As I mentioned in a previous post I made another batch of goats milk soap a few days ago and this time I used the calendula soap recipe from 2013 when I was experimenting (as usual) with trying to produce a yellow soap. I had noticed that a friend had made a batch with the colour I liked so she gave me the recipe and I was quite pleased with the result. The only problem is that it has Carotino oil in it or palm oil which is quite controversial in soap making circles from what I gather.
In the link to Carotino oil it says that oil palms were grown in the plantations in Malaysia in the 1960s and 1970s in an area which has never been an orangutan habitat. Yet some people say they still wouldn't buy it. Would you? I really don't know what to believe. I do know though that it makes yellow soap :-)
I have a mind like a sieve these days so I need to record what I did for future reference. Once again I used frozen goats milk which was broken up and then allowed to get a little slushy before adding the lye very slowly. The container I had the milk in was sitting in ice cubes. I had already cut up the copha and melted it by putting the container in a saucepan of hot water and also didn't heat up the other oils at all. The melted copha wasn't hot when it was added to the other oils and the lye hadn't heated up much at all so I just poured the lye mixture into the oils and stirred slowly then added the fragrance before dividing the mixture. I put one half into a jug to which I added some ultramarine (too much...oops) colour as I am trying to use it up.
Then I brought the two mixtures to trace with the stick blender, poured the blue into the base of the moulds and topped it off with the uncoloured one. After this I put the soap into the fridge for a few hours which is something I haven't done before but seems to be common practice with some soapmakers to stop the mixture from heating up as it has goats milk in it. When it came out of the fridge it looked off-white like in the second photo and as time wore on it became yellow then more yellow ;-)
This was a small batch and filled up one of my tray moulds from Aussie Soap Supplies and three heart shaped soaps. They don't seem to have the thistle mould anymore but the Gothic one I also have is still for sale if anyone is interested. These moulds cost $13 and I bought them when I first started soapmaking as I didn't realise you could use the cheaper silicone ones. They are not flexible so I put mine in the freezer for a little while before unmoulding the soap otherwise you can do damage if you try to bend it too much. They do make a nice shaped though I must say.
As I only made a small batch I will be able to make another one in a few weeks time as I still have a few other experiments to make with aloe vera, etc.
I think goats milk soap gets darker even without the addition of palm oil as this was my last batch the day after it was made....
...and within a few days it looked like this.
If anyone is interested this is the recipe I used. When I made the calendula soap I used calendula infused olive oil and also added calendula petals. This time I simply replaced the water with goats milk.
Goats milk soap with Carotino oil.
175g Rice Bran Oil
175g Carotino Oil
150g Copha
250g Calendula infused Olive Oil
1T Castor Oil
105g Caustic Soda
290g Water (I replaced the water with goats milk)
23g fragrance (I used Patchouli and Lavender Essential Oils)
How about you? Have you made soap lately? If you have do you enjoy the process?
I admire your ceaseless experimentation - no wonder you have to write everything down. I don't think I have see the same soap twice on your blog - always something different going on! I'm afraid I just stick to the basic soap recipe these days, there doesn't seem enough time in the day for anything extra. Gosh - I followed the link to Aussie soap supplies....I could spend a LOT of money there - so many interesting products!
ReplyDeleteMr.HM, one has more time to do these things once retired. Your time will come :-)
DeleteThe soap looks great Chel. You're such a whizz with it now. Mine is coming along - three more weeks and it should be ready.
ReplyDeleteI hope it is a good batch for you, Barb.
DeletePurdy. I especially like the mock bee comb at the end. It really suits the change of colour. :)
ReplyDeleteChris, I used an Easiyo container as a mould for that lot of soap and lined it with bubble wrap.
DeleteYour soaps look so lovely Chel, I like the ones with the flowers on them the best is that the gothic one? Such a great craft to be involved in.
ReplyDeleteNo Sherri, the gothic one is a different one. The flower design and the thistle one are in the same mould.
DeleteNice job! :) Thanks for sharing your recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks Monica.
DeleteI have used sustainable palm oil in one batch of soap, just to see if I could get a harder soap & it worked. I mentioned to someone at work, who also makes soap, that I'd used palm oil & her reaction was such that I've never mentioned it to anyone since & never used it since either, the palm oil didn't make the soap yellow though, it was actually quite white. I usually just stick to Rhonda's recipe for olive oil soap as I give some of it to my daughter for her children, two of whom have eczema & it 's the only soap they can use. I hope to try using calendula infused oil in my next batch.
ReplyDeleteKaren, Carotino oil is yellow as it is from the red palm fruit apparently.
DeleteAre you selling your soap? Surely you cant get that dirty. (Miss me?)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, trust you Lynda! I am still waiting to see a blog post.
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