Store Goats Milk Beeswax Soap

by Laura Crowe
(Umpqua, OR)

How long can soap be stored if I'm giving them as a Christmas gift?

Can they be put into the covers for the bars without the covers getting greasy?

Should they be stored flat on a cookie sheet or in the freezer until I am ready to package them and give away?

This is my first time making soap and I will use the hot process method. I will be pouring into the new soft pliable muffin cups (silicon) and other flexible tins to easily release the bars.

There will be goats milk and beeswax along with fragrance in each bar.

I want to do some with oatmeal and thought just grinding the oatmeal would be sufficient. Is this true?

I know about dried lavender, but have to find where to get it.

Thank you!

Answer:

Lol...That's a couple of questions you have there Laura!

We'll start at the beginning:

If you plan on making hot process soap to give away as Christmas gifts, I would start making them after Thanksgiving (US). That will give the soap plenty of time to finish hardening up while still maintaining optimum scent levels.

You may want to start earlier so you can get a few practice batches in first. I would start with a batch that is a bit simpler as well since both goat's milk and beeswax can be a bit more difficult to work with and aren't really first batch ingredients.

As for packaging...don't wrap them until closer to the time you plan to gift them. Hot process and cold process soaps will lose moisture over time and the packaging could become loose. If the soap has been made correctly, the packaging will not become greasy.

Keep them stored in a cool, dry location such as a linen cupboard or shelf. Do not store them touching each other. Place them on end about an inch or so apart so air will flow around them and they will cure evenly.

Do not store them in the freezer or anywhere that they will be frozen. Soap can handle a quick visit to the freezer in order to help release soap from a mould but it is not ideal and tends to change the feel of the soap a bit. I find it to be a little tacky afterwards.

You mention putting beeswax in each bar. Beeswax is added to soap by melting it with the hard oils in quantities of 1%-2% of the oil weight. For example, if your recipe calls for 1000 grams of oil, use up to 20 grams of beeswax. Any more and the soap will not lather as well and may drag across the skin rather than glide.

Ground oatmeal is great to add to handmade soap. A couple tablespoons per pound of base oils is usually plenty.

Lavender buds...not my favourite addition to handmade soap if I'm going to be honest. The idea sounds so fantastic but in reality the lavender buds go black in the soap and tend to look like little flies trapped in the bars.

Whew...I think we got them all!

Good luck,

Cathy