Public Recipe

“Classic Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Soap”

Solid Soap · NaOH · 100 g oil load · 5% superfat · 7 views · 0 saves

“Place the frozen milk and water in a heavy-duty plastic or stainless steel bowl. Wearing protective gloves and eyewear, carefully sprinkle a small amount of lye at a time over the frozen milk, stirring well after each addition. The entire process will take several minutes, but working slowly ensures that the milk doesn’t scorch and that the lye completely dissolves. The lye solution does not need to cool before the addition of the oils. Melt the coconut oil and lard or tallow, then add to the olive oil. Add the lye and milk solution to the oils. Using a combination of hand stirring and an immersion blender, stir the soap until it reaches a very light trace. At trace, stir in the honey and water mixture, powdered oats and essential oil, if using, then pour into a prepared mold. If you’d like to prevent gel phase, place the filled mold in your refrigerator for 24 hours. If you’d like the soap to go through gel phase, as I did here, cover the mold lightly with a sheet of wax or freezer paper, then a light dish towel or pillowcase. Peek at the soap every so often “if it starts developing a crack, move it to a cooler location. Soap that’s kept cool and doesn’t go through gel phase will be lighter in color than soaps that do go through gel phase. Keep the soap in the mold for 1 to 2 days, or until it’s easy to remove, then slice it into bars when it’s firm enough not to stick to your cutting tool. Cure on “coated cooling racks or sheets of wax paper about 4 weeks before using.”