Turning your hobby into money (2) Goats Milk Soap Recipe

Makes 8 bars

Lye Water
109g/ 3.8oz Sodium hydroxide (also called Lye or Caustic Soda)
100g / 3.5 oz Water in a heat-proof jug
100g / 3.5 oz Goats Milk

Solid Oils
200g / 7oz Refined Coconut Oil
150g / 5oz Shea Butter

Liquid Oils
400g / 14oz Olive oil Pomace (it’s lighter in colour than virgin olive oil)
50g / 1.76oz Castor oil

Add at Trace
8 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract

Special Equipment needed
Digital Thermometer
Digital Kitchen Scale
Stick (Immersion) Blender
Silicone Soap Mould

Step 1: Freeze the Goats Milk

Pour the goats milk into an ice cube tray and freeze.

Step 2: Make the Lye-Water

Set yourself up in an area with good ventilation — on the doorstep or outdoors is perfect. Pour the Sodium Hydroxide into the water and stir with a stainless steel spoon. Be careful not to breathe in the fumes.

Stir until the lye is completely dissolved and then set the jug aside to cool to 100°F (38°C).

Step 3: Add the Milk Cubes

When the lye-water has cooled, add all of the goat milk ice cubes to the jug. Allow the cubes to melt and for the lye-liquid to lower to room temperature — that’s between 68-72°F (20-22°C)

Step 4: Heat the Solid Oils

As soon as you add the ice cubes to the lye water begin melting the solid oils. In a stainless steel pan, heat the coconut oil and shea butter on very low heat until just liquefied. They’ll melt quicker than you think so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat.

Step 5: Add the Liquid Oils

When the solid oils are melted, take the pan off the heat and pour in the liquid oils. Being already room temperature, they’ll cool the hot oils down. Stir well and keep an eye on the temperature. You want the oils to cool to 90°F (32°C).

Step 5: Mixing

When the lye-liquid is fully melted and the oils are the right temperature, pour the lye-liquid into the oils. Immerse a stick blender into the pan and use it (turned off) to stir the contents together. Then bring the stick blender to the middle of the pan, hold it still and pressed to the bottom of the pan and pulse for a couple of seconds.

Repeat the stirring and pulsing until the mixture begins to thicken. It will take a couple of minutes.

Step 6: Add the Anti-oxidant

When the soap batter has thickened to the consistency of warm custard, stir in the drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract. It works as an anti-oxidant and helps prolong the shelf-life of your bars of soap. It’s not a preservative but rather an agent that helps stop oils from going rancid.

Step 7: Mould and Cool

Pour the soap into your mould, whether it’s the Silicone Soap Mould, an empty paper milk carton, or something else. Now line the exposed part of the soap with plastic wrap and pop the mould into the refrigerator. Leave it there for 24 hours.

Step 8: Cut & Cure

Take the soap out of the refrigerator the next day but leave it inside the mould. Set it someplace on the counter and leave it there for three or four days to harden up a bit. This soap is very soft when it comes out of the mould and could break or get stuck if you try to cut it too soon.

When cut, leave the bars someplace airy and out of direct sunlight to cure for 3-4 weeks. The soap is safe to touch 48 hours after making it but it needs the extra time to allow the excess moisture to evaporate out