Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sheep's Milk Soap

I've probably mentioned before that I love milk soaps. They're so creamy and comforting, and as the weather turns colder, I find myself reaching for them more often. Coconut milk soaps are wonderful, and I'm a fan of goat's milk and yoghurt soaps, too. But my absolute favourite milk soap at the moment is sheep's milk.



The soaps above were made with my standard olive (50%), coconut (25%), and avocado (25%) recipe using the hot process method. After the cook, I added two tablespoons of sheep's milk powder two three tablespoons of oil to make a slurry. This went into the soap along with a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of wheat germ.

These are definitely going into my Christmas hampers this year!

15 comments:

egassner said...

Ohhh, these sound lovely and sooo smooth

Anonymous said...

There's something really comforting about milk soaps, that's for sure. Are they as good for facial use as I think they are?

gracefruit said...

Thanks, E! :) I made my first milk soaps with sheep's milk. It's lovely stuff.

Teresa, I really prefer salt bars for my face. Have you tried them?

dalene said...

Beautiful! Is that something I can make cold process as well? (I'm still a beginner and I've been too chicken to try hot process yet.)

Joanna Schmidt said...

i love coconut milk - i must try it in my soaps...those DO look comforting :)

gracefruit said...

Dalene, you sure can! Just add the milk slurry at trace, or better yet, put the milk powder in with your oils and stickblend it until it's smooth (before you add the lye water).

Joanna, I used to make a coconut milk soap for sale. It was really popular!

Joanna Schmidt said...

Any suggestions on when to throw it in? I keep reading that "milks" burn.

gracefruit said...

Joanna, is it proper milk or milk powder? I find powders much easier -- just stick blend them into the oils before you add the lye. Proper liquid milks are trickier, but I think coconut isn't too bad. Just use it in place of some or all of the water in your recipe. It will turn orange, but that will fade once the soap cures. I always ended up with tan coconut milk soap.

Heidi said...

Those are beautiful and full of lots of goodies! I love packing my soaps with skin loving ingredients. Milk needs to be on my list more often!

gracefruit said...

Heidi, do try it. It changes the bars quite dramatically. :)

Anonymous said...

I've never tried salt bars yet, but I got one from Joanna recently and will try it really soon!

Anonymous said...

What exactly is slurry?

gracefruit said...

Hi Mocha,
It's a mixture of powder and oil. It's about the same consistency as runny yoghurt.

Unknown said...

hi gracefruit

Can I use sheep milk powder and whey powder etc in M&P soap base? If so, how much would you recommend to include?

gracefruit said...

Hi Julie,

Yes! It should work just fine. You won't need much -- maybe a few grams per kilo of soap base. Make sure you mix the milk powder with a little oil first so that you don't get lumps in your soap.