The art of Donkey milk soap making! Part 2
The art of Donkey milk soap making article is divided in two parts.
In the first part (Don’t miss it) is discussed what is soap, what is Donkey milk soap and what do you need (equipment and ingredients) to make Donkey milk soap.
In the second part (this article) is discussed how to make Donkey milk soap step by step and a number of tips of how to make a perfect Donkey milk soap.
Which are the steps of Donkey milk soap making?
As we mentioned also in Part 1 of this article, Donkey milk soap is a combination of Donkey milk and vegetable oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil and castor oil.
How you actually can make donkey milk soap?
- Step 1. Be sure that you will start making your Donkey milk soap in a well-ventilated room, and that the table you’re going to work on is free of anything that you don’t need for your process and clean. Put away anything that you don’t need or might annoy you in the process.
- Step 2. Prepare your safety equipment and wear it!
- Step 3. Prepare all of your other equipment (the stick blender, containers etc.) and make sure that they are all clean and ready to use.
- Step 4. If it is your first time, or you just don’t know how to measure the ingredients, use soap calc, which will generate your own recipe and you will know what amount of each ingredient to use in order to come up with a successful result.
- Step 5. After you have the recipe down start weighing all of your ingredients and remove from your table everything you don’t need any more.
- Step 6.1. It’s time to start the real science experiment. You will have to mix the amounts of pre-measured frozen Donkey milk and sodium hydroxide. Add lye to the frozen Donkey milk very slowly, stirring constantly with the stainless steel/wood spatula. BE CAREFUL!! Always pour your sodium hydroxide into frozen Donkey milk, never the Donkey milk on the hydroxide otherwise you risk serious damages and burns to your skin because of the reaction between the ingredients the temperature will get kind of high.
Also be careful with the vapors that result from the reaction. Mix the ingredients slowly and thoroughly, keep stirring until donkey milk melts and the hydroxide dissolves very well in it. (You have to be really patient, it will take a while). Take often temperature measurements so that the Temp. must not be more than 35 degrees C or 110 degrees F. Otherwise you burn the sugars of donkey milk).
- Step 6.2. While you’re waiting for the lye-Donkey milk mixture to cool down a little bit, mix all of your oils (except the essential ones) and/or butter. Place them on a heat source until 50 degrees C and mix them slowly and thoroughly too.
Afterwards, wait for all the butter to melt and keep stirring until everything is mixed together and is cooled to 35 degrees C.
- Step 7. Use the thermometer to measure temperatures. The reaction will take place only if both solutions (the lye and the oils) have the same temperature 35 degrees C or 110 degrees F. So you either heat one or cool the other with a container full of ice.
- Step 8. When both ingredients have the same temperature start mixing. Poor the lye-Donkey milk mixture solution into the oils and start stirring with the spatula for a couple of minutes.
- Step 9. Now you are ready for the real science. Use your stick blender to encourage. Depending on the saponification value the time you will reach the trace it varies.
The trace is basically the thickening of the solution. When it starts getting really viscous it means that the reaction took place and you measured the ingredients well – congratulations the donkey milk soap is done!
Continue blending until it gets even thicker. It should look like a liquid soap or more thicker.
- Step 10. Add your scents, essential oils and other extras you have at this point. Continue stirring gently until everything becomes homogeneous again.
- Step 11. Prepare your molds (they should be clean and disinfected).
- Step 12. Pour into molds your soap-to-be using the silicone spatula.
- Step 13. Cover every mold with a plastic foil and put your soap-to-be in a dry, dark, airy place cover with blankets or towels to keep a high temperature.
- Step 14. Leave them for 24 hours after which you will remove the molds. In this face you can cut the soap in paces of you desire and let them in the same dry, dark and airy place. But without the blankets and towels this time, for about 4 weeks. This depends very much on the degree of solidification and on the oils you’ve used.
- Step 15. Clean everything using vinegar first! Only afterwards you can use detergents or other cleaning products.
- Step 16. Reward yourself with a nice cup of tea, and relax. The Donkey milk soap is done!
In terms of quantities, everything is based on the fats you want to use – you calculate everything from that.
We’re not going to go into any specific recipes, but just as an example, for an oil base of 800 grams (28 oz), you will use around 250 grams of Donkey milk (8.5 oz) and just over 100 grams of lye (4 oz). In terms of essential oils, about 50 grams (1.6 oz) will definitely do.
What are the Tips of Donkey milk soap making?
Tip #1. Soap journal.
Try out a soap journal. Always put down your recipes, ingredients, observations and anything that might be important. This way you will improve your recipes and the quality of your soaps while also keeping track of your previous experiments.
Tip #2. 1 part lye and 2 parts of Donkey milk/water.
At first is easier to use a soap calculator like soapcalc.com to know the amount of each ingredient to be used in your Donkey milk soap. The calculator also has some pre-determined coefficients, like the one for the Donkey milk/water as % of the lye, which is easier at first to use it as it is, for safety reasons.
Normally for the lye, the formula is 1 part lye and 2 parts of Donkey milk/water, but because this usually depends on the quality, type and amount of oils you use you should only try this on your own after you are a little bit more experienced.
After you become a bit more experienced, you can try and experiment more and more.
Tip #3. Super-fat coefficient 5%.
Also in the soap calc you will see that the super-fat coefficient which actually means that your recipe will have some extra oils that will not become soap. They are very useful because they will make your soap softer and more nutritious. At the beginning it’s better to use a coefficient of five (even though you will find out from experience that it can also be lower).
It is of course better to have a little bit of extra oil than a little bit of extra lye that didn’t quite finish the reaction.
Tip #4. Date of processing marking
Also remember to mark your date of processing, because you will need to know when to you will be able to use it.
Tip #5. Your own cheap plant extracts.
You can make your own cheap plant extracts instead of essential oils by putting some lavender (or some other dried plant) in a jar, filling it with olive oil/sunflower oil, and letting it in a dark place for about two weeks. It doesn’t smell as powerful as an essential oil but it surely gets all the other properties of the plants that might be really useful for different types of skins.
Tip #6. sodium hydroxide 100% quality.
When buying sodium hydroxide try to buy one that’s as pure as possible – otherwise the other elements in its composition will get involved in the reaction and we don’t want that, because you will end up with a low quality soap bar.
Tip #7. Avoid animal fats.
Of course you can use lard or other animal fats – many cultures have been doing this for centuries – but you have to realize that it will pass the smell onto your soap. Also, in my view, using animal products when you have such a large variety of eco-friendly oils you can use is quite cruel. It may be cheaper, but it is it really worth it? Think about it.
WARNING! The soap-making process can be a very fun science experiment to try at home, but be really careful with children, if they are involved and also be sure that you have all the safety equipment for them. Also for kids maybe is better to use the melt and pour method which is much more safer.
Here is the end of the article: The art of Donkey milk soap making! Part 2
The art of Donkey milk soap making article is divided in two parts.
In the first part (Don’t miss it) is discussed what is soap, what is Donkey milk soap and what do you need (equipment and ingredients) to make Donkey milk soap.
In the second part: The art of Donkey milk soap making Part 2 (this article) is discussed how to make Donkey milk soap step by step with a number of tips how to make a perfect Donkey milk soap.
And like we mentioned also at the end of Part 1, we are here not only making Donkey milk soaps but selling them also….
Why El Greco Natural donkey milk soaps?
We handcraft our Natural organic donkey milk soaps using the slow cold process method, which means no external heat is used so the goodness of the natural ingredients are preserved for you as much as possible.
Each bar of Natural Organic Donkey’s milk soap begins with Donkey milk as key ingredient, a high percentage of nutrient rich organic extra virgin olive oil, for its well-known superior skin care properties, to which we add organic coconut oil for fluffy lather, sustainable organic palm oil to increase longevity, and organic castor oil for a dense creamy lather that conditions and moisturizes.
Get relaxed and tension free by using El Greco Cosmetic’s Donkey milk soaps.
Are you ready to use El Greco Cosmetic’s Natural Donkey milk soaps for your skin, hair and all your body?
The only thing you need to do to get started is to visit our website and buy some straight from our web shop.
Using a Natural Organic Donkey milk soap is a convenient way to treat your skin to all of its miraculous benefits.
Our donkey milk soaps are handcrafted using fresh milk from the donkey’s of our farm.
Great for all skin types, sensitive skin, dry skin, including people that have eczema or psoriasis.
How can you use Donkey’s milk soap? …Lather soap onto hands or a washcloth and apply to your face and body.
For centuries the wonderful properties of natural organic donkey milk soap have been known, praised, experienced and enjoyed.
So that’s it! If you haven’t already – do yourself a huge favour and give El Greco handmade natural soaps a try.
Purchase some bars of our handmade natural organic oatmeal donkey milk soaps, or Curcuma Natural organic donkey milk soaps, or lavender Natural organic donkey milk soaps or Honey Natural organic donkey milk soaps or our pure natural organic Donkey milk soaps, which are all with coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil and castor oil, from our e-shop of our website and give them a try.
I can assure you, the experience will be well worth it.
We are sending our handmade natural donkey milk soaps free of post charge worldwide if your purchase is €50 or more.
You Read Our Whole Blog Article! Yeah!! Your New-found Education Has Gifted You an additional Coupon Good for 30% off on Your first Entire Order! Use your coupon during checkout.
Click here to get shopping.
Do you like this post? Sigh up to our newsletter. Share it with your friends and like us and share it with your friends on facebook, twitter, Pinterest and G +
READ MORE ABOUT Donkey’s milk soaps
What Soap is?
New e-shop with soaps from donkey milk