Teach Soap

Hello everyone! Thank you all for this wonderful wealth of information! It's like having a mentor at your fingertips
I made my very first ever batch of soap today. It was a cold process batch. This is the recipe that I kind of made up/copied from reading here and there.

Castor Oil 70g 6%
Coconut Oil 349g 30%
Olive Oil 686g 59%
Shea Butter 59g 5%
Sodium Lactate 13g 5%
Lemongrass EO 75g
Lye 163g 5%
Raw Jersey Milk 384g (Frozen Cubes)

I own a small raw milk dairy so using raw milk was a no brainier for me. I used the BB blue silicone oval mold, one cute baby cow mold, and one small oatmeal mold for the leftover. The first mistake I made was, I forgot to add the Sodium Lactate in the lye milk mixture. I remembered at trace and threw it in hoping it will still work? Second mistake was forgetting the alcohol spray until it had already been in the freezer for about 10 minutes, hopefully that will still work too? I don't think it traced too quickly, but rather I'm new at this and am super slow. By the time I went to put it in the mold, it was a definite thick pudding consistency. I used stainless steel bowls for mixing and I was worried about the heat scorching my milk proteins, but instead it never heated up. Was this because I used completely frozen cubes of milk? I temped it several times and never got a reading above 83*. The bowl never even felt warm really. Is the lack of a heating phase ok? I could smell the fumes a little so I turned on the exhaust fan I was working under. That worked very well. I'm not sure who is more impatient to unmold, my husband or I. All my dairy customers are clamoring to buy my milk soap. If they only knew how long they will have to wait before I am comfortable even giving a bar of soap away! But my goal is to eventually add milk soap to my list of available products such as, raw milk, farm fresh eggs, and garden produce. I'm sure it will be a while before I feel like I have enough batches under my belt and I see how my soap process out and ages. This recipe was a little more involved than I would like to try next time. Does it look like it will make a decent bar to you experienced folks? Is there a quicker one for me to try after I unmold these? Thanks everyone again for all the great opportunities to learn here and any input or criticism is wholly welcome.
Keri

Sodium Lactate at trace is fine. Lye at trace is still very active. I don't use an alcohol spray. The mixture never heated up because you used frozen milk. The scent from the milk will go away as the soap cures. Personally, I don't go above 20% coconut as anything over that % my skin finds drying. I do a 7-8% superfat no matter whether I use water or milk. I use Sodium Lactate at 1-2% as anything higher makes my soaps crumbly. Did you use a stick blender or a stainless steel whisk?

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I used a stick blender. I had never used one before and realized too late I am too short to work it on my kitchen counter in that big bowl. Next time I will soap on my table that's lower, with a table cloth of course
I was nervous about the lye but it all seemed ok. The vent a hood worked great at taking the fumes out. My kiddos and husband were playing with Legos on the table and said they never smelled a thing. I am glad the SL at trace is ok. I took it out of the freezer after 12 hours and just put it on the counter top. I came into the kitchen to make lunch and busted my husband poking at it so we took it out if the mold around noon today and other than a few air spaces from it being so thick when I glopped it in the mold, it looks great. Released very easily out of all 3 molds I used. A very uniform, beautiful light tan. I think my husband is hooked. He seems fascinated with the process.
Now that I have read more, I see your point about the coconut. I am going to hunt for an easier beginner recipe with maybe just one or two fats to try now that my molds are free
I only have one other scent right now and it is spearmint. So I will try that. thank you so much for the feed back. It is much appreciated. I love learning new things and this is just complicated enough to be a fun adventure!

One more thing
You said you use the SL at 1-2%. Is that of total weight of soap or just a percent of the oils? Thank you again for your advice

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Congratulations on your first batch!

A really simple and good recipe is 80% olive, 15% coconut, 5% castor, superfatted at 7%. It's slower tracing and makes a nice hard bar with lots of bubbles.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!