You guys, I love making soap. There is just something so fulfilling about taking a bunch of ingredients that range from dangerous (lye), greasy – the kind of thing you use soap to clean! (oil), and kind of random, and making a good smelling, skin nourishing bar of soap out of it.
I remember the first time I used goat milk soap to wash my hands. Up until then, I had used some run of the mill soap like Ivory or something, which is really a detergent bar that leaves your hands kind of dry. I mean, try using ivory to soap up your legs for shaving! Doesn’t work, because it doesn’t attract moisture.
So imagine my shock when I grab that goat milk soap for the first time, wash my hands, and – what in the world?! My hands were soft when I was done!
That was about 8 years ago, and I kid you not – I haven’t bought another kind of soap since.
Goat milk attracts moisture to the skin, and helps soften it.
It’s. So. Cool!
In this bar of soap, we also have oatmeal, which is famous for correcting the ph of itchy, inflamed skin, and also helps moisturize and gently cleanse. My mom used to make us take oatmeal baths when we got poison ivy as kids.
So goat milk soap with oatmeal is kind of a match made in heaven.
The oatmeal gives it the same kind of exfoliating quality of the coffee scrub soap as well.
And of course, we added lavender, the swiss army knife of essential oils to not only make this soap smell amazing, but to lend its antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, benefits as well. Lavender helps support the skin agains acne, wrinkles, psoriasis, and other inflammatory conditions.
These are all the reasons why I wanted to share this oatmeal lavender goat milk soap with you – because you’ll love it!
Oatmeal Lavender Goat milk Soap
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. lye
- 6 oz. ice cold goat milk
- 4 oz. coconut oil
- 4 oz. olive oil
- 8 oz. vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup oatmeal (preferably colloidal oatmeal but any oatmeal will do)
- 1/2 oz. lavender essential oil
Instructions:
- Measure out your ingredients carefully. I highly recommend not opening your lye until you’re ready to measure, and immediately mix it in with your goat milk – especially if you live in a humid area where your lye will absorb moisture and stick to, or lump up in your measuring device.
- In a well ventilated place – preferably outside, pour goat milk into a large, non-reactive bowl – either glass or high-quality stainless steel.
- sprinkle lye granules on top of milk, and stir with a non-reactive spoon or spatula until lye is dissolved.
- Let mixture site and cool until it reaches about 100 degrees.
- In the mean time, melt oil, and cool to 100 degrees. I like to use an instant infrared thermometer, but a candy thermometer will work as well.
- When the temperatures match, gently pour the oil into the milk/lye mixture.
- Mix with an immersion blender for 5-15 minutes until your soap mixture reaches a trace. If you’re not sure what a trace is, read this article with descriptive pictures.
- Stir in oatmeal and essential oils and mix well.
- Pour soap mixture into a prepared mold. The mold used for the soap in these pictures was a plastic half-log mold from Hobby Lobby, making six, five ounce bars.
- Carefully move your full mold to a place where it can sit undisturbed for at least 24 hours.
- Cover with a cardboard or plastic box, and then with a towel or blanket to insulate.
- After 24-48 hours, you can remove your soap from the molds
- Place soap back in a place where it won’t be disturbed, and let cure for at least three weeks before using to complete the saponification process, sweat, and become harder.
NOTES
The colder your fresh goat milk is when you add it to the lye, the whiter your soap will be, canned goat milk, which I used in the batch pictured, will always result in caramel-colored soap.
Recipes everyone can make!
Nourish your body with ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
Alesia says
I made this soap from goats milk and quick oats and I will say it’s my favorite! I used my immersion blender and made the oats into a powdery flour like meal and it’s truely amazing! Thanks for sharing all you do here for everyone to see!
Like Brown says
OH WOW,,, YOUR LAVENDER GOATS MILK SOAP IS SO LUXURIOUS,,,, NOT TO MENTION SUCH A LOVELY COLOR AND TEXTURE!!! I AM SO APPRECIATIVE OF YOUR ELEGANT COUNTRY STYLE,,, SOFT, HEALTHY ,AND SOPHISTICATED ????????????????
Barbara says
I ???? U e z recipes thanks
Laura Jeffcoat says
Hey Ma’am!
First off, I love your blog and could spend hours reading. THANK YOU!!
If I don’t have access to fresh goats milk, is canned ok? or just use cows milk?
Thank you,
Laura
Elise says
Yes, you can use canned. I’ve also seen goat milk in the refrigerated dairy section.
Gina S. says
I want to try to make this with fresh goat’s milk. I’ve never attempted something like this before and am a little confused about step #4. It says to let mixture sit and cool until it reaches 100 degrees. Am I suppose to heat the milk and lye mixture to a certain degree and then let cool to 100? Thanks
Elise says
When you add the lye to the milk, make sure the milk is ice cold – icy even – because the lye will heat it up, and the milk will likely turn brown and curdle. Sometimes it just turns yellow and stays fairly smooth, but either way, it’ll get HOT, so you’ll then want to let it cool down before finishing the soap.
Ellyse says
I just tried making this and maybe my milk stayed to cold it never really changed temp but i didn’t want to scold it either. And are you suppose to heat the other oils it doesn’t really say but says to get them cool to 100 mine never reached trace even after 15 mins. I poured it in the molds anyway and will hope for it to finsihed tgere.
Ellyse says
They turned out just fine. So excited to use them once they are completely finished!
Elise says
yay! You’re gonna love it!
Laura says
After pouring into the molds how long did yours take to harden? When did you remove them from the mold? Same happened with me, light trace even after 15min, poured in anyways, here 48 hrs later, they have hardened but not completely and still super soft when I “poke” itlaur
Kathleen says
Can I substitute the vegetable oil with another oil or double the coconut and olive? I know that changes the chemistry but I don’t buy veg oil anymore.
Elise says
Yes. More coconut oil will make the your soap harder, more olive will make it softer.
valerie says
hi if you dont want to use vegetable/canola oil but rather a butter like mango or shea? can you and what are the measurements? thanks
Leanne says
This recipe looks great! Are your measurements by fl. oz. or weight?
Christin says
Can your recipe be doubled or tripled exactly?
Mercedes says
Can you add dried lavender buds to the mixture as well?
Elise says
Definitely!
Tammi says
Do you use that much essential oil if you are using Young Living Oils? They are very strong so I wasn’t sure if you counted drops. Also, my goat milk ice cubes and lye temperature didn’t go up very quickly, am I doing something wrong?
Amber Harris says
Love this recipe. Making it now! If I’m doing pigment, should I decrease the amount of base oils I use to account for the oils in the color? Thanks.
Elise says
If it’s oil based color, then probably. With powdered color, no. The only liquid color I’ve used is chlorophyll, and with that, I just add a teaspoon or two after the trace and don’t change any ingredients.
Bryent says
In the notes you say the colder the goats milk is before adding lye the whiter it is. You mentioned that you used canned milk so it was tan. Was it ice cold so it didnt curdle when the lye was added? Does curdling ruin the milk?
Elise says
Yes, there isn’t any way to get around the canned milk being brown, but the milk is mostly likely going to curdle unless you have the patience to slowly add lye to nearly frozen milk over the course of about 15 minutes. It’s not a problem, it’ll qhisk out with your stick blender. 🙂
Wytney A Steelman says
2 questions. 1. Would you advise adding vitamin E? 2. Pros and cons of using lard?
Jamie says
How much does this recipe make ? Can it just be easily doubled or tripled ?
Elise says
Yes, you should be able to multiply the recipe. This recipe makes 1.75 pounds of soap.
Cynthia says
Can you put a link in your article for the soap mold you use? I’ve bought one, but it was too big. Thank you!
Laura Sirak says
hi!
So I read the article about trace (couldn’t find anywhere to post on that one) and saw a part about scent oils make soap harden quicker? Would you recommend not letting it go to a complete trace? Ex: blend together, but not as thick then, add oil (esp if it is a scent oil not essential), then, pour into mold?
Thanks!!
Elise says
I would bring it to a light trace, add the oils, and get it in the molds as quickly as possible. It’ doesn’t always happens, but with some, there’s a chemical reaction that hardens the soap very quickly.
Laura says
Awesome! Thanks!!
Regan Kelly says
Is there something I can substitute for the coconut oil? I’m highly allergic to coconut, but would love to try this recipe. Thanks.
Elise says
Yes, you can substitute any oil, but you’ll want to recalculate the quantity using this soap calculator to make sure you get a nice, mild bar. https://www.brambleberry.com/calculator?calcType=lye
Nina Lewis says
Hi. I am all set to try making soap. But my husband does not think that the lye found in the plumbing department is the lye used to make soap. Is there a specific lye for soap making? Ba
Michele Kuhnly says
If I wanted to leave out the Canola/Veg oil..could I just double up on the coconut or what substitution would you recommend?
Kelda Teasdale says
Hello! I am interested in making this recipe and I am wondering how much or how many bars of soap will this recipe make?
Megan says
Hello, How will using a goat milk base effect this recipe? Thank you
Teresa says
Can I use sunflower oil instead of canola/vegetable??
Brian says
Hi, Are your ingredients weights or volumes?
Tawney says
Hello,
I’m currently making this soap, and I cannot reach trace. I used frozen milk and the lye melted perfectly, but it never got to 100°, my mixture was at 75-80 at most. Could that be my problem?
Julie says
When using goat milk I never let mine get over 80. That way it stays white color.
Moksha Lifestyle says
This soap making is really amazing…keep it up
VedaOils says
You are an inspiration to us!! Thank you for providing the recipe for oatmeal lavender goat milk soap.
Rebecca Roe says
Does the lye turn the goats milk orange all the time.
Kim says
Am I to assume you are heating the milk/lye combination? I’m just going over the recipe and wondering if I am missing something 🤷🏼♀️
Denise says
I just put my soap in the molds however after ten minutes of blending it just did not come to trace. Anxious to see if it will harden. Any ideas as to why it did not trace?
Thank you
Shannon says
Can I swap the lavender for another essential oil? I’ve always dreamed of a patchouli and oatmeal, goats milk bar. And I’m just wondering if you’ve used other oils in the specific recipe before.