Ingredients... Goat Milk

The primary ingredient of all Mossy's soap is fresh, raw, creamy goat milk produced right here on our farm by friendly Nigerian Dairy Goats.  Nigerians are small in stature but produce a goodly amount of milk for their size.  Goat milk has small fat globules making it appear to be naturally homogenized as the small fat molecules do not separate but remain suspended in the cream.  It takes a couple of days to get a good cream line on our milk.  Our goats average 5.6% milk fat.  This fat is what helps the soap produce a lovely, creamy lather and helps clean your skin.

Every soap recipe contains at least 20% goat milk. 

Fresh Goat Milk

Frozen Goat Milk Cubes

Cooled Goat Milk

Immediately after milking the goats, the fresh milk is placed in the refrigerator.  Once it has cooled to about 40 degrees (F), it is then poured into ice cube trays and allowed to freeze for 24 to 48 hours.  Then, the cubes are placed into freezer storage bags until the milk is needed for a batch of soap.

More about our Nigerian Dairy Goats can be found at Faith's Farm - OK.

The Wash Your Hands Giveaway

I've been washing my hands!

Hello!  We all know how busy we are washing our hands.  So, show me the little bits of bar soap you have left.  I'm going to give away a bar of soap a day for the next 24 days. 

Send them to me via:

• Email - mossysmilksoap@gmail.com  Please note, by sending me the image you are granting me the right to republish that image in relation to this giveaway.

or:

• Facebook - Drop your picture on the pinned post.

Rules and guidelines:

1.  The photo does not have to be soap from Mossy's Milk Soapery.  It can be any bar soap.  Liquid soap containers do not qualify.

2.  All entries will roll to the next day.  One picture is one entry.  Identical pictures will only count as one entry.

3.  Different bars at different locations (i.e. sink, shower, tub) increase your chance of winning.

4.  One name will be drawn from the entries each day at 8:30 PM CDT.  Winner will be notified via entry method and be posted on the Facebook page.  A complete list of winners will be published here at the end of the giveaway.

*Give away runs from 8:30 PM CDT April 6, 2020 until 8:30 PM CDT April 30, 2020.  One winner will be drawn each 24 hour period with a total of 24 prizes to be given.   

FAQ - Why did Mossy start making soap?

Why did Mossy begin making soap? 

I began making soap because we had goat milk and it was time for a new project with lots of little projects inside it.

Our little farm has been through a few changes since it's inception.  Part of the reason so much has changed is because I like ideas.  I like starting new projects.  I don't really care if they ever get finished.  I just like getting them started.  What does that have to do with making soap?  You see, it's just one more project that got started.  Only this one was different.

At first, it was just an off shoot of having extra goat milk around.  After the best looking farm employees started producing milk in earnest, I began looking at multiple ways to use it.  Unfortunately, the soap doesn't use a lot so I still have some extra now and again.  (Shameless plug if you are interested in raw goat milk.)  At any rate, the soap making had been brewing in my mind for awhile.  I started watching you tube videos of the cold process soap method.  I bought a few books and pamphlets about making your own soap.  I asked a friend if I could watch her make soap one day.  I researched molds and ingredients.  I created some DIY molds from PVC.  Finally, I ordered ingredients and made my first batch without goat milk.  It was a fail.  Hard as nails and lye heavy.  Sigh.

Many times, a failed project attempt means abandoning the project for an extended time or ever.  Yet, this time it was only a slight distraction.  There was a desire to go ahead and try the goat milk soap recipes.  The challenge of creating my own recipes helped to propel me along.  I attempted to be very conservative in my initial attempts.  I wanted to do some natural soaps - those without fragrances and extra chemicals.  I also found that commercial scents were a big hit.

Basically, every single batch is a new project.  And, I love starting new projects!

Reworking my Goat Milk Soap

So I've been working on establishing some really good recipes for my goat milk soap.  Maybe someday I'll be able to sell them.  In the mean time, I get to try new things.

I've scoured you tube for videos on how to make goat milk soap.  Many recipes call for powdered goat milk.  Uh...  NO.  I have goats that provide fresh milk every day.  Why would I use powdered?  I want to use the fresh or my own frozen stuff.

Then there's recipes that use water and goat milk for the liquid.  Hmmm... I really want goat milk to be one of the top three ingredients in my soap.  If I label it as goat milk soap then by golly I want it to have more than a trace of goat milk.  After all, I have goats that provide fresh milk daily.

Most recipes and "how-to's" on the internet have you freeze the goat milk before adding the lye in order to keep the milk from scorching.  Nobody wants burnt milk in their soap.  As I contemplated this process over the several batches that I've made, I started wondering if all the fat in the goat milk was being saponified by the lye in this early step.  That sorta reduces the availability of the goat milk properties for conditioning.  Well, I have these goats that provide fresh milk daily and while I could take a goat milk bath and realize all the wonderful benefits.  Y'all would be missing out.  I began to wonder how would I use a partial water recipe to make sure all the lye was dissolved before adding it to the oil and milk.

Well, that meant I needed to find out how much fat, protein, and solids are in the milk that I'm using.  There's not a lot of information easily available on the component make up of goat milk but I was able to find that on average goat milk is made up of about 87% water.  Now, my girls are on milk test and I know how much fat and protein they are making.  Therefore, I was able to substitute a few numbers and realized that my girls have milk that is approximately 85% water and 15% fat/protein/solids.  Yes, they've got more fat in their milk that the average dairy goat.  And, that's why I chose this breed.

Armed with that information, I began to rework my soap recipes.  After several hours of video watching aided by what I've already learned in the several batches previously made, I've decided to try a new method.  I've recalculated some numbers, modified some steps, and am now ready to try the modifications.  I'll keep you posted.  Hey, did I mention that I have these goats the provide milk daily?