One of the benefits...

of having goats~

Goat's Milk Soap

I've been wanting to give it a try for awhile,

and finally this fall,

I made the plunge...

...into the world of soap making.

Reading about it was, well, intimidating.

And, 

it took me awhile to gather supplies.

Especially those long gloves and goggles

that everyone insists you must have.

(You really do need them!)

Then, 

on to ordering lye.

I only found it available through soapmaking companies

and even then you have to sign a waiver.

Whew!

That all being said & done~

I began.

A simple recipe from the internet,

http://www.pvsoap.com/recipe_goats_milk_soap.htm

an order from Brambleberry soap company

http://www.brambleberry.com/Default.aspx

and,

I was set.

It turned out MUCH EASIER than I expected.

I didn't get any chemical burn from the lye,

(thankfully!)

and 

after 4 weeks of curing...

we
L.O.V.E.

our homemade soap!

I'm not sure I can go back to the store bought stuff

after using our soap.

It lathers great, doesn't break apart at all when it gets smaller,
doesn't leave any 'residue' on your skin

and is fun to make :)

There~

I look pretty 'funky', but you do need
to protect your eyes & skin when working
with lye~

This is SLOWLY adding the lye to the
goat's milk~

Apparently you NEVER add a liquid
to the lye; only lye to the liquid in small
amounts.  The goat's milk is slushy and
still half-way frozen.  The lye heats it
up very quickly~

This is adding the heated oils to the
mixing container.  I use a stick blender for
this part.  I bought a separate attachment
for the end that it ONLY used for soap making.
All your utensils can only be used
for soap once they've come in contact with lye~

A close up shot of the lye mixed into the goat's milk~

Slowly adding mixture of milk & lye
to the oils~

Stirring & blending~

Stirring & blending more
until mixture comes to 'trace'~

Coming to 'trace' can take anywhere
between 10-20 minutes~

Here's one of our batches in a mold.
I did cover it with waxed paper for the
18-20 hour 'waiting' period.  It's not
perfectly smooth, but still good~

Here it is after we 'popped' it out
of the mold~

Cutting the soap into 'bars'-
the fun part~

This is oatmeal with an
almond-biscotti essential oil added~

We made three batches this
time.
One plain.
One with orange essential oil.
And,
one oatmeal with almond-biscotti oil.
The soap does need to 'cure' for 4 weeks
before using.