Equipment:
To make handmade soap you need a few tools and supplies.
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Food Scale (All of the measurements are in WEIGHT…this is extremely important because your measurements need to be exact)
Recipe:
12 oz coconut oil
15 oz olive oil
13 oz lard
6 oz lye
12 oz goat milk (frozen)
1 oz essential oil of choice for fragrance (optional)
1. In a small pot melt the lard and coconut oil over low heat. Once the lard is melted add the olive oil, remove from the heat and set it aside.
2. Mix your milk and lye. A good thing to remember is that “snow falls on water” so you slowly add the lye to the milk NOT milk to lye. Mixing this up the wrong way can be dangerous so just do it right, k? You can wear rubber gloves and safety goggles in case something happens if you want. I don't want you to be scared, but I do want you to be smart!
3. Carefully stir the lye into the milk until the milk is melted.
4. Transfer your melted oils to the large stainless steel pot and set the pot in the sink.
5. Slowly add the milk/lye to the tallow
6. Take your immersion blender and carefully blend until the soap comes to trace.
*Trace is when the soap thickens to a point that you can "draw" in it and the design stays*
7. If you are using an essential oil for fragrance now is the time to add this. Then blend it again until it comes back to trace.
8. Pour soap into the mold.
A few things to consider:
If you don't have access to goat milk, you can use water instead. The measurements are the same. You don't need to freeze the water.
You want to keep the things cool. That is why you use frozen milk, so that you don't scorch it with the lye. I also like to make sure the tallow is around 120-130 degrees F before I add the milk/lye mixture to it.
Keep some vinegar nearby, it neutralizes lye. Just in case you get some on you.
Cold Process Soap Needs Time to Cure
I leave my soap in the mold for a couple of days. Then I take it out and let it cure for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks I cut it into bars and do what is called a "zap" test. It sounds silly, but you put your tongue on the soap. If it zaps you, its not ready. If nothing happens, its ready to use.
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