This goat milk soap recipe is one of those cold process soaps that takes a little bit of practice. It can be very easy to scorch the milk and turn it into a not-so-great-smelling bar.
In this post I will walk you through the recipe, plus show you some tips to make sure your soap comes out just the way you want!
Learning to make your own goat milk soap is not hard, but it does take some practice. I will walk you through some common pitfalls and advise (that works for all cold process soap!) so you can have a beautiful bar!
This soap contains goat milk, oats and honey for a triple whammy! This is the most gentle bar of soap I have ever used.
This post is all about a goat milk soap recipe.
*Please note I may make a small commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. It really helps support the blog! To read more, click this link.
Some very important information before starting your soap
There are a few disclaimers before you make any skin care products or soap.
- Lye can be scary to work with but if you follow the proper safety (I will showcase it below) it doesn’t have to be!
- Always do a patch test on your skin when trying a new product for the first time, discontinuing use if a rash or any other adverse symptoms appear.
- This recipe uses fresh goat milk (not powdered) and I have never tried it with powdered milk. You may be able to reconstitute the powdered goats milk and then freeze it. A quick google search may provide that answer.
- Never blindly follow a recipe you find on the internet. It is always important to run any recipe through a soap calculator before you start as improper lye ratios can burn your skin.
Now that that is out of the way...
It's time to talk materials!
For this soap recipe, there are a few materials you need.
- A large heat safe bowl (for melting the oils)
- A smaller heat safe bowl (for mixing the lye water)
- An immersion blender (to speed up the saponification)
- A soap mold
- A soap cutting tray
- Kitchen Scale
- Kitchen Gloves
- Eye Protection
- PH Testing Strips
Next up is ingredients
The base of this recipe is tallow. If you are interested in a tallow soap bar (without goat milk) click here.
Here are all of the ingredients:
Tallow- 10 ounces or 283 grams (to learn how to render your own tallow, click here)
Olive oil- 10 ounces or 283 grams
Coconut oil- 10 ounces or 283 grams
Castor oil- 6 ounces or 170 grams
Sodium hydroxide (lye)- 5.11 ounces or 145 grams
Frozen goats milk- 13.68 ounces or 388 grams
Ground oatmeal- 1 cup
Honey- 1/4 cup
Let's make soap!
- To begin, freeze your goats milk in an ice cube tray. This way you can measure out the proper amount easily. It needs to be frozen so you do not burn the goat milk with the lye. I do this the night before to make sure everything is good and frozen.
- When you are ready to make your soap, add all of the oils (tallow, olive, coconut, castor) into your large mixing bowl ensuring you are using a kitchen scale. Soap making is one where you NEED to be exact.
- Place your oils on a double boiler (I use a pot filled with water as the base) and turn it to medium heat. You want the oils to slowly melt down.
While the oils are heating up, it is time to get your lye solution made. Let’s quickly cover some…
Lye safety information
Lye is very caustic which means it will BURN. This is not a problem when it is in soap as the saponification process converts the lye into a safe product for our skin.
However, until that process is done, the lye is not safe to touch bare skin so take these precautions to protect yourself.
- Make sure your arms and legs are covered with a long sleeve shirt and long pants.
- Wear gloves at all times when working with the lye in any form. These can be kitchen gloves, medical gloves, or work gloves. They need to cover your hands in the event there is splash back.
- Always wear eye protection the entire time. You do not want anything splashing into your eyes. It can blind you.
- Always work with lye in a well ventilated area. It will release fumes that can injure your lungs if you breathe it in. I always mix the lye solution outside.
- Keep the lid on the container at all times when not directly in use.
- Always pour the lye into the water (or goat milk) NEVER pour the water or milk into the lye.
- Finally, make sure there are never kids or pets around that could potentially get injured.
Now that you know how to be safe, it is time to make the lye solution. I always use a pyrex container with a tight lid and then a heat safe bowl.
Start by measuring out the goat milk frozen cubes into your heat proof bowl. Take it outside.
Next, measure the lye, close the lid and then take it directly outside.
Sprinkle 1/3 the lye over the goat cubes and slowly mix. When there is frozen cubes, there is extra risk of splash back. When the lye has melted into the milk, add another 1/3.
Repeat the process once more and then put the lid back onto the lye container. Bring the mixture carefully inside and place it off to the side. The lye container can go straight into the dishwasher and turned on. Lye is also a cleaner so it should not wreck your dishwasher. (Always follow manufacturers directions.)
Allow the oils to cool down
Take the oils off the heat and allow them to cool. You may need to put the bowl in the fridge to speed up the process. You want the oils and the lye to be within 5 degrees of each other. The optimal temperature for soap making is around 40 degrees Celcius or 100 degrees Farenheit.
While you are waiting for the oil and lye to come to temperature, it is time to grind your oats. Take a heaping cup of oats and place them in your vitamix blender. You need a high speed blender for this step as the oats need to be in a powder form. Alternatively you could use oat flour (as long as there are no additives.)
It's time to saponify!
Get your soap mold, cooled oils, your lye mixture, your cup of ground oats, your 1/4 cup honey and your immersion blender ready. This step goes fast so it is good to have everything in the same spot.
Start by placing your immersion blender into the bowl of oils. Carefully stream in the lye solution while constantly blending until all of the lye solution is in. Take a moment to scrape out the bowl to make clean up easier as well.
When your mixture is at a thin trace (like a watery pudding) add in the honey and mix again. Add in the oats and mix until it is all combined. Your mix will start to get thick here.
Pour it into your soap mold and set it aside for a few minutes. You need it to be a little more thick to make a pretty design. In the meantime, place all of your bowls in the sink and run some water over them (careful not to splash and keep your safety gear on!)
It is time to make your design! I like to use the back of my spoon to scoop the mix into the middle. It looks so pretty! Add some oats down the middle and you are ready to let it cure in the mold overnight.
Cut it up the next day and place it in a cool dark place to cure for 1 month. It is safe to use in the meantime but it will be a soft bar. Enjoy!
That’s it thats all! I hope you got a good feel for making your own goat milk soap. It takes some practice but with time, soap making will become second nature!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also enjoy…
How to render tallow for skincare
