| Do you remember the Milk Soap Comparison Andee did way back when? If you don’t remember, go take a look. It is a great read! It is a great example how the addition of milk to a soap can change its color. I wondered if the addition of cows milk would significantly change the color that the botanicals impart compared to a regular soap. Let’s go find out!
Notes: I will admit. I was not expecting a change to occur between the plain alkanet powder soap and its milk soap counterpart. However, I am surprised and tickled pink to tell you that there is a difference in the color. The milk soap is a lighter, more purple-blue color. The plain soap is much darker and more blue in color. I did not notice any strange or funky odors coming through the soap. It smells like an unscented milk soap. Milk soaps do have an odor to them but I find it really hard to explain. It is a kind of mildly sweet, clean odor. For those of you who use or make milk soaps, how would you describe the odor? I am at a loss here! I am thrilled about the color difference! I can’t wait for Christmas to come around again because I want to make this soap with our Mulberry Fragrance Oil. I also have Woodberry,, Crystal Blue, Tassi Lavender and Ocean Rain on my list of soaps to make with Alkanet Powder. What fragrances does this color inspire you to use?
Recipe:
Weigh all of the oils into a microwave safe container. Heat gently until liquid. Add the Sodium Hydroxide to the water to form a lye solution. Allow the oils and the lye to cool to a lower temperature. We do not want to have the soap overheat and volcano. Mix the oils and lye solution and blend until trace is achieved. Add the botanical and milk at this point. Stir well. Pour into a mold and allow to sit for 24 hours. Cut the soap. Allow the soap to cure. Longer curing time will result in a harder bar. Enjoy! Note: Milk soaps can get very hot. Please plan for this by soaping at a little bit of a lower temperature and/or pouring into a shallow mold. We recommend soaping somewhere between 110° F and 130°F. Adjust due to the weather and temperature of your work room. In summer, soap on the lower end of that spectrum. Shallow molds also help by allowing the excess heat to dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.
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 Finished Soap  Comparing Alkanet Milk Soap and Plain Alkanet Soap  Melted Oils  Soap at Trace  Measuring Milk  Alkanet and Milk Measured Out  Adding Milk and Alkanet Powder  Soap in Mold |
Very pretty colors. I will have to add this to my list of things to try.
Thanks for including a description of the colors. I am really enjoying this series!
Very surprising color difference! I”m glad you showed them side by side, as it’s helpful to make the visual comparison.
Seems to me that alkanet starts out, blue then cures as lavender, or should.
Alkanet coloring is pH-dependent… the bluer the color, the more alkaline the soap.
SOOO fun! What a lovely color 🙂
Oh the with the milk added it reminds me of old fashioned milk paint. That would be beautiful in a bathroom with a claw foot tub, old farm house. Hmmm, now I am thinking again.
I am going to experiment with this one. I love the color blue, and I make all my soaps with Goat Milk Powder (turned into a slushie after the cook)(hot process method)
Thanks for some fun ideas!
Janet
Lovely soap. I really like the idea of using Tassi Lavender. I was lucky to receive a sample of the Tassi Lavender soap several months ago.It is a great fragrance.
Is there any special reason you did a zero, or less than zero, superfat for this soap? Is it to make it more blue than it would be normally? Since alkanet is pH sensitive?
This leaves 6% excess fat in the soap. It is not a zero. The recipe contains palm kernel, not palm oil. Does that help?
That is a gorgeous blue!
Lovely color, it starts so brown, that you never expect the blue!
Question here. I don’t use milk in my soaps. I do like like the “blue-er” color in the milk bar. Is there anything that could be used that would help give it the brighter color?
You could use Titanium Dioxide or a smaller amount of Alkanet Root Powder. I would personally add 1 tsp of Alkanet Root Powder and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Titanium Dioxide. I hope this helps!