A step-by-step tutorial for a nourishing and natural cold process soap. You’ll love this goat milk soap recipe.
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s great for your skin. Goat milk has a long reputation for being soothing and moisturizing to human skin, and being able to dissolve dead skin cells and oils because of its lactic acid.
- Fun and exciting! Just like making soap with beeswax and honey, it’s fun to work with farm-inspired, natural ingredients.
- All-natural. The color is naturally occuring.
Let’s get to it.
Ingredients
I recommend Nurture Soap for lye, oils, fragrance, and colors. They are affordable and you can get fragrances and colors in small quantities if you want.
- almond oil
- castor oil
- coconut oil
- olive oil
- palm oil
- shea butter
- beeswax
- lye
- goat milk (I used this powdered goat’s milk and mixed it with water)
- fragrance oil or color (optional: I did not use color in this soap but used my favorite fragrance, which you can find here)
Equipment
- a kitchen scale that allows you to zero out your measurements (I use and recommend this one.)
- a stick blender
- safety gear
- old pots
- a soap mold (this recipe fits perfectly into a 10-inch silicone loaf mold like this)
🍴Instructions
Preparing the goat milk, oils and lye
Okay, my friends, let’s make this! If you’ve made soap before, it will all seem very familiar, with one big, weird exception: goat’s milk!
We can’t just go pouring lye into the milk, and here’s why: when you add lye to any liquid, it will shoot way up in temperature because of the chemical reaction. If this happens with milk, there can be an unpleasant reaction like curdled milk. No thanks.
So first we want to get the milk to a semi-frozen, slushy state. Just put it in the freezer for about four hours, until it is partially frozen.
Then we proceed. Carefully measure out the lye and pour it into the milk. You’ll need to stir quite a bit, but almost instantly the ice will start to melt and the milk will heat up and perhaps change color.
Set aside the lye milk in a safe place, and being measuring and melting your oils. Everything has to be thoroughly melted and should be about 140 degrees.
Let both components cool for an hour or two, until they are about 110 degrees. (Anywhere from 100-125 is acceptable.)
Stick Blending and pouring
It’s time for the fun part! Before you start blending, make sure your mold, fragrance oil, and any other additions are ready to go.
Pour the milk into the melted oils, and begin stick blending. Blend for a few minutes until trace is reached. The batter should thicken slightly and leave trails when stirred or when the stick blender is lifted.
Once you’ve reached trace, stir in the fragrance (if using) by hand and immediately pour the batter into the mold. Smooth out the top.
Because of the sugars in the milk, this soap will get hot! To avoid cracking or any other problems, I’d recommend you put this in the fridge or freezer.
After 24 hours, turn the soap out of the mold (it may still be a bit soft), cut into bars, and store in a well-ventilated space for a few weeks.
You will love it.
Storage instructions
This soap does best if you store it in a cool, dry place with plenty of air circulation. I like to use a shoebox with layers of newspaper.
🔍 FAQs
What is the benefit of making soap with goat’s milk?
Like anything in the soap-making world, there are a lot of opinions about this! Many people argue that all the vitamins and minerals in milk benefit your skin, and many say that none of those minerals can be found in a finished bar. Either way, goat’s milk does contain a good amount of lactic acid, which is a natural exfoliant and can help give you glowing skin, improve acne, and make you look younger.
What other ingredients do we need?
Just any cold process soap, we still need lye and oils. You can actually make any cold process soap into goat soap by replacing some or all of the water in the recipe with milk.
Can I make this soap without lye?
Well, technically, no. You can’t make soap without lye. But you can absolutely buy pre-made goat milk soap base, customize it with fragrance and color, and pour it into the mold of your choice. No need to handle lye.
What if I don’t have access to fresh goat’s milk?
No problem! Just get the powdered kind, mix it with water, and you’re off to the races.
👩🏻🍳 Expert tips
- Don’t skip the step of freezing the goat milk. It will scorch when the lye hits it otherwise.
- Be sure to have your mold, fragrance, and colors ready to go before you start stick blending.
- Feel free to add extra goodies at trace. Try ground oatmeal, jojoba beads, or poppyseeds.
Want more soaps?
- My most popular soap recipe is extra bubbly and uses mango butter for a super nourishing bar.
- Homemade soap is for more than skin! This DIY dish bar is a thrifty kitchen project.
- Prefer a palm-free recipe? Kitchen lemon soap is palm free and all-natural.
🍅 make it along with me
Follow along step by step. The slides will turn every 7 seconds, or you can click ahead.
📖 Here’s the recipe
here’s the recipe
Nourishing Goat Milk Soap Recipe
This cold process bar combines goats milk with shea butter, olive oil, and more. A gentle, cleansing, beautiful soap recipe.
Prep Time 1 hour hour
curing time 1 day day
Total Time 1 day day 1 hour hour
Serving Size 10 bars
Equipment
soap mold
Ingredients
- 3 ounces almond oil
- 2 ounces castor oil
- 10 ounces coconut oil
- 10 ounces olive oil
- 6 ounces palm oil
- 3 ounces shea butter
- 1 ounce beeswax
- 4.91 ounces lye
- 12 ounces goat milk (or combine 1 ounce powdered goat milk and 11 ounces water)
Instructions
Prepare the goat milk by freezing for a few hours until it reaches a slushy consistency.
Add the lye to the partially frozen milk and stir until completely blended. It will melt, heat up, and may change color. Set aside in a safe place.
Measure the oils, butters, and beeswax and melt over low heat until completely melted and heated to 140 degrees. Set aside to cool. Prepare your soap mold and any color or fragrance you are using.
When the milk and oils have cooled to about 110 degrees, pour the milk into the melted oils and blend using a stick blender. Mix until "trace" is achieved, or the soap thickens slightly and a trail of soap rests on top of the batter rather than immediately sinking in. Add desired fragrance or color, stirring in by hand.
Pour into soap mold, gently smoothing out top. Place in fridge or freezer to avoid cracking. Un-mold after 24 hours, cut into bars, and allow to cure for 2 weeks before using.
Notes
To resize this recipe, enter the following percentages into a soap calculator: 8.57% almond oil, 5.71% castor oil, 28.57% coconut oil, 28.57% olive oil, 17.14% palm oil, 8.57% shea butter, 2.86% beeswax.
Be sure to follow safe soap making: wear gloves, googles. long sleeves. and work in a well-ventilated space. Take care that any raw soap or lye stays out of the reach of children.
Enjoy your soapmaking!
