# Lotion Recipes and Questions?



## LaurelFields (May 2, 2016)

I'll start milking my ND doe this weekend after her sons leave since then she'll only be nursing our one little doeling.

I'm super excited.  I've never milked a doe before, but I've done some research, watched a couple videos, and I think I can do it and I have everything I need... except for a milk filter, which I plan on ordering soon!

Anyway, for this first year, I've decided that I'm going to try making goat milk lotion. I've found one recipe which I'll probably use, but I'd love to see some others and hear people's experiences in making lotion.

One of the things I've found is that lotion can mold. How do I avoid that? And do I need to pasteurize the milk?


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I use coffee filters.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

What brand of coffee filter?


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

And brand. Coffee filters fit really nicely over a mason jar.. Just pour it right into the jar and stick in fridge! Presto!


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Hmmm, k. I tried that and it wouldn't go through the filter


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

I use coffee filters too.
As far as the lotion, you will have to use preservative or it will be unsafe to use even before you will see any mold. Other option is to keep it in a refrigerator and use it up within a week.
I personally prefer to make soap. Goat milk soap is wonderful!
I make my own lotions too, but I am just using oils and butters with long shelf life so I don't have to worry about preservatives. I do not sell the lotion, just the soap. The FDA has too many rules on the labeling and you'd need an insurance too. Soap is easier and so much fun to make.


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## LaurelFields (May 2, 2016)

Like disposable coffee filters? I was hoping to get something that I could wash and reuse, but coffee filters could be an easy alternative to start out with!

The problem with soap is lye. I don't like the idea of potentially burning myself, and I can't find any lye-free soaps because from my understanding and what I've researched, they don't exist...
Soap is something I would love to do, though.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

There are lye free soap recipes out there, plenty on Pinterest!

Disposable coffee filters or the metal ones.


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

You are correct, soap isn't soap if it doesn't have lye in it. But honestly, making lye soap isn't at scary as it sounds, and once you get the hang of it, it's a great way to use up your goat milk, if you have any left. 

If you aren't interested in that, and you pass on the lotion, there is always cheese.  In any case, wishing you the best in finding some decent recipes for your goat milk. 

Edited to add: Deerbunnyfarm is correct, but those recipes are usually for melt and pour soap. I'm not sure if there is a way to add goat milk to a recipe like that, but there could be.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

LaurelFields said:


> Like disposable coffee filters? I was hoping to get something that I could wash and reuse, but coffee filters could be an easy alternative to start out with!
> 
> The problem with soap is lye. I don't like the idea of potentially burning myself, and I can't find any lye-free soaps because from my understanding and what I've researched, they don't exist...
> Soap is something I would love to do, though.


Yes, the round ones without the seam work the best. They are cheap, and you don't have to bother washing them.

I will give you one question. Do you cook? Quite frankly, hot oil will do more damage than the lye. If you are comfortable cooking, you should be comfortable working with lye. 
I have splashed it on my foot, on my face and on my arms countless times. It really sucks if it gets in to an open cut. Burns like crazy. But other than that I had a few red marks from some of those splashes. That's about it. When it splashed on my face I had a red spot for two days and it was sensitive to touch. However if the same happened with hot oil I would have a nasty blister and the skin would come off completely. 
I do like to cook and bake and I get a lot more burns from that than I ever did from making soap.

Anyway if you decide to give making soap a try and will need some help, feel free to PM me. I don't mind helping you.
Here are some of my soaps.


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## LaurelFields (May 2, 2016)

And soap would never mold, correct? Well, that already sounds like an easier time than lotion. 
I do a little baking, but mainly just breads and I have very long oven mitts because I'm scared to burn myself, so I've never actually had hot oil touch me. Haha. But just hearing that it isn't as bad as it sounds already makes me feel better!

Wow... that is a lot of soap. I'll definitely PM you sometime if I have questions... And need help finding recipes. Haha.


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

A little bonus on goat milk soap is that you likely won't need lotion anymore!
I use my goat milk soap as shampoo, in laundry detergent, dish soap, for shaving... everything! I'd probably brush my teeth with it if weren't for the taste! Lol. I've found that I almost never need lotion anymore since sticking to goat milk soap exclusively. I may occasionally rub a bit of shea butter on but that's it!

The soap is not hard to make. About as hard as whipping up a batch of cookie dough. You just need a good recipe and a digital scale for accuracy. 

Have fun milking your goat! That zing-zing sound of milk hitting the pail, that warm flank, her happily crunching her grain... ah, everything else disappears and tis bliss!


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Soap *can* mold, but I've never had it happen. Probably because I don't use fresh vegetables or fruits, or anything else besides oils, butters, goat milk, and lye. If you nail down a good base recipe that your family likes, you can make plenty of soap to last you a while each time, with minimal effort.

There is cold process and hot process methods that I know of. I use hot process and can make a month's worth of soap in the crock pot within a couple of hours.


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## LaurelFields (May 2, 2016)

Now I'm even more excited to start milking her! I am definitely looking forward to that peaceful bliss of being able to sit and not think about anything but making her put her leg down. She's a FF and has never been milked before, so every time I touch her udder, she lifts up her leg.

Do you guys have any good recipes I could use? I have a book with soap making recipes in it, but those weren't as easy as putting everything in a crock pot.
And if I make soap, do I have to pasteurize the milk first?


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

LaurelFields said:


> And soap would never mold, correct? Well, that already sounds like an easier time than lotion.
> I do a little baking, but mainly just breads and I have very long oven mitts because I'm scared to burn myself, so I've never actually had hot oil touch me. Haha. But just hearing that it isn't as bad as it sounds already makes me feel better!
> 
> Wow... that is a lot of soap. I'll definitely PM you sometime if I have questions... And need help finding recipes. Haha.


Well, soap will not mold, because the pH will not allow it. However it can go bad if you use oils with a short shelf life. Also some people like to experiment and add fruit/plant/vegetable purees, which may make it go bad pretty quick. Especially with high superfat. (Extra oil that doesn't react with the lye.)
I would advice you to either make your own recipe, or get a recipe from someone that knows how to make soap. There is a lot of very bad recipes online, and since you haven't made soap yet, you may have a hard time recognizing which are good and which are not. I'm speaking from my own experience. My first two or three batches were terrible, because I followed recipes I found online. 
I have written a step by step instructions for my friend and saved it. So if you want it, just let me know I will PM it to you. 
It goes in to details, including all the tools you will need and all the ingredients + places to buy them. 
I just have to warn you, making soap is very addictive! 
On the other hand you may become the most popular family member/friend, because if you don't decide to start selling it, you will be giving it away to everyone.


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

LaurelFields said:


> Now I'm even more excited to start milking her! I am definitely looking forward to that peaceful bliss of being able to sit and not think about anything but making her put her leg down. She's a FF and has never been milked before, so every time I touch her udder, she lifts up her leg.
> 
> Do you guys have any good recipes I could use? I have a book with soap making recipes in it, but those weren't as easy as putting everything in a crock pot.
> And if I make soap, do I have to pasteurize the milk first?


My girl does the same thing--that leg is my struggle this week! She's also a FF and this is our first week of milking.

I don't know if mine is a good recipe yet, but I like it. But having read Petra's post, I'm wondering if it's a good one. I would wait for her to share one. These are the instructions I use for hot process soap making, but I don't use the recipe. I would think you can use any recipe with this method, just follow the directions and make sure it's the proper size for your crockpot (size it up or down, and make sure to run it through a lye calculator to recalculate the lye and liquid amounts).


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Homemade soap makes an awesome gift! A bar with some jute twine and a silk flower makes an adorable hostess gift. A basket of soaps is my go-to for thank you, birthday, get-well, ANY occasion gifts. Both genders like soap. I just gave this (threw in some cajeta and lip balm) to a man I'd never met who had gifted me some guinea fowl keets. Soap is always appreciated.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

KristiStone said:


> My girl does the same thing--that leg is my struggle this week! She's also a FF and this is our first week of milking.
> 
> I don't know if mine is a good recipe yet, but I like it. But having read Petra's post, I'm wondering if it's a good one. I would wait for her to share one. These are the instructions I use for hot process soap making, but I don't use the recipe. I would think you can use any recipe with this method, just follow the directions and make sure it's the proper size for your crockpot (size it up or down, and make sure to run it through a lye calculator to recalculate the lye and liquid amounts).


I don't know if you want to share your recipe for public. Either post it here or PM it to me if you like. I can check it for you to see if there is anything that could be improved. My guess is, it is a good one since you like it. 

As far as posting recipe here, feel free to give me a list of oils that you have on hand or would like to use, and I can put one together for you.

Also let me know if you prefer hot process or cold process. 
I make both. Both have pros and cons.
Cold process is prettier and takes less time to make. There is no cooking time. You just mix, pour in to a mold and let it sit until the next day. It take longer to get it out of the mold, and longer to cure and you cannot choose your superfat, since it will be a mixture of oils that you put in.
Hot process can be used within two or three days. It does need to cure, but the saponification happens during the cooking time, so even though it will be soft it can be used safely. (The curing process is done once the soap stops loosing weight.) You can pick what you superfat with, those oils can be added after the cooking is done, so you know exactly what will stay in your soap. I prefer to use noncomedogenic oils, to make sure my soap doesn't clog pores, since I like to use it on my face too. I personally like to use half shae butter and half sweet almond oil. 
When I make hot process I have it out of the mold and cut as soon as it cools off. So I can easily do 2 or 3 batches a day. It's nice when you have a market coming up and not enough soap.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

How do you calculate a recipe like that?? I've seriously been working on finding recipes and such for the past two hours... Is there a simple way to do it? I would love a pm with a recipe!! 

I have sunflower oil, olive oil, and coconut oil already and want to start with cold process. So you always add the same amount of oil/milk/lye even doing different fragrances and essential oils? 

This soap making stuff feels so complicated, but then again so did just keeping the goats alive at first.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

I'd love a recipe too! I've been afraid of using lye, but after your description I think I would be fine


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

LaurelFields I sent you a PM. Actually two. I couldn't fit it all in one.



deerbunnyfarm said:


> How do you calculate a recipe like that?? I've seriously been working on finding recipes and such for the past two hours... Is there a simple way to do it? I would love a pm with a recipe!!
> 
> I have sunflower oil, olive oil, and coconut oil already and want to start with cold process. So you always add the same amount of oil/milk/lye even doing different fragrances and essential oils?
> 
> This soap making stuff feels so complicated, but then again so did just keeping the goats alive at first.


Well first of all you have to know some simple rules for certain oils. For example, castor oil is wonderful for extra bubbles, but if you use too much of it it will make the soap sticky. So even if you enter it in the lye calculator and the recipe looks amazing, the outcome would be disapointing. Coconut oil makes hard bubbly soap, it is also very drying, so if you use too much of it, your soap will be drying.
Too much shae butter would give the soap a strange drag, doesn't feel nice if you use too much of it. Some people like it, but I guess some people tolerate more than others. I like nice creamy soap, that doesn't dry out my skin, but doesn't leave any weird feel either.
There are also oils that will cause your soap to go bad if you use too much. Canola is a good example. There is too many to list. That's why it would be easier if I knew what oils you have available, so I can make a decent recipe.
Do you know how to use lye calculator? 
I am assuming you at least have some experience in making soap, so I am not going to PM you the very detailed step by step instructions that I barely managed to fit in to two PMs.
I have a lot of different recipes. This one is a very easy one. This is a very nice soap, but it takes forever to get hard enough to cut if you don't force gel. 
So this will have to be done CPOP (cold process, oven process) or HP (hot process). You can make it CP, but you will need a lot of patience. 
This recipe is what I had on hand. I will post another one with the oils you have. I would strongly recommend to get some castor oil though. You will like the soap so much more.

Almost forgot, no you don't always add the same amount. You enter all the oils in to the lye calculator and it will give you the exact amount of water and lye you need. Since you are working with milk, you swap the entire amount of water for milk.
Do not forget to freeze your milk, or you will scorch it. If you need more details on how to work with it, please ask.

The fragrance and essential oils can be tricky. Until you know more about them, try to use the ones that you know behave well. Some will accelerate the trace so much you will end up with a hard blob before you get it in to the mold. Lavender behaves nice. So does spearmint, or peppermint. Try those first.
I personally do not use fragrance oils. I have a very sensitive skin, so I do not add any synthetics. Even the colors in my soap are all natural. No micas.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

OK, here is the recipe with sunflower, olive and coconut oils.
I have to warn you, this is not a good beginner recipe. It can be done, but it is going to take a very long time to harden and several months to cure. Eventually it will be a pretty hard soap, but because it has a very small percentage of hard oils, it is going to take patience and a lot of it. It will not have a lot of bubbles, but it will be a nice soap once it is done.
If I were you I would add some lard or tallow and some castor oil. It would be a lot easier to work with.
I'm adding a recipe with those. It would be a lot easier to make and it would have a lot better lather too.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Wow thanks!! Did you enter these into a website? Do you have a link?

I've never made soap before, I have yet to have any milk. Lol. But I've been watching lots of YouTube videos!! And slowly starting to collect different oils. I had read online that Sweet almond oil is another one to get, and that shea butter is good for adding after the saponification... I'll definitely get some castor oil, I might actually have some around here somewhere... 

Thanks so much, very informative!!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Oh, I have another question...

For any soap recipe, if using goat milk can you just substitute the water with it or so you need to alter the recipe to account for the milk?


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Ok so I'm looking at my recipes, and I have a few that I use depending on what I have on hand. If my friend is with me, we sometimes will try a recipe using lard or sheep tallow, whatever she brings for us to try. Otherwise, I just use something similar to the following recipe, because these are the items I usually have on hand.

Here's the one I'd most likely use
Avocado oil, 3.5 oz
Castor oil, 3.5 oz
Coconut Oil, 11 oz
Olive Oil, 12 oz
Shea Butter, 2 oz
Lye - 4.44-4.58 oz (depends on how superfatted I want it)
10 oz goat milk
1 oz essential oil for fragrance
clay or powder for coloring (depends on what color I'm looking for)
Makes a 2lb batch
32 oz total

Here's a pic of lemongrass that I used this recipe for. I used annatto seed powder for coloring.









And here's some of the other soaps I've made lately. Fragrances are grapefruit mango, blackberry grapefruit, lemongrass, and orange jasmine. All have turned out nice. The grapefruit ones were made with lard and the orange jasmine was made with sheep tallow, but those aren't really my base recipe.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I've not found coffee filters that work well. We buy the box of Schwartz Filter Clean filters (100 per pack). Then we use scissors and cut the filters into 4 equal pieces. That gives us 400 filters for less than $8 (actually, I got them for $4.50 at a local supplier). The quarters fit perfectly on a smaller stainless filter funnel like the one at the top of the page in this link: http://www.shenandoahhomesteadsupply.com/?page_id=11

I've never made lotion, but it sounds groovy. If you do decide to do it, it sounds like little bottles are the way to go so they get used up before it spoils.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

deerbunnyfarm said:


> Oh, I have another question...
> 
> For any soap recipe, if using goat milk can you just substitute the water with it or so you need to alter the recipe to account for the milk?


My understanding is that you do need to alter the recipe a bit if you swap water for milk or vice versa. The reaction between the lye and the fat will be changed by added (or removed) fat of the milk. Adding fragrance oils can also change things up by speeding up the reaction too much.

I'm not good enough to make adjustments on my own, so I stick to milk recipes for now. Maybe I'll get braver as my understanding of the science grows. There is a calculator you can use to calculate needed amounts of particular fats vs particular amounts of lye, but I find it a bit overwhelming to decipher. Here's a website that explains some of the different calculators and links to them: http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/lye-calculator.html


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

groovyoldlady said:


> My understanding is that you do need to alter the recipe a bit if you swap water for milk or vice versa. The reaction between the lye and the fat will be changed by added (or removed) fat of the milk. Adding fragrance oils can also change things up by speeding up the reaction too much.


Ok, I've been admittedly notorious for wrong answers today, but I'll add my thoughts on the changing out goat milk for water and vice-versa. This could just be the lye calculator that I use, but there is a little bit of 'play' in how much lye you use for superfatting. So, for me, I don't worry too much about the swapping out. As a matter of fact, it just calculates for 'liquid' and not necessarily milk vs. water vs. tea, or whatever. If you aren't too concerned about exact levels of superfatting, it could still work if you swapped out 10 oz of water with 10 oz of milk or the other way around. Again, it could depend on the lye calc you use. I use this one:
https://www.thesage.com/calcs/LyeCalc.html

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this, though. This hasn't been my day so far. lol


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

This is an awesome thread! Thank you to each person for sharing your experience and "secrets"! I made soap a few years ago...actually before I got my goats...but now I have goats but no kitchen! Boo-Hiss! I do have a crock pot, however, so maybe I can try that method when I get a little extra milk. Thanks again for all the great sharing!!!


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

deerbunnyfarm said:


> Wow thanks!! Did you enter these into a website? Do you have a link?
> Yes! SoapCalc is great. You can formulate your own recipes.
> Here is a link: http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
> 
> ...


You're welcome.  Yes, sweet almond oil is lovely for your skin. I add it to my lotion too and love it. Just don't use a lot of it in a soap. I personally don't go over 8%. Stay under 10% on castor.



deerbunnyfarm said:


> Oh, I have another question...
> 
> For any soap recipe, if using goat milk can you just substitute the water with it or so you need to alter the recipe to account for the milk?


No need to alter. The fat in the milk is not significant enough to worry about it. It just means you will have a slightely more superfat in your soap. Generally it is used 100% in place of water. Some people prefer to do a water discount and add the rest in milk after the trace. I like the whole amout of fluid to be milk. I also do not like to water discount, because the soap heats up more. If you want to keep the color light it works a lot nicer with 38%.



KristiStone said:


> Ok so I'm looking at my recipes, and I have a few that I use depending on what I have on hand. If my friend is with me, we sometimes will try a recipe using lard or sheep tallow, whatever she brings for us to try. Otherwise, I just use something similar to the following recipe, because these are the items I usually have on hand.
> 
> Here's the one I'd most likely use
> Avocado oil, 3.5 oz
> ...


Your soaps look lovely! Great job. I like your recipe, but it would be a little too drying for my skin. I like more moisturizing soap. I would replace some of the coconut oil for tallow. It would make creamier and milder soap.
By all means keep making it the way you do if it is working for you. Just because something different works for me it doesn't make it better.
However if you want to try it with my adjustment, here is the way I would do it. 
I like clays too. Kaolin clay is great for sensitive skin and it helps to anchor the scent too. 
Stay away from betonite clay, it is drying and they recently found elevated levels of lead in some batches. 
The honey will make the soap more bubbly. It will heat it up so adding after cook is best. In CP after trace and it has to go in to the refrigerator right after you pour, or it may crack.
I like lemon grass EO! I made some blended with tea tree EO. It turned out nicely. Have you tried Litsea Cubeba? If you like lemon grass you will like it! It is a little sweeter, behaves great and holds very well. Also helps keep mosquitoes away.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

groovyoldlady said:


> My understanding is that you do need to alter the recipe a bit if you swap water for milk or vice versa. The reaction between the lye and the fat will be changed by added (or removed) fat of the milk. Adding fragrance oils can also change things up by speeding up the reaction too much.
> 
> I'm not good enough to make adjustments on my own, so I stick to milk recipes for now. Maybe I'll get braver as my understanding of the science grows. There is a calculator you can use to calculate needed amounts of particular fats vs particular amounts of lye, but I find it a bit overwhelming to decipher. Here's a website that explains some of the different calculators and links to them: http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/lye-calculator.html


Try SoapCalc. It's pretty easy to use. It also gives you an idea what your soap will be like. You can safely substitute the water with milk. Just make sure it is a regular milk. I know some people that tried using the evaporated milk and it turned in to a very thick custard-like thing as they added lye, because the fat in milk saponified before they had the chance to add it in to the oil. Using regular frozen, raw milk is pretty easy. I love that I don't have to deal with fumes or wait for it to cool off, like I would with water.
You are correct on the fragrance oils, also some essential oils act crazy. It is important to buy good quality EOs or FOs. And than if you know it acts weird in CP, it's safer to make the soap HP and add it after the trace. Or learn to work with it.
For example I love ylang ylang EO, but it accelerates the trace so much that I have to start pouring in super thin trace and by the time I am finishing pouring I have to use spoon to get the last globs out. I don't even attempt using individual molds or playing with some pretty swirls.
The better quality suppliers usually have it listed in the description for people to know how it behaves. 
NDA have customer reviews by each oil, so you get a pretty good idea what to expect.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

OK so, who's going to make me some Anise soap with vitamin E????


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## LaurelFields (May 2, 2016)

There is so much learning on this thread, I love it! But it can be a little overwhelming, haha.

I will be going to pick up some supplies that I need, and then I'll be giving soap making a try!  Thanks for the recipe and all the help, everyone!


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Thanks Petra! I agree with you about the tallow---my favorite soap is the one with the sheep tallow, but since I don't always stock it, I don't get to make those batches much. Thanks for the rework of the recipe--I'm printing your post so I can remember your recommendations.

Also, thank you for complimenting my soaps. I'm pretty new at soapmaking (just a few batches under my belt), so it means a lot coming from a very experienced soapmaker.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

KristiStone said:


> Thanks Petra! I agree with you about the tallow---my favorite soap is the one with the sheep tallow, but since I don't always stock it, I don't get to make those batches much. Thanks for the rework of the recipe--I'm printing your post so I can remember your recommendations.
> 
> Also, thank you for complimenting my soaps. I'm pretty new at soapmaking (just a few batches under my belt), so it means a lot coming from a very experienced soapmaker.


You're very welcome. Glad I can help. I don't know if I'd call myself very experienced; I just know a few things about soap making. 
You can also use lard instead of tallow. It's pretty cheap in Walmart. 
You'd have to adjust the values a little, can't just swap for tallow. It's pretty close.
You will be able to smell it in the soap right after you make it, but it will be completely gone by the time it cures.
Here I entered it for you. I try not to go above 15 on the cleansing # or it really dries out my skin. If you want a mild soap you can make it a lot less. I wouldn't go above 2 for baby skin. 
I know it sounds confusing, but for example 100% lard soap has cleansing at 0. It still washes nicely. It will not remove the natural oils your skin produces though. (The more of the natural oils you remove, the harder your skin tries to replace them. Something to be careful about if someone has oily skin. The lower cleansing # is better.)
For the conditioning usually around 60 are very nice bars. My to go to recipe is at 58, but I use 7% superfat, so it makes up for it.
I prefer not to go under 35 on the hardness. I have a few at 31, they are softer, but still very nice. If you use a lot of olive oil it will show as a soft bar, but it just needs to cure longer. Once cured it is actually pretty hard bar.
I prefer softer and more conditioning bar, than hard, bubbly and drying. My skin is very sensitive.
So look at those numbers more for having an idea of what you are making than relying on them. They can be misleading. It took me about 2 years of playing with different recipes before I finally started to have an idea what kind of soap will I get. Until than I tried to make a lot of small batches to get a feel for what the outcome will be. 
I didn't have anyone to give me advice when I started, so I made a lot of OK soap; still usable, but nothing great, and several boxes of "rebatch later soap" that was awful, lol.
If you decide to spend more time on making soap, soaper's choice is a good supplier. You will save a lot of money if you buy in bigger batches. 
Essential Depot has a very good price on lye, especially if you buy a lot at one time. (Just stay away from their essential oils. They are not very good. I have two full bottles I have no idea what to do with. I don't even want them. Waste of money!)
New Direction Aromatics is my "window shopping site". I buy all my essential oils there, but I go there a lot even if I am not planning to buy, just to make myself wish lists. I like to read all the customer reviews. You get a pretty good idea if the scent is true to what you are supposed to get, how it behaves in soap, how well it lasts and what the therapeutic properties are.
I am so addicted to buying essential oils. I have a full box of them and I NEED MORE!


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Thank you so much for all of the pointers! 

I recently bought something like 8lb of powder lye and 7lb of shea butter. I would have never bought this much, but my friend (whom I taught to make soap) thought this would be a good idea, so now I've got to get on it and use it all up, ha ha. Your advice has come at a great time! Thanks again!


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

KristiStone said:


> Thank you so much for all of the pointers!
> 
> I recently bought something like 8lb of powder lye and 7lb of shea butter. I would have never bought this much, but my friend (whom I taught to make soap) thought this would be a good idea, so now I've got to get on it and use it all up, ha ha. Your advice has come at a great time! Thanks again!


You're welcome. 
Yea, that was a good idea. I always buy in bulk.


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## Petra490 (May 23, 2016)

Just thought I'd give you ladies a heads up. 
Just made some HP litsea cubeba soap. It works great for repelling biting insect. We had so much rain here, the biting flies and mosquitoes are awful. I have been using the soap for 3 days in a row. Not getting bitten at all and I spend a lot of time outside. I added the essential oil after the soap was cooked, just before I put it in the molds, and the superfat was at 7%. It scent is pretty strong, but pleasant. Definitely nicer than bug spray. 
So if you are getting ready to make a new batch, maybe try this.


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