Making Natural Milk Soap by Casey Makela

Author:Casey Makela
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 1999-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Add the Lye to the Milk

1. Wearing safety glasses and gloves, measure the lye into a 16-ounce glass measuring cup, using a digital scale for accuracy.

2. Very slowly pour the lye into the cold milk in the ice-water bath, stirring constantly with a heavy-duty plastic or stainless-steel spoon.

Caution: This pouring process should take no less than 15 minutes. It’s very important to introduce the lye slowly into the milk so that the lye does not reach extreme temperatures and react with the milk, causing the milk to burn.

3. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of the lye/milk mixture constantly, taking care not to let the temperature fall below 80°F (27°C). You want to keep the mixture cool enough to prevent the milk from scorching, but warm enough to prevent the milk and lye from saponifying. Saponification occurs between the milk and the lye at this temperature because there is enough fat in the milk to cause this action. The two main mistakes you might make at this point are allowing the lye/milk mixture to get too cool and letting it sit too long before combining it with the oils. Both of these scenarios could cause the mixture to congeal into a noxious and useless custard-textured mass that would need to be scooped out of the pan instead of poured. So guard the temperature and keep stirring. Keep the temperature of the mixture right at 80°F, and remove the lye/milk mixture from the ice-water bath as soon as the lye and milk are combined. You will notice that the milk turns a bright yellow once the lye has been successfully combined with the milk.

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