Teach Soap

Hello all, I was just on the MMS site and you know how they have the lye calcs? Well on the page where you enter your amounts it says that you can use liquids, water, milk, herbal tea, etc. Soooooo I decided to use whole milk because I am doing a CP batch w/ 20 OZ of Olive oil, 10 OZ of palm oil 2 OZ of castor oil and 10 OZ of coconut oil, 2 TBSP. of honey, after trace starts and a patchouli honey fragrance oil. Oh!! 5.7 ounces of lye and 13 Oz of liquid. As soon as I poured the lye into the milk, OMG!!! The solution has turned orange and it looks like the lye didn't completely melt into the liquid. What did I do wrong? Did I just waste 5.7 OZ of lye? I wanted to know if someone could help me before I go any further. All I did so far was add the lye into the milk. Help please!!!!!!!

No. You didn't just waste your lye. Using milk in soap making is common. And in my experience, it will turn orange and smell awful. Just be sure to stir the mixture until you are SURE that the lye has dissolved completely. Then proceed as normal.... Good Luck!

Here's a video link that shoes what each step will look like...
http://video.about.com/candleandsoap/Ma ... t-Milk.htm

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!

What a fantastic link! I tried goatsmilk the way the recipe in the book said and I ended up with this horrid orange paste. I ended up just skipping it. But now I know new ways to do it! Thanks MandyLou!

Ok, I didn't use any of these methods because I wasn't aware of the link before I mixed the lye into the whole molk. besides the fact that it's orange and smells awful I think the milk curdled because it looks like there's curd floating on top!!! Should I try to strain the liquid?

Don't strain the liquid. Add all of it to your oils/butters and stick blend the heck out of it. Depending how hot your lye water and oils were, the orange should tame down to light brown/beige and the ammonia smell will go away as the soap cures.

Next time start with a VERY cold milk.

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

Ok, what temp do you guys think that the lye and oils should be?

I soap at around 110 degrees for almost all of my soaps.

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