Teach Soap

Hi all,

I'm posting this for lisa johnson. She's having trouble getting into the forum. Anyway, is anyone else who uses goat's milk in their recipes having trouble coloring the soap?

She can't seem to get a color to stick. Is there a trick to using color & goat's milk? Does goat's milk prevent coloring?

Thanks all.

Is there a specific method to use when coloring your soap using goat's milk?

Thanks. Sorry for the separate post.

There are several methods to incorporate goat's milk soap - some use evaporated milk, powdered, fresh...
If you are using GM and adding it at trace, then it's much less affected by milk coloring, and TD can help greatly.
If you are using milk instead of the water, or in any case mixing it with lye, I don't think you can avoid the color shift all-together.

I've been using full fat goat milk powder which I mix with an ounce of oils and add at trace and I get no color shift whatsoever...

It depends which colors she is using, where they came from, how much is she using per lb. and are they added straight to her oils or are they added at atrace?

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

She's using powdered goat's milk mixed with a little bit of her oils added at trace. She adds the lab colors (BB) at trace also and cannot get the color to take. Comes out grey or very muted.

Goat's milk will mute colors somewhat. If the end result is gray, she's probably not using enough color.

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

okay, thank you soapbuddy, I'll let her know.

You're welcome.

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

My other question would be - is she avoiding gel, because it's a milk soap? I've noticed that labcolors are stronger and truer in gelled soap. They sometimes also continue to develop as ungelled soap cures, so they might get a bit darker in a day or two.

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Are you not supposed to gel goat's milk soap?

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

okay, thank you. I was just wondering because I made a goat's milk soap the other day and let it gel til it got to the sides, then I uncovered it and let it sit for a couple of days in the mold.

Woo Hoo! I am baaack!

Thanks Spotted Cat! So I did actually gel the soaps in the mold but didn't insulate as my house has been over 90 degrees the past few weeks (and over 100 when I made the orange goatsmilk). At least I think it was gel because it got a bit translucent. I would put the soap on the floor, cover with a piece of cardboard, and let it sit for 8 or so hours. Usually after 8 hours, because I added sodium lactate, the batches were barely warm and hard as can be. So I unmold and then let it sit on the counter until next day or two days or whenever my boyfriend got around to cutting (he is better at it than I am).

So I would say they all gelled. But perhaps I am not using enough color (was using 2 tbl of lab or 1 big tsp oxides). Everything is tan. The orange is orange tinged tan. The purple was purple tinted tan. The floral was just tan. Only the brick oxide and the cocoa powder worked for me.

So maybe more color, maybe insulation?

I would say you need more color then. You don't want to over insulate. That can make your soap overheat and crack or separate.

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

Thanks soapbuddy. What is the max amount of lab colors I can use for a 45 oz (oil weight) batch?