Hydrated Almonds.
Almonds in water to make almond milk.
1) Calculate the amount of lye and liquid needed for the oils you plan to use.
2) Measure all of the oils and set aside to heat gently.
Fresh Almond Milk.
4) Measure HALF of the needed liquid as water and set aside. Measure HALF of the needed liquid as milk and set aside. Milk should be room temperature, not frozen or heated.
Oils ready to be melted.
Adding lye to the water.
7) Add fragrance. Pour into prepared SHALLOW molds (1 inch deep or so). Milk soaps can get very hot and shallow molds help the excess heat dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.
This is called the Half and Half Method, because you use half water, half milk, and add the milk half way through the blending of the batch.
Collect needed items:
| Ingredients Hydrogenated Soybean Oil Coconut Oil Olive Oil Sodium Hydroxide Almond Milk Water |
Equipment Scale Soap Spoon Gloves Extra Large Square Tray Mold Square Tray Mold Immersion Blender |
| Time spent: Weighing time: 8 minutes Adding lye to water: 15 seconds, followed by 60 seconds of stirring Heating of oils time: 3 minutes Pouring lye solution into the fat mixture: 10 seconds Using immersion blender to mix soap solution: 90 seconds Adding milk to the batch: 20 seconds Using immersion blender to completely mix milk into soap: 40 seconds Pour into molds: 60 seconds Allow soap to rest: 24 hours |
| Recipe in ounces: 40 ounces weight Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 20 ounces weight Coconut Oil 20 ounces weight Olive Oil 11.1 ounces Sodium Hydroxide |
Notes: I will also show you a picture of the Almond Meal leftover from making the Almond Milk. I showed you some of the almonds with their skins still on so they could still be easily recognized, but the Almond Milk is best if you take the time to slip the skins off the hydrated almonds.
Don’t forget to give me your guesses on the final colors of the soaps! We will see a cut soap comparison on Monday!
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 Mixing the lye solution.  Mixing the batch to halfway to trace.  Adding the Almond Milk to the batch.  Filling the first mold. |
 Adding the lye solution to the melted oils.  The batch is ready for the milk to be added.  Beginning to pour the batch into the mold.  Pouring the last bit of soap out of the mixing bucket. |
Here are my guesses:
cow’s milk: pale pale tan
goat’s milk: white
buttermilk: yellow
soy milk: yellow
almond milk: pinky-tan
I’ll give a try to this almond milk soap in the next few days 🙂 I was thinking about leaving some of the almond ‘pulp’ (sorry I can’t think to a better term for that, my english is very far from good!) in the soap, to give some texture. I’ve seen some batch with coconut pulp in, and I think that almonds will work just fine. What do you suggest? How many tablespoons of it, for a 1kg (35 ounces) of oils?
Pingback: Almond soap « insaponando
Maybe about 1 ounce (30 g, or 3% of the fixed oils) of the almond
meal could go in the batch.
I would not want to add a lot of the material because we have to remember
the process of all living things (life, death, compost).
Do let us know how this works!
I really like the simplicity of this recipe! Could it be possible to only use olive oil? & if so how many ounces should I use? Thanks
You can use olive oil but you should be prepared for a slow to trace processes as well as a very soft soap for several weeks. After about 6 to 8 weeks olive oil soaps can be very hard.
Tina
Hi Tina, why is it that if 100% olive oil soaps are very hard at the 8 week mark, then why do they say that you have to cure olive oil soap for months or even 1 year? I am confused about this..
You know, I don’t know why people say to do this. I think of the story of how a young bride cut the end off the roast before putting it in the oven. When her new husband asked why she said she did this because her mother did it. So, the young husband asked his mother in-law why she cut the end off the roast. She said she did it because her mother did it! So, the family gathered round the matriarch and the young husband asked “Grandma, why do you cut the end off the roast before putting it in the oven?” Her reply was that her pan was always smaller than the roast so she had to cut the end off.
Aging soap for months on end is silly. Aging for a year is hilarious. Having super-fatted soap turn rancid while waiting for the aging process to end is a great tragedy.
Tina
Soap making with Almond milk, after pouring into the mould do I put it in the refridgerator as I would with goat milk or do I insulate it as usual?
Treat a soap with Almond Milk like you would your goat milk soap. I don’t refrigerate any of my milk soaps. I do pour into shallow molds.
hello,
i tried this recipe to the T. I cut it in half because it makes more than 5 pounds of soap. I ended up scorching the milk because it never says the temperature to add milk etc… also, i ended up making it a spice bar. Its yellow in color and getting lighter. My home made almond milk was raw and sprouted so i was very disappointed to scorch it. Ill just stick with my milk frozen cubes and pour lye flakes over it till it reaches temperature etc. even this recipe cut in half almost overflowed my slab mold. thanks for the inspiration though!!