Thursday, November 10, 2016

Making Your Own Natural Goats Milk Soap

By Lisa Butler


Even with so many cleansing products available in the stores, it can be a challenge finding one that won't wreck your skin. This is because famous brand soaps often use strong chemicals that may cause sensitive skin to become dry, red and itchy. One way to solve the problem is to make your own natural goats milk soap.

There are different recipes available online. A good recipe is one that contains goats milk and a blend of oils. Coconut oil is a good choice, as is olive oil. You can also add oils such as avocado, almond, rice bran or castor oil or even shea or cocoa butter. All of these oils have nourishing properties. A few drops of essential oil can add fragrance and may have therapeutic properties too. For example, tea tree or grapefruit oils are antibacterial while lavender is relaxing. Finally, you'll need some lye.

The first step is to mix the lye with the milk to start a process called saponification. This is the chemical reaction between an alkali and fats. Sprinkle the lye bit by bit over the milk and mix it. You'll need to wear rubber gloves and take care though because lye can burn your skin. It's a good idea to keep the mixture in an ice bath to keep it cool.

When your lye mixture is ready, it's time to blend the oils. Some oils, such as coconut oil, and butters are solid at room temperature so you will need to melt them first. You can do this by placing them in the sun for a while or by gently heating them on the stove. Then add the liquid oils.

Once you have mixed your oils, it's time to carefully add them to the lye mixture. Stir or whisk everything until the mixture is smooth and emulsifies. This means that the lye liquid and the oils won't separate anymore but will stay mixed. Soap makers call this point the trace.

To keep its shape, you need to mold the emulsified mixture. You can use any shape of mold that you want but smaller ones are best, since they will prevent the mixture from becoming too warm. Another way to keep the temperature down is to first refrigerate the molds, which you can buy at stores that sell craft supplies.

Your mixture needs to stay in the molds for 24 hours to set. Then you can remove the solid bars and, if necessary, cut them into slices or smaller bars. Let the bars cure for a month or so and then package them the way you want. For example, you can wrap them in brightly colored paper or simply tie a pretty ribbon around them.

The great thing about making your goats milk soap is that it is all natural and doesn't contain harsh chemicals that can harm your skin. It is gentle and moisturizing rather than drying. It won't sting your eyes and it produces a creamy lather that's great for shaving. Moreover, it has healing properties and can help treat skin conditions such as acne and eczema.




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