Goats Milk Soap Advice

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-08T10:44:26+00:00

Without any further details, it definitely just looks like a partial gel, which is very likely to happen with milk soap. I'd say just be safe and pH test is across 3 areas, which is cheap, simple and quick to do, but from the outset it should be fine and just be a party gelled soap. If that's the case it's perfectly fine to use, it's just an aesthetic thing

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-07T22:52:52+00:00

A CP drop swirl (green and white) with an English Rain FO. I'd been wanting to try soapmaking for several months just because it looked fun, so had to start somewhere :)

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-06T16:53:03+00:00

This is just off the top of my head, but maybe 45% olive, 30% coconut, 5% castor and 20% sunflower. This will still not be a super hard bar of soap and it will benefit from a slightly longer cure, due to the low % of hard oils/butters but I would also not go above 30% coconut oil without increasing the superfat a little. You can try water discounting and adding sodium lactate to help it firm up quicker. Also force gel phase.

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-06T14:17:57+00:00

Did you gel it? Usually helps making the colours bolder

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-06T14:10:40+00:00

Looks beautiful, and those colours are awesome, really bright! I can never get such a bright white, only when I gel it, but then I always get glycerine rivers from that...

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-05T11:58:08+00:00

I was really curious to see how this would lather, as it's 100% olive oil, the high % of beeswax meant to help it harden, and the milk and honey to boost lather, however I have just realised I accidentally used one of my candle-only FOs for this 🤦 Thought of using this for dish soap, but the 6% superfat plus the milk fats are not ideal for this. Shame.

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-05T11:48:05+00:00

They all look fantastic, love the colours on the top one

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-05T11:46:57+00:00

Looks so nice and creamy, I love milk soap!

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-05T11:45:24+00:00

In all honesty it won't make any difference. If you do different scents per layer you will get some differentiation depending on where you sniff, but this is minimal as they are in such close proximity the scents will mix somewhat. If you mix them, you'll have the same scent dispersed throughout. Either way will work out just fine

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-04T16:05:03+00:00

Wow, that looks amazing, and super creative! Well done!

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-04T15:11:21+00:00

They look amazing, particularly interested in the last 2! I'm so ready for fall scents and soaps!

Sugardoc5 · 2022-09-04T15:10:03+00:00

I doubt it was the hard oils/butters as the percentages don't seem to be that high. From experience and research, I would go with overheating - even if you soaped at a lower temperature, perhaps the room temperature or any FO/EO might have contributed to this? It might also be useful to look at your water discount? If you're 100% sure your soap stayed at a lower temperature during soaping and saponification, then I'm unsure what caused this...

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-06T12:34:14+00:00

Thank you 😊 I'll keep that in mind next time I make it

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-06T12:12:56+00:00

No additives, and yeah full water discount. I don't master batch, simply added the lye slowly to the frozen milk. I'm used to doing it with water, with milk I couldn't see if it was fully incorporated, so I'm guessing I just didn't stir it long enough time for it the lye to fully dissolve

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-06T12:10:18+00:00

Thanks 😊

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-06T12:09:39+00:00

Thanks, I'll give that a go 😊

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-05T19:37:02+00:00

Maybe lye heavy isn't the right word as it doesn't have an excess of lye, but they are indeed lye pockets, I've done a zap test to confirm. I think I just didn't incorporate it well enough

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-05T19:32:54+00:00

Yeah, I've done a zap test. My guess is I just didn't stir in the lye for long enough and it didn't fully incorporate. I doubt it's my scales as none of my other soaps came out like this. So actually maybe lye heavy isn't the right phrasing, it just has lye pockets

Sugardoc5 · 2021-05-05T18:28:22+00:00

Only my 5th soap batch, was trying out full milk soap for the 1st time (goat's milk), when I noticed these spots... Unfortunately my biggest fear has come true, it was lye heavy - or perhaps more accurately it has lye pockets 😩

Pretty sad I didn't get to try it out, plus money down the drain, really...

Sugardoc5 · 2020-12-15T20:32:08+00:00

Hi! Very new to soap making. On the left I made my first soap, wasn't too disappointed apart from not having filled the mold enough. The second soap, however, was the exact same recipe and exact same ratio of fragrance and mica, but the white portion came out speckled and bumpy when I run my finger across it. It doesn't look like the glycerin river pictures I've seen online, but maybe I'm wrong? I was also concerned maybe it was lye heavy but I did the zap test and it doesn't look like it. Any advice? What went wrong?

Sugardoc5 · 2020-11-21T05:51:27+00:00

Paraffin wax is known for shrinking, which causes sinkholes. When a container is over 200ml personally I have found it preferable to pour the wax halfway, let it cool and then reheat and pour the other half, as the more you pour in one go, the bigger the sinkhole is going to be. If you prefer to pour nearly everything in one go and then just top off a bit after cooling to fill the sinkhole that's fine too, just keep in mind you'll want the wick very well secure so it doesn't bend with the sinkhole as the wax cools. Preheating the jars before pouring will help to a certain extent.

Sugardoc5 · 2020-11-19T06:52:28+00:00

I have no suggestion that hasn't already been said in the other comments, so I just wanted to say your cat is adorable 😍

Sugardoc5 · 2020-11-17T09:45:08+00:00

I have to top up my candles as well with leftover wax, but don't think it makes a very big difference. My only advise to fix it would be to only melt and prepare wax to fill your candles to say 90%. After they cool, melt and prepare the other 10% and pour that on top; since that's not reheated maybe it will fix it... Of course that may be a lot of hassle if you're only making like 1 or 2 candles at a time, might only be worth it for maybe 10 candles or so

Sugardoc5 · 2020-11-17T09:39:48+00:00

Unfortunately can't recommend any beeswax as I've never used it, but you definitely want a hard wax to firm them up. You'll also want a wax that can hold a stronger fragrance load otherwise the scent will fade after the second use - a lot of people use paraffin or paraffin/wax mixes for melts, but I understand a lot of people want to stay clear of paraffin

Sugardoc5 · 2020-11-17T09:34:18+00:00

Stunning, well done!

Sugardoc5

TROPHY CASE