# Olive oil, goats milk in soap, and tallow questions....



## dvm-mommy (Feb 5, 2009)

Hi all-

I have ventured into soap-making several months ago and have made some nice batches of soap. As I turn towards selling soap (samples to people were a huge hit), I am fiddling with keeping overhead costs low as in ingredients, yet still selling for a reasonable price.

I use a recipe that uses a good proportion of olive oil and was using the extra virgin stuff I get from a Marc's store here in ohio( deep discount store). Then it occurred to me I could use just regular olive oil....what do you all do? It sure is cheaper to use the regular olive oil than the evtra virgin, cold-pressed.

Second question...I use 100% GM as my liquid...I use it all in the beg. when mixing lye into it. I see in some recipes adding the GM at light trace, but then I see water being used to mix with lye at the start of recipe. I want to stay with all goat's milk so I was wondering why I couldn't add half the milk with lye at the start, then add the other half at light trace. Does anyone else do this successfully? I do keep my container in an ice bath while mixing the 2 together at all times. 

And my last question: tallow....we have so much left over beef fat when we get a side of beef...can i just render the fat from all over, or is it just the fat around the organs to be used in soap? 

Thanks! I am sure I will have tons more questions later :biggrin


----------



## Guest (May 6, 2009)

Lori, Iuse the cheapest olive oil I can find... doesn't matter because there is nothing left when it actually goes thru the safonification process
Some people use the goat milk at light trace because if they don't freeze the goat milk or use a cold water bath, the milk proteins will burn when mixed directly with the lye.. I freeze mine so don't have that problem, others like to premix the lye ahead of time so they use water and add the goat milk later ( either right at the start or at trace)
You can use any of the fat, it does not have to be just the fat around the organs
Barbara


----------



## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

There was a news item a few months back about olive oil. Much of what is sold as olive oil is adulterated/blended with corn & cheaper oils, in the interest of crooked profit. As yet, there's no way to test it for sure. So there's little point in paying for the premium stuff.

Tallow: The organ fat is the best, but for soap, fat is pretty much fat. Just put the tallow in your big stockpot, fill with water, boil it well, & let it cool. The impurities will sink, the fat will harden at the top, & you can lift it out in a chunk.

Adding the milk: Whatever works for you, as far as getting it in without the lye scorching it. My first batch (Walmart recipe) was 16 oz of lye, 32 oz of liquid. I wanted to use SOME milk, even tho I was advised not to. mixed the lye w/16 oz of water, got everything well mixed, & added 16 oz GM right before trace. Worked fine.

Tom


----------



## Amanda Lee (Aug 20, 2008)

The cheapest grade of olive oil is just fine for soap. Columbus Foods has good prices on their oils. 
Check supplier sticky for their website.

I freeze my milk and add the the lye to it in a ice water bath. It is just easier for me to do it that way. Everyone does somethings the same but somethings people do differently. It all depends on what works for you and your setup.

I think Vickie mixes her milk in at light trace, check with her.


----------



## ldoran (Nov 6, 2008)

I'm new to soaping too, and I'm starting with a pure castile recipe that only has olive oil and goat's milk. I love castile soap, I'm Italian, and I've got 400 pounds of milk in my freezer, so I was kind-of destined to start there. 

I don't use any water at all, and I add the lye to refrigerator-temp milk (40 - 50 deg, depending on whether it's been out a bit) and I put it in an ice bath. I add the NaOH REALLY slowly to avoid scorching. It takes about 20 minutes for me, but I'm really careful and really new so other people probably have success mixing it a little more quickly ... but I never let the temp get above 115 -- just let it cool down (never below 100) if it starts to go up too high before I sprinkle more lye in.

I read on another soap forum and on several suppliers' websites that using pomace, low-grade olive oil is actually best for soapmaking from a chemical standpoint. It's just a happy coincidence that it's cheaper too. One of the few breaks we get in life, so embrace it. LOL.


----------



## Amanda Lee (Aug 20, 2008)

Lisa, 400lbs of milk!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! Save your self 15 minutes by freezing the amount of milk the recipe calls for in a zip- lock or ice cube trays.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

When I first started out I was lucky, I had a good basic knowledge of SOAPonification before I got started from my grandmother back in the mid 70's so alot of what I read I wasn't that impressed with...the whole taking temp thing or that 27 different oils including very expensive oils could make better soap than the old 60/40 butters to oils.

I was a purist in the beginning, but adding 16 ounces of lye to 32 ounces of frozen milk wan't that big of a deal, batches I didn't take my time with were used for soaps that turned brown or dark tan anyway, ones that I could do it without getting any yellow, would go for lighter soaps. But multiply that by 3 or 4 and melting 48-64 ounces of lye into that much frozen milk something has to give, so I use water, adding warm milk at emulsion. Can you imgaine if it takes 20 minutes to melt in small batches so all your soap isn't tan....how long it would take to do large batches.

I do make one all olive soap, but with not a nickles worth of difference between the sap or acid levels of it and sunflower, hopefully you know it's all about label appeal. I also smack fill it with herbs which in the looffa or the one bar soap you can't then detect the snot you get with all olive recipes. It was one of the giveaways that no all olives were all olives when they started not being snot bars. Adding any amount of Coconut oil or any butter makes a better bar than all oils, especially real olive.

Taking temps, thinking that temps have anything to do with saponification, is just busy work, temps only come into play if you have a super cold soap room, you can get false trace if your soap room temp is cold during the winter, stir through false trace and you are fine.

Your recipes, you labels, how you wrap, your scents all will be tweaked by your market. As you start soaping more and more to fill orders your techniques, your molds, everything has to give...so although I used to be a purist, I can't afford it anymore  Vicki


----------

