Teach Soap

And I have one question...follow along and tell me if I am doing things correctly if you will...

I followed the "shockfarms" link that someone had posted in another thread I had asked about lotion in...I came to realize FAST that her recipe seems to be the same as the soap queens recipe on her blog about super easy lotion from scratch with one difference: shock farms uses 1/2 water and 1/2 goat milk in their measures...but still adding to 18 oz....I had been looking at both for so very long now, just trying to learn...and until I started measuring things I never caught on! Silly me...have to do to learn right? I did make a SMALL change...less milk, more water. Take it easy out the gate and all right?

SO...instead of doing that, I bumped down the goat milk to only 3 oz and the water was 15oz (still the 18 total of liquid called for in the recipe). Cool beans, I now have LOTION!!!! It feels wonderful on my skin, I love love love it and my herd helped me make it by contributing the milk

I DID use the phenonip as a preservative, just exactly like the recipe calls for...but then I got to wondering...and here comes the question...is phenonip or germaben II or some other preservative best where milk is concerned?

I looked at the preservative comparison chart on the swiftcraftymonkey blog for a LOOOOONNNNGG time, comparing things and gleaning what I could (because I really do love to learn). I liked the lotion making process, it was fun...but not as fun as the whole soap making scene if you ask me So I would like to be able to make lotion every few months and then have it hang out shelf stable for a while so I can do other things...and still have lotion at the disposal of my dry skin as needed

Any thoughts ya'll? Remember...I have had other "farmer types" that SELL THEIR LOTION AT MARKETS tell me that "stearic acid" is a preservative and such....and they use milk too! So....it's one source I can't guarantee to learn from if I go through them....ya see?

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

Milk has natural proteins and sugars which are harder to preserve. You were wise by using less milk. When milk is concerned, I find paraben based preservatives work better at keeping mold, germs and bacteria at bay.

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

Yeah - I got the feeling a few things on the farmer type video were not quite right...but were very close...

1) I actually temped my mix before I added the preservative - per the soap queen instructions that it be below 140 for the particular preservative I was using (and it was)...

2) I used the stick blender because, to be honest, using a blender blender is re-dunk-u-lous! All that back and forth of product just awaiting major spillage plus the tiny little messy drippage of the back and forth...nah, I took a pass on that chance and used the stick blender - it was pretty easy

3) Even though it is just for us I used GLOVES to be extra sanitary and kept my fingers out of stuff as much as possible - I just have issues, I know...

Lotion is an instant gratification type thing and apparently, I am not that easily amused I need the wait time, the anticipation...it makes it more challenging for me because I am not a good 'wait and see' type...I am a busy body poke at it type...and I like the product, but the process has no mystery like soap does that's for sure!

ETA: CRUD! I mentally wandered there and forgot to ask: Since they (germaben and phenonip) are both parabens and both listed as good at being broad spectrum preservatives...would you consider both to work equally well where milk is concerned? And yes...I went easy on it with the milk...I only had a little left pre-pastuerized and thawed out anyways LOL....

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

A stick blender works best in mixing lotion. A blender or a stand mixer will introduce too many air bubbles into your mix. Siince formulas vary, the only way to know which preservative works better for you is to get it tested. Cindy at The Sage Script Institute does APC testing. It's quite reasonable.

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

I did look that up about the testing a few days ago...I figured I would make a few batches, each with a tad more milk than the next (still keeping the liquid at 18oz though) and then let them set a week UNUSED and then send them in...use, abuse, wait it out, and then do it again after the lotion has had a chance to age a little...and get it's fair share of fingers poked into it as well and such ya know?

Okay...maybe lotion CAN be a fun 'wait and see thing' when I think about it

I really REALLY want to know more about what is lingering in the bottles if you will, the creepy crawly germy stuff...I find that fascinating as well! (Course I do my own fecals on all the critters here - I love to pull out the microscope). I will of course be sending the lotion off for it's testing...I kinda am excited to be doing that part. I love getting results back...you should see me waiting on goat pregnancy tests to be emailed back when that time comes around!

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

I use my stand mixer for lotions and don't have any issue with bubbles... although I only mix on speed 1 though.

Unfortunately I can't find anywhere in Oz to get my lotions tested :/

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

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

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

LOL...I could picture you as some student crazy cougar...you'd just have to play along long enough to get your stuff tested!

Have you written a nice formal letter to the head of the department to ask yet? Or just inquired as to whether or not they offer it?

You should try to con...I mean conVINCE them into it...send them soap as a bribe!

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Well, per the website here - http://www.sagescript.com/microbiology - I would write up a nice, formal sounding letter where in I beg very kindly for:

Aerobic plate count (APC) – enumeration of bacteria present in a sample
Fungal/yeast count (F/YC) – enumeration of fungi (mold) or yeast present in a sample

For of course lotions, creams, etc...

I would then of course expand upon how important it is to have this data for the well-being of my clients and perhaps bring in a few more of my soaping/lotion making colleagues (like a petition...but in a nice asking way, not a demanding protesting way) and get them to state how great it would be for them to have as well.....

I would toss out there the fact they can charge, collect and make $$$money$$$ because it "makes the world go 'round" (to quote Cabaret)...Make sure they know people are willing to pay for it.

I would remind them as a learning institution this is a GOLDEN chance to let students learn something, experience something, etc by testing other peoples experiments (lotions and such)...it's always good to assist teacher typein finding new and creative ways to teach ...

Also, for real, seriously, toss out some free product as a thank you/bonus for their consideration...a little bribery often gets you further than you think (plus, if you have REALLY nice stuff like Coolah does, well, it's a little like advertising as well I suppose - even if they don't do the testing, they MAY return to buy your stuff...at which point you can heckle them AGAIN for testing )

The best part is this: You can use the same letter for EVERY university you contact, just change the info...so you can cover a lot of ground with a little bit of effort. Sure...may take a little bit to get it all put together....but it's basically something you can recycle one university to the next until you get a "yes"

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Making soap one loaf at a time - it's better than bread 'cause soap doesn't have calories!

You can also by a home test kit! Lotioncrafter has one

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

nadalottaranch---thank you for your specific suggestions about approaching the college for the testing. Very helpful!!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts