Customer Reviews

Milk-Based Soaps: Making Natural, Skin-Nourishing Soap

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are an inexperienced soapmaker and you read this book, I think it is probably going to scare you to death. You'll drop the book and run away screaming and never give another instant of thought to making milk soaps. MILK-BASED SOAPS was an informative book and I feel that it taught me some useful things (I have my own soapmaking business), but I was making goats' milk soaps long before I read this book and it just isn't as hard as she makes it sound, I promise.

I was really, really puzzled by Makela's instruction to cool the milk/lye mixture down to 80 degrees F while having the fats/oils at 120 degrees F and THEN mixing the two together. She says in the book that the milk/lye mixture will want to keep separating and falling to the bottom of the pot while you stir -- there's a reason for that, you know. It's because there is not enough 'synergy' between these two substances that are being combined at such wildly disparate temperatures. You know what? I bring my milk/lye mixture and my fats/oils mixture both to 110 degrees F for a 6 pound batch of soap and I have NEVER had any trouble. And I do NOT use all the multiple pots and blenders to scoop the raw soap back and forth, etc. I use one heavy stainless steel pot, one sturdy plastic Rubbermaid pitcher for the lye/milk and one stick blender. This does not have to be a group effort. Makela tends to make this sound as if you need a tag team of willing friends dressed in Haz-Mat suits standing at the ready to assist you in your time of need.

Truly. I make this soap all by myself. I do it all the time. It only has to be a big hairy deal if you intentionally make it that way.

One part where Makela is dead-on right is when she says to put the milk (in its pitcher) into a cold bath -- I stop up one side of my sink and add cool water and ice cubes -- and then pour the lye flakes slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-owly into the milk. She is correct when she says that this should be AT LEAST a fifteen minute process, which is one of the reasons why I charge more for my goats' milk soaps. I owe Makela a thanks for the cool water bath idea -- it's a great one and I have never had trouble with the goats' milk overheating since I've done that. I appreciate that advice immensely. When you stir rhythmically, add the lye slowly and keep the milk nice and cool, you'll always have a sunny yellow milk/lye mixture that will easily combine with the fats and oils to make a really beautiful, creamy, buttery beige-colored soap.

There were some nice recipes in this book and some worthy advice for marketing your handcrafted creations. All in all, it was a good book. Buy it -- and don't let yourself be intimidated by what is not really a difficult process at all.

This is one of the better books I've read so far. The recipes are large, but the first few batches you make will probably be given away, so these are big enough for you to keep some as well as give away.
The history given is helpful, it was a pleasure to read. As for the methods she uses with the blender, it is alot of work, but it is faster than stirring by hand. Personally, I use my stick blender, less work all around.
It is not nessasary to use palm or coconut oils in soap, and they aren't even the base for all soaps as another reviewer wrote. My best soaps have olive oil as the base and no coconut or palm at all.

Milk soaps aren't for someone completely new to soapmaking.. try making basic soaps first. The recipes are all over the internet, but this book is easy enough to follow that someone who has been making soaps for a month or two will have no problems following it. Actually someone who has never made soap would be able to follow it, but a little experience before trying something that is tricky like milk soaps, wouldn't hurt.
Overall, for the money spent this book is worth it. Much more detailed and well thought out than another soapmaking book I read recently.

It seems that there was some extremely important information missing! She says that you can change the kinds of oils you use, but failed to provide any kind of lye calculation chart which is critical to making safe soap. She also doesn't explain why she uses some of the ingredients she uses. She says to add Borax to water if you don't have soft water, but why does she want you to add it to the milk? Sugar and glycerin. Are they mandatory??? And why the sugar? What does it do? I appreciated the information as far as keeping the milk cool, and the best way to work with it so it doesn't get scorched, but her recipies are too big to use, and she doesn't include either palm or coconut oil which is a basic staple of all soap. Is either oil not recommended for milk based soaps? There are just too many gaps!!!

The recipes are good, but too many of my questions remain unanswered (and I have been making soap for 10 years). Like why put so little honey in the honey and milk soap? And why is sugar an ingredient in the basic recipe? What purpose does it serve? What is the purpose of encouraging experimentation and then not giving enough information to experiment wisely? She says to do something or not do something without giving specific reasons all too often.

I learned to make soap from Carla Emory's book, _Encylopedea of Country Living_ and the information there was much more sketchy than this. Still, I like it better in that it is at least sharing all it knows, while I feel the author of this little book is holding back what might well be the most vital information.

I like some of her ideas but I'm not sure it was worth the money. I suppose the method of handling the milk was worth it though as to make milk soap was why I bought it.

If you have a degree in chemistry and feel comfortable working in a laborary environment this is a good book for you. I have found making milk-based soaps easy and fun but not as a result of Makela's book, which makes it seem intimidating, time staking and well, down right confusing. If you crave simplicity pass on this soapmaking book.

I liked Caseys recipes but..it was almost tiring just reading her instructions,like...start with this pan,then put the mixture in that pan...then stir both pans at the same time.I make and mix my soap in one pan,it's really not that difficult.I agree with another reviewer who said it does'nt have to be a team effort.The best soapmaking book I have ever bought is "The Everything Soapmaking Book" by Alicia Grosso. This book has all the information you will ever need to make really beautiful handmade soap.

I was initailly intimidated by this book and I owned it for a while before I attempted her methods. But if you want to make soap with real milk (not powdered as an additive) this is a great resource. Making whole milk soap is not easy. This methods works. I admit I use a stick blender and keep it in one pot but my milk has never curdled due to her cold bath method. Her recipes produce gentle, silky soaps and are made with readily available ingredients. My main complaint with some of the other books is that you cannot get many of the ingredients unless you go online and pay shipping. I agree with another reviewer that she does not explain the why behind some of her methods. I think the glycerine and the sugar are for more lather but I'm not positive. I know the amount of honey is limited due to the risk of the soap overheating in the mold. My only other concern about her recipes is that they do not produce much lather and I like bubbles. However, now that I know the method and have had a lot of success I can experiment with the recipes to customize the soap.

The pot-to-blender-to-pot-to-blender method she uses nearly scared me out of making milk based soap!! Good reference, good information, but really, all that transferring isn't needed! Just a LOT of stirring or use a Stick Blender.

My mother and I decided to try soap-making last year, but the first book we bought was very difficult to follow and the ingredients were hard to find. (Palm oil and coconut oil may be in most soap recipes, but they are not available at stores near us.) My mother found this book in a craft store. What a delight it is! Our first experiment with soap turned out very well. We have made two batches so far and both are excellent. (The hard part is waiting for it to cure!) All of the ingredients were easy to find and fairly inexpensive. There were some gaps in the information (such as hard glycerin does not melt well in the recipes), but it was very easy to follow.

Making soap with milk as the liquid in the recipe, or as a portion of the liquid, is pretty easy if you've ventured forth and attempted to make soap. If you already own one of the basic books as from Bramson or Cavitch, you're 3/4 of the way there and this book is superfluous.

Milk soaping is one of the biggest topics one finds addressed on the internet in the soap boards, it should also be noted. The author's methods never worked for me because they involve too many steps, but I suppose it comes down to learning a certain way and being set in one's ways whether something is useful technique or not.

If you're making soap, you don't need this book at all. If you're looking to learn to make soap, get this book if you like complicated procedure. Otherwise, just get the Cavitch book(s) and take her superfatting ideas with a hefty grain of salt.