Teach Soap

I had one really bad batch of milk soap (no honey added), and since then have learned. Here's what I do now, based on suggestions I learned from other soapers in this forum.

1. Freeze the milk into cubes in an ice tray.
2. Mix the lye into WATER for 1/3 the amount of liquid. Make sure it's all dissolved.
3. Then dump in the ice cubes. Let them cool for a bit first. The lye's hot enough to melt them, but not hot enough to start turning them dark colors.
4. Add to room-temperature oils. The sugars in the milk will be enough to cause the chemical reaction that warms it all up to soapmaking temperatures.
5. Add a wee bit of HOT water to the honey to get the honey thinner and dissolved. Don't bother taking this amount from the regular water amount. The soap will take longer to cure, but that will just make it more mild, which is what you're going for, especially going to all the trouble of making milk-and-honey soap.
6. Add the thinned honey to the soap at trace, stirring fairly vigorously as you add it, so it doesn't congeal and solidify into a lump at the bottom of the pot. A stick blender is very helpful here.
7. Let things cool to thick trace before pouring into the mold(s).

I've never insulated a mold, but then again, my molds are all wooden ones anyway. Even so, I've never had a batch gel on me, overheat, or go volcanic.

I would not mix the lye into water for 1/3 the amount of liquid recommended in soap calc. You need minimum water to dissolve the lye. The strongest lye solution that I make is 40%. Then you can add the rest as your milk.

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

I make a soap that uses goat milk, dark honey and ground oatmeal. I freeze the GM in ice cube trays and sprinkle the lye on slowly while I stir.
and this may be anti "the rules"...but I add the honey to my melted oils. No, it does not dissolve like it would in water, but I stick blend it in - a few quick blasts disperses the honey in the oils into tiny, tiny droplets, right before I add my lye water.
I also gel it with no issues. It is one of my most popular sellers. I also line the mould with bubble wrap to get that fakey but cute honeycomb effect on the outside

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Today I learned, never allow curdling to have the upper hand and be a disaster. I added buttermilk that wasn't room temp to warm oils and heavy curdles thruout. I beat and beat that mixture with my powerful sb. Then I thought, oh, heck, just add the lye water, family won't care if it's mottled. Well, it all smoothed out somehow I added the scent, a floral, no less, and blasted the mixture 3 short times with sb and all creamy. Yay!