Teach Soap

Hi, all! I made my first batch of goat's milk soap today. All seems well, but something interesting and unexpected happened to my lye solution and I'm curious what it was all about.

I substituted goat's milk 100% for the water. I bought the goat's milk fresh at the grocery store - it wasn't condensed or powdered. I froze the GM first and slowly added my lye flakes, stirring as I went. I initially kept my lye pitcher in an ice bath in the sink because I didn't want the lye solution to get very hot. After a while, though, I took the pitcher out of the ice bath because it was taking a long time for the lye to thaw the GM and the temp was only 51 degrees F. The frozen milk thawed after about 10 minutes of stirring out of the ice bath and stayed a nice, creamy yellow. The lye seemed to be all dissolved, too. The lye solution never got above 100 degrees F, and it was a good fluid, liquid-y consistency.

I set my lye pitcher down for a few minutes while I dealt with my oils. I had them combined and ready, but they were still a bit warm. So, I stirred my oils in the ice bath for a few minutes until they cooled some. When I went back to get my GM-lye solution, it had thickened up to an almost pudding-like consistency. It didn't scorch or change color - it was still pale yellow and the temp was around 95 degrees. I wish I had taken a photo, but I was a bit freaked and wanted to get it into the oils. Once I poured/spooned the lye solution into the oils and began stick blending, everything seemed fine, like a normal batch of soap. My lye solution was at about 94 degrees and my oils right around 100 when I combined them.

The soap seems okay, it's gelling now as I type. What are your thoughts on the thick lye solution? I found an old thread here from last year (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5416) describing something similar, and it seems that the consensus was that low temps possibly contributed to it, and that perhaps the fats in the milk were starting to saponify.

Anyone else experienced this? How can I avoid the pudding lye solution next time? Would getting the GM-lye solution warmer help, or would I just risk burning the milk? I hope the soap will be fine (fingers crossed), but I'd like to avoid this again in the future, as it makes pouring and cleanup more difficult.

Thanks for any insights!

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my

Yup - my GM does that nearly every time. The longer it sits, the thicker it gets. I've never found a problem with it personally.

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

That happened to me using coconut milk. I just made my first goat milk soap the day before yesterday, and it stayed liquid the whole time, but I used condensed goat milk that I diluted with water and froze. It was pretty orange, but lightened up by the time I added it to the oils.

_________________
www.facebook.com/Semplice-Naturals

One way to avoid this is to dissolve the lye in minimum water required, then add the GM at the emulsion stage, before trace.

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

_________________
www.facebook.com/Semplice-Naturals

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

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

No no, I mean half water / half GM to me isn't "GM soap"... for me GM soap = 100% GM, no water...
Don't know why I feel that way, I just got that idea in my head...

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

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

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Thanks for the replies, everybody. I'm sorry I didn't make it back to the forum sooner - we lost power last night.

Soapbuddy, thanks for the tip about using minimum water to dissolve the lye and adding the rest as GM at emulsion. I had thought about doing that, but wanted to try 100% GM. Maybe I will try that next time.

Sounds like having the GM-lye solution thicken up is normal. I was just not expecting it at all. None of the books or articles I had read mentioned it, and of the videos I watched on making GM soap, none of them had the pudding lye. I guess if I want to use milk 100% in place of the water, the thickening up may just be part of the deal sometimes.

The soap seems fine this morning, so I was mostly wondering out of curiosity since I had not seen this phenomenon mentioned before.

Thanks, everyone!

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my

I make my 100% gm soaps just the way you did, jrose...but I've never experienced the lye being pudding-like. I find I don't need to use an ice bath IF I add the lye slowly a bit at a time to the frozen gm and stir..take the temp to keep it at or below 100 degrees, and repeat until all lye is poured in. Also, when I make 100% gm soap, I have all my oils poured or melting as I'm making the lye solution. hth!

Hi, methree!

Thanks for the tips. I did all of those things, too. I added my lye a little bit at a time to my frozen GM, stirred for a bit, and then added some more, stirred, and did that until I had added all of my lye. Things were going so well - the GM stayed white/pale yellow and it was a normal consistency once it melted. I had my oils warmed and combined, too, so they were ready to go. I always get my oils and everything else ready first and my lye second so that I can wait until the last possible second to suit up in my safety gear. Things got interesting when I set the GM/lye aside for just a few minutes while I cooled my oils a smidge in the ice bath - they were still about 10 degrees warmer than I wanted. In that little time, the GM thickened to pudding. It never got above 100, though. I remember it getting just to 100 at one point, and I popped it back in the ice bath. It was about 94 degrees when I put it in my oils. Hopefully, next time my oils will be at a happy temperature and I can add the lye sooner and avoid the pudding phenomenon.

I guess it all worked out okay, though - once I got the lye solution into my oils and stick blended, the soap smoothed out and behaved itself. Today the soap seems fine. I will cut it and check for zap in another day or two.

I was just so surprised that this happened and wondered if this was another one of those weird things that happens only to me!

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my