SOAP – Basic Castile

Goat Milk Castile Soap

Handmade, Small Batch, Cold Pressed
When goat kids are born in the spring, the milk begins to flow. In fall, milking stops so that females can become pregnant and rest over the winter. We make soap from the early and late milk in the season.
When goat kids are born in the spring, the milk begins to flow. In fall, milking stops so that females can become pregnant and rest over the winter. We make soap from the early and late milk in the season.

Making Cold Pressed, Goat Milk Castile Soap

The first step is to carefully mix the lye and goat milk, making sure that the lye completely dissolves into the milk.

The second step is to blend coconut oil  (heated into a liquid) with olive oil.

When the milk and lye mixture is added to the oil, we pour it through a sieve to be sure that any very tiny bits of lye do not enter the oil.

They are mixed until saponification is well under way, and become soap. The lye completely disappears during the process. It does not remain in the soap at all.

When the mixture firms, it is poured into moulds and seasoned for milling.

Honey Creek Creamery sells premium chèvre goat cheese to restaurants, farmers markets, specialty stores and as an Add-on CSA share at Iowana Farm.
Honey Creek Creamery sells premium chèvre goat cheese to restaurants, farmers markets, specialty stores and as an Add-on CSA share at Iowana Farm.

How do we know there is no lye remaining in the soap?

  1. Because our batches are small, we can see how the lye dissolves into the goat milk, and we strain the mixture as we pour it into the oils.
  2. We carefully watch the temperature of the mixture, looking for telltale signs of when saponification begins, and when it tapers off.  Saponification will continue for a bit into the curing process, so that no lye remains in the soap.
  3. We monitor the Ph of the soap, making sure that it reaches a neutral Ph before we mill.
  4. When we mill the Castile Soap into noodles, we are able to see that all the fragments are the creamy white that is the emblem of goat milk castile soap.
  5. After milling, the soap is cured for 8 weeks before it goes to market.
Castile Goat Milk Soap
Castile Goat Milk Soap

Here it is!

Goat Milk, Castile Soap.

Remember, it can only be called “soap” if it is saponified from nourishing oils with a mixture of lye and liquid. (We use goat milk.) This is why most of the products in the “soap” section of the grocery store are actually called cleansing bars or beauty bars. They are not soap, and cannot be legally sold as soap.