How to Make Goat Milk Soap (3 Different Ways!)

Goat milk soap is extremely gentle, nourishing, and decadently creamy. Making it doesn't have to be complicated. Here you will find the perfect goat milk soap recipe - depending on your time and the ingredients you have on hand. Follow my step-by-step instruction to create this beautiful soap!

Jump to:

• Benefits of Goat Milk Soap
• Helpful Tips
• Equipment
• Method 1: Frozen Goat Milk
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Method 2: Powdered Milk
• Method 3: Milk in Oil
• FAQs
• Goat Milk Soap Recipe

Today I'll show you 3 different methods to make your own goat milk soap. By working either with frozen goat milk, powdered goat milk or fresh goat milk, you'll make a beautiful oatmeal, milk & honey soap that everyone will want to get their paws on!

These 3 methods all require the use of lye. If you'd rather make soap using a melt and pour soap base, hop on over to my goat milk soap recipe without lye. It's a great easy way to make soap!

Benefits of Goat Milk Soap

There's been much debate about whether the skin benefits of goat milk are still present after the chemical reaction of soapmaking has taken place. Most reports are experience-based. Goat milk lends itself perfectly as an ingredient in homemade soap and has many skin benefits:

The high fat content in goat milk allows for the soap to gently cleanse sensitive skin without disturbing its natural lipid barrier.

Keeping your skin's lipid barrier healthy is important since that's what helps the skin retain moisture and prevents it from getting too dry.

A lot of folks with dry skin conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis, report that their skin has improved since they started using milk soap.

Lactic acid naturally found in milk can help gently slough off dead skin cells.

Helpful Tips

• Safety First: Always wear protective gloves, goggles and long sleeves when working with lye. Keep lye solution away from kids and pets. Avoid inhaling fumes when dissolving lye and avoid contact with eyes and mouth.
• Be Precise: measure ingredients by weight not by volume
• Keep it Cool: by adding milk you also add extra sugar to your soap. Avoid overheating by keeping oils and lye solution at room temperature when soaping and putting your soap in the freezer after pouring.
• you can buy milk at the grocery store, you can get fresh milk from a local farm or from your own animals, milk powder can be found at health food stores or online
• these recipes work with any kind of milk, like goat's milk, cow's milk, sheep's milk or breast milk

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

Method 1: Frozen Goat Milk

Working with frozen goat milk will allow you to add the maximum amount of goat milk. Since goat milk will be used to prepare the lye solution it involves a few extra steps, but it's worth it!

Ingredients

• goat milk (frozen): 4 oz
• lye (sodium hydroxide): 2.2 oz
• olive oil: 7 oz
• coconut oil: 5 oz
• shea butter: 4 oz
• lavender essential oil: 17 g
• colloidal oatmeal (or ground oatmeal, optional): 1 Tbsp.
• honey (optional): 2 tsp

Instructions

1. pour 4 oz of milk into ice cube tray
2. freeze milk
3. pop frozen milk into a plastic container

4. gear up for safety! put on gloves and goggles! wear long sleeves!
5. weigh lye into a small plastic cup

6. little by little pour lye over the frozen milk while pausing to stir each time until lye is dissolved (the slower you do this the less chance of the milk getting scorched)

7. keep adding lye and stirring until milk is fully liquid
8. set lye milk mixture aside in a safe place
9. to a plastic container add coconut oil and shea butter

10. melt coconut oil and shea butter over low heat in a water bath or in the microwave on 30-second bursts
11. add olive oil to melted coconut oil and shea butter

12. measure out essential oil into a small glass container

13. add lavender essential oil, colloidal oatmeal (or finely ground oatmeal) and honey (not pictured) to warmed oils and combine using a stick blender

14. place soap mold on a cutting board so that you can move it in and out of the freezer
15. let lye mixture and oil come to room temperature (you'll know if neither container feels warm touch)
16. pour the milk lye solution into the base oils

17. stick blend until lye and oils are well combined

18. continue stirring with a spatula until the batter leaves thin trails on top (light trace)

19. pour the soap batter into the soap mold

20. tap the cutting board and soap down to release any air bubbles
21. move soaps into the freezer for at least 3 hours
22. leave them at room temperature for another 48 hours
23. release soaps from mold by tugging on all sides first and then pressing from the bottom
24. cure your soaps in a dry cool place for 4 weeks
25. store in an old shoe box for up to 1 year

Method 2: Powdered Milk

This is by far the easiest way to incorporate goat milk. Powdered milk can be stored easily and can go right into your soap when needed. Easy peasy!

Ingredients

• distilled water: 4 oz
• lye (sodium hydroxide): 2.2 oz
• olive oil: 7 oz
• coconut oil: 5 oz
• shea butter: 4 oz
• goat milk powder: 2 Tbsp.
• lavender essential oil: 17 g
• colloidal oatmeal (or ground oatmeal, optional): 1 Tbsp.
• honey (optional): 2 teaspoon

Instructions

1. gear up for safety! put on gloves and goggles!
2. to a plastic container or stainless steal pitcher add water
3. weigh lye in a small plastic cup
4. slowly while stirring add lye to water
5. when fully dissolved set lye mixture aside
6. to plastic container add coconut oil and shea butter
7. melt coconut oil and shea butter over low heat in a water bath or in the microwave on 30-second bursts
8. add olive oil to the melted coconut oil and shea butter
9. add powdered goat milk and thoroughly mix it in using stick blender
10. measure out essential oil into a small glass container
11. add lavender essential oil, colloidal oatmeal (or finely ground oatmeal) and honey (not pictured) to the warmed oils and combine with a stick blender
12. place your soap mold on a cutting board so that you can move it in and out of the freezer later
13. Let lye mixture and oils come to room temperature - containers don't feel warm to touch
14. pour the milk lye solution into the base oils
15. stick blend until lye and oils are well combined
16. continue stirring with a spatula until the batter leaves thin trails
17. pour the batter into the soap mold
18. tap the cutting board and soap on the counter to release any air bubbles
19. move soaps into the freezer for at least 3 hours
20. then leave them at room temperature for another 48 hours
21. pop soaps from the mold by tugging on all sides first and then pressing from the bottom
22. cure your soaps in a dry cool place for 4 weeks

Method 3: Milk in Oil

This method is similar to the one above in that the goat milk is added later in the soapmaking process only fresh milk this time. Pay special attention to the change in amount of water used to make the lye solution. We'll be making a 45 % lye solution to account for the extra liquid added on later.

Ingredients

• distilled water: 2.7 oz
• lye (sodium hydroxide): 2.2 oz
• olive oil: 7 oz
• coconut oil: 5 oz
• shea butter: 4 oz
• goat milk: 1.3 oz
• lavender essential oil: 17 g
• colloidal oatmeal (or ground oatmeal, optional): 1 Tbsp.
• honey (optional): 2 tsp

Instructions

follow instructions outlined in method 2, except that you'll be adding liquid milk instead of powdered milk oils in step 9.

FAQs