TwiztidLily
12-06-2013, 02:27 AM
Both oatmeal and goat's milk are known for their skin-loving qualities. Goat's milk adds extra vitamins, alpha-hyroxy acids and moisturizing fat. Oatmeal can be both soothing to the skin, and an excellent natural exfoliator. This recipe uses finely ground oatmeal and powdered goat's milk in a two layered-recipe.
I've been experimenting with palm-free recipes. Palm-free recipes can take a little longer to harden up enough to get out of the mold, but are otherwise just great. The recipe I used made about 4.5 pounds of soap. The oils were:
Olive oil - 19 oz. - 40%
Coconut oil - 14.5 oz. - 30%
Almond oil - 7.2 oz. - 15%
Cocoa butter - 5 oz. - 10%
Castor oil - 2.5 oz. - 5%
In addition to the oils, I used:
Lye - 6.7 oz. - a 6% lye discount
Water - 13.5 oz. - with 3/4 tsp. of salt added before the lye was added
2 oz. of essential or fragrance oil - I used a yummy warm, complex fragrance oil called Amber and Black Lavender.
4 tbs. of ground oatmeal - to the oatmeal layer
1 oz. of powdered goat's milk - to the goat's milk layer
Take your oatmeal - I use just plain oatmeal, not the "quick cook" kind - and grind it in a food processor or spice grinder. How fine you grind it is a personal preference. I like it fine enough to not be big chunks, but still add some natural exfoliation and visual appeal.
I'm using powdered goat's milk in this recipe. Since I'm only adding the goat's milk to the bottom layer, that's the best way to do it. Be sure you stir the powder well to make sure there are no lumps. I generally use about 1.oz of goat's milk for every 8 oz. of water in the recipe (approximating the concentration of fresh goat's milk). Now, I'm only adding the goat's milk to half of the batch - which would be half of the water - or 6.75 oz. That's not quite 8 oz. - but I used a full oz. of goat's milk powder anyway.
Mix your lye solution (with the added salt) and measure and melt your soap making oils. Add the lye to the oils and bring it to a very light trace. Add the fragrance oil and mix just a bit more.
Separate the batch into two equal parts.
Add the goat's milk to one of the half batches. Mix it well and pour it into your mold. Add the oatmeal to the other half batch. Likewise, mix it well and gently pour it onto the bottom goat's milk layer. It should be pretty thick by now...so you shouldn't have to worry about the second layer swirling/disturbing the first layer, but you can always pour onto a spoon or spatula if you need to. While I don't like them in the shower (they just make a mess!), I love to add a layer of whole oats on the top of the soap. It just looks so nice on the finished soap. Sprinkle them on the top of the soap and tamp them down a bit with a rubber spatula.
This batch took about 2 full days to harden up in the mold before I could cut it.
Here's a cutting tip for soaps with botanicals like oatmeal sprinkled on the top: Either pre-score the slices with a knife and then cut...or (as I did with this batch) turn the loaf over, so the blade is cutting through the bottom first. This prevents the cutting blade from dragging any of the oats/botanicals down through the soap and creating grooves.
So...remember that there wasn't much of a color difference between the goat's milk layer and the oatmeal layer when we first mixed the soap?
Look at this freshly cut soap. The goat's milk layer has turned a bit more beige/orange...which is to be expected, and you can just barely see the edges of the soap which are turning brown. This is from the vanilla in the fragrance oil.
9679
Let your soap cure for a few weeks - and then enjoy your oatmeal & goat's milk soap!
I've been experimenting with palm-free recipes. Palm-free recipes can take a little longer to harden up enough to get out of the mold, but are otherwise just great. The recipe I used made about 4.5 pounds of soap. The oils were:
Olive oil - 19 oz. - 40%
Coconut oil - 14.5 oz. - 30%
Almond oil - 7.2 oz. - 15%
Cocoa butter - 5 oz. - 10%
Castor oil - 2.5 oz. - 5%
In addition to the oils, I used:
Lye - 6.7 oz. - a 6% lye discount
Water - 13.5 oz. - with 3/4 tsp. of salt added before the lye was added
2 oz. of essential or fragrance oil - I used a yummy warm, complex fragrance oil called Amber and Black Lavender.
4 tbs. of ground oatmeal - to the oatmeal layer
1 oz. of powdered goat's milk - to the goat's milk layer
Take your oatmeal - I use just plain oatmeal, not the "quick cook" kind - and grind it in a food processor or spice grinder. How fine you grind it is a personal preference. I like it fine enough to not be big chunks, but still add some natural exfoliation and visual appeal.
I'm using powdered goat's milk in this recipe. Since I'm only adding the goat's milk to the bottom layer, that's the best way to do it. Be sure you stir the powder well to make sure there are no lumps. I generally use about 1.oz of goat's milk for every 8 oz. of water in the recipe (approximating the concentration of fresh goat's milk). Now, I'm only adding the goat's milk to half of the batch - which would be half of the water - or 6.75 oz. That's not quite 8 oz. - but I used a full oz. of goat's milk powder anyway.
Mix your lye solution (with the added salt) and measure and melt your soap making oils. Add the lye to the oils and bring it to a very light trace. Add the fragrance oil and mix just a bit more.
Separate the batch into two equal parts.
Add the goat's milk to one of the half batches. Mix it well and pour it into your mold. Add the oatmeal to the other half batch. Likewise, mix it well and gently pour it onto the bottom goat's milk layer. It should be pretty thick by now...so you shouldn't have to worry about the second layer swirling/disturbing the first layer, but you can always pour onto a spoon or spatula if you need to. While I don't like them in the shower (they just make a mess!), I love to add a layer of whole oats on the top of the soap. It just looks so nice on the finished soap. Sprinkle them on the top of the soap and tamp them down a bit with a rubber spatula.
This batch took about 2 full days to harden up in the mold before I could cut it.
Here's a cutting tip for soaps with botanicals like oatmeal sprinkled on the top: Either pre-score the slices with a knife and then cut...or (as I did with this batch) turn the loaf over, so the blade is cutting through the bottom first. This prevents the cutting blade from dragging any of the oats/botanicals down through the soap and creating grooves.
So...remember that there wasn't much of a color difference between the goat's milk layer and the oatmeal layer when we first mixed the soap?
Look at this freshly cut soap. The goat's milk layer has turned a bit more beige/orange...which is to be expected, and you can just barely see the edges of the soap which are turning brown. This is from the vanilla in the fragrance oil.
9679
Let your soap cure for a few weeks - and then enjoy your oatmeal & goat's milk soap!