Soap making class and a couple of bath and body recipes

I was all set to just post a couple of bath and body recipes for you to try but I had a wonderful visit from our dearest friend of the farm, Susan.  She has agreed to host and teach a 3-hour soap making class at her farm “Sweet Bay Acres,” just up Hwy 61!  We will use our fresh goat milk and you can participate in all the fun as well (early details on the class at the end of this post).  So save the date (better yet, rsvp today and reserved your seat in the soap making class and get a jump on your Christmas gift making as well!)  - September 10, 2011 – 10am to 1pm.

That said, I will continue with the current happenings here at the farm.  Its still summer and despite the intense heat and humidity, the milk is still flowing heavy and sweet (and hopefully at your farm too).  If you don’t have your own milk source please call or email us to connect with some fresh goat milk.  Then you too can try your hand at some handmade bath and body products.

These recipes were given to me from a couple of old friends of the farm.  They had great success but like anything else in life, your success will vary based on conditions.  I personally have not taken the time to try these yet – (Tim is the soap maker at in our home, but I am inspired to give it a shot just typing out the recipes and yes, I have added them to my to do list right after making some cheddar cheese, having the new kitchen cabinets installed, trimming the goats feet, painting the barn, scrubbing the milking parlor, painting the back porch and outhouse, fixing fence, mucking the barn, and, and, and…).  Now that Susan has agreed to host a class, I have a date and no more excuses to not make some soap myself.  I am making cheddar today and the cabinets are being sanded as I type…

Supplies:

Crock pot or dedicated saucepan or microwave safe bowl to melt waxes and combine oils

Spoon to stir ingredients

Whisk, hand held electric mixer, or blender

Molds or containers to hold soaps or lotions (this can be something as simple as a bread or cake pan, pvc pipe, a clean wooden box, etc)

Blender No Cook Goats Milk Soap

Modified from http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/

4oz coconut oil

4 oz vegetable oil

8 oz olive oil

2.2 oz Red Devil Lye

7 fl oz fresh goat’s milk

Make this recipe in a blender.  If any of your oils are in solid form they must be melted first.  Wear thick rubber gloves, goggles and a smock when working with lye (safety first). The lye mixture becomes hot as it is mixed and can be dangerous.

Step One – Dissolve the lye in cold milk and wait until it cools. Make sure you are wearing goggles and gloves when handling lye. Never pour milk or water into lye. Only pour lye INTO milk or water.

Step Two – Carefully pour the oil and then the lye solution into the blender. Be careful not to splash or spill the lye on yourself or others.

Step Three – Lock the blender in position, secure the cover, place a towel over the top of the blender for safety, and process at the lowest possible speed. Make sure you are wearing your goggles when you process the soap mixture and make sure the towel is in place to avoid any accidental splashing of the lye/oil mixture.  Stop the blender and check the soap often to watch for what is called a thin-trace stage. This is when the soap mixture just begins to thicken.  Most folks that use fresh cold goat milk don’t wait for the trace they just proceed (when you try it let me know your results and we will add that to the info, thanks) Each time you stop the blender, wait a few seconds before removing the cover. Sometimes the soap “burps” when it stops as trapped air comes to the top. At the thin trace stage, stop the blender and stir the soap to check for tracing and to allow bubbles to escape.

Step Four – At this point you can add any essential oils, colorants or fragrances as well as any other ingredients such as oatmeal or herbs. Blend these in for a few seconds and then stop the blender.

Step Five – Pour the soap into individual molds. Cover it with a blanket for insulation. Let the soap set for a day or two and then after popping it out of the molds cut it and let it age for at least three weeks.

The following are tips on making soap in the blender:

Benefits of making soap in a blender:  Although using a blender does not allow for big batches of soap, it has four major advantages:

1) Blending your soap mix makes for a much shorter time to the thin trace stage. Instead of 15 – 40 minutes, it might require only minutes or even seconds.

2) Since liquid fat and oils can be used at room temperature, no thermometers are required. For solid fats simply heat them until they are melted.

3) The blender effectively whips the lye water into the fats producing a much smoother mixture so the chances of your mix separating are greatly reduced.

4. Your soap bars will be creamier in consistency and should float due to the air that is whipped into the solution.  (Use small one-pound batches only).

Goat Milk Lotion

1 ½ Tbsp beeswax

2 Tbsp palm oil

2 Tbsp pumpkin seed oil

3 Tbsp sweet almond oil

1 Tbsp apricot oil

1 Cup warm goats milk

Essential oil/fragrance oil to your taste

Melt beeswax and palm oil together.  Remove from heat.  Add remaining oils and blend well.  Either by hand with a whisk or with a blender, slowly add the warm goat milk.  Continue mixing and add the essential oils as mixture begins to thicken.  Keep mixing until the mixture cools and thickens to good pouring consistency.  Pour into containers.  When using fresh goat milk consider adding a preservative to prevent spoilage.  I have not found this to be necessary because of the heat created from the lye.