left, the soap is getting close to ready. Turn over the mass of soap.

• Remove the soap pot from the boiler and use your towel or blanket to insulate it. This keeps the heat trapped.

• Clean the outer pot so you can boil distilled water to help dissolve the soap mass into liquid.

• Boil about ½ gallon of distilled water for every 25 ounces of soap base.

• Place the mass of soap into the 5-gallon bucket.

• Dump the water over the soap base once it reaches boiling - be careful not to burn yourself!

• Stir with a large spoon to break up the mass.

• Cover the bucket and keep it insulated.

Stir every hour for several hours, then every 4 to 8 hours. It may take three or four days for the base to become smooth enough to be used as liquid’s goat milk soap. After three days, add more boiling water if the mass has not dissolved.

Once the base is fully dissolved, congratulations! At this point you have successfully learned how to make goat’s milk soap.

You can add a few drops of an essential oil such as lavender if you want a scented liquid goat’s milk soap.

"Soapmaking 101." http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/soapsafely.html