Goat milk soap offers deep cleansing, intense moisture, and restorative properties without inflammation or irritation.
If you are looking for how to make soap from goat milk, you have come to the right place. The process of how to make soap with goat milk is not much different than other soap-making procedures, though there is a specific order you must follow and a few safety precautions to take along the way.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to make soap from goat milk at home to reap all of the amazing goat milk soap benefits!
1. Pick a Recipe
The first thing you’ll need to do before learning how to make soap with goat milk is to pick a recipe. There are several out there, though they often have various ratios, ingredients, and fragrances. Choose whichever one includes ingredients and scents that you are comfortable with.
2. Gather Ingredients & Supplies
Once you have a goat milk soap recipe, you’ll need to gather all of the ingredients and supplies. It is important that you source ingredients from reputable, sustainable, and high-quality suppliers.
Depending on the recipe, don’t forget to pick up things like molds, safety equipment, a thermometer, heat-safe bowls and pots, something for mixing and spreading, de-molding supplies, a cooling rack, a digital scale, a knife, and your choice of storage solution.
Oftentimes, you can find a full kit that comes with everything you need from online retailers. If you would like to save as much as possible, a majority of the necessary equipment may be lying around your home, so always check your cabinets first!
3. Make The Lye Solution
Once you have everything sourced, laid out, and ready to go, it’s time to get to the fun part. Start with making the lye solution. In a heat-safe jug, pour in the designated water, then add your sodium hydroxide. Stir them together with a stainless-steel spoon.
Ensure you do this in a well-ventilated area with rubber gloves, long sleeves, closed-toed shoes, and safety goggles. The jug will get warm during this process, so though it is normal, be careful!
Set your lye solution aside to cool.
4. Melt & Combine Base Oils
While your lye solution is cooling, melt any solid oils or fats you are using over low heat in a saucepan stirring frequently. Once melted, stir any liquid oils into the solid oils. Take the oil mixture off of the heat and stir it until it reaches about 90 degrees. The oils should thicken, but not firm up completely.
5. Mix The Lye and The Oils
Now it is time to combine your cooled lye solution and your warmed base oils. Start by mixing it with a spoon, then use a stick blender to pulse the mixture a few times, and stir it again with a spoon. Alternate that process for about 10 minutes or so until you can drizzle soap on top of itself and it leaves behind an impression. This is called the “trace stage”. It should be the consistency of custard.
It is important to note that you can add your goat milk to the lye solution and then combine it with the oils, though we will go over how to add it later in the process as well.
6. Add Fragrance
When you have reached the custard consistency, you can go ahead and add any essential oils, extracts, or fragrances you plan to use. Simply add them directly in and mix well so they are evenly distributed. You can also opt to not add any essential oils, extracts, or fragrances.
7. Stir in Goat Milk
If you have not added your goat milk earlier in the soap-making process, stir it into the mixture after your essential oil additions. Ensure you do not add too much, making the “batter” too thin. It should remain at custard consistency until you are ready to cure it.
8. Molds, Initial Cure & De-molding
Now, it’s time to pour it into molds. Before pouring, double-check that you have taken demolding precautions like lining the mold with parchment paper, plastic, or a mold release spray. The only molds that do not need any demolding precautions are silicone molds.
For curing, there are two routes– a refrigerator/counter combo or simply leaving it on the counter. Either way, for the first 24 hours, keep the soap wrapped tightly with plastic wrap.
If you want a lighter soap, place the soap in the refrigerator for the first 24 hours. Leaving it wrapped on the counter for the first 24 hours will result in a darker soap.
After the 24 hours is up, unwrap the plastic, but leave the soap in the mold on the counter and don’t touch it for at least 3 to 4 days to harden further. If you begin to see cracks, the location is too warm and you should move it to a cooler spot.
Once you’ve let your goat milk soap cure, go ahead and pop it out of the mold.
9. Cut, Final Cure, & Shave
At this point you’ll have a large brick of goat milk soap, so to get easy-to-use bars of soap, it is time to cut them! You can use a non-serrated knife, or there are also specific soap-cutting tools on the market you can purchase. Cut the brick of goat milk soap into about 1-2 inch bars.
Lay out your freshly cut goat milk soap bars on a cooling rack in a place with good airflow that is cool and dry for at least 3-4 weeks, flipping them halfway through. This is where the soap finishes curing.
Keep in mind that the larger the bar, the harder it will be to completely dry out the soap, and excess moisture in your soap bars is the enemy.
After the curing process is complete, many soap-makers choose to shave the edges of the bars with a knife or soap-shaving tool to round out sharp edges and make them more comfortable to use. However, this step is optional.
10. Enjoy!
All that is left is to wrap up your soap bars in plastic or your storage solution of choice and enjoy! You can give them to friends and family, sell them, or simply use them yourself. It’s up to you!
Of course, if the process of how to make soap with goat milk is not something you want to take on, you always have the option of purchasing all-natural, organic, small-batch goat milk soap bars from high-quality brands like GOAT Soap.