I won’t lye (pun intended) this one probably won’t save you money, but it will be fun, it makes nice gifts, and it is a good use for excess milk.

One of the things we always have a lot of on the homestead is goat milk. Sure we drink it, feed it to the chickens and the pigs, make cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Still, we have a LOT of goat milk.

That’s where soap comes in. We make the extra milk into soap for ourselves, our friends, our family, and to barter with. Our favorite one to make is coffee soap. It gets rid of nasty odors like barnyard and fish guts. Plus it uses up another extra thing we have a lot of, coffee grounds.

That’s the recipe we’re going to share with you today. 

Goats milk soap is not that difficult to make. Goat milk also contains many natural emollients, vitamins and triglycerides, including a special triglyceride that calms, moisturizes, and rejuvenates sensitive and dry skin. Almost all farmers and homesteaders that I know have problems with dry, cracked skin. Most also have trouble with strong odors from caring from their animals. This soap takes care of both those issues at once.

17 oz Coconut oil 76°
17 oz Olive oil
8 oz Palm oil
8 oz Goat’s milk, frozen (in ice cubes is best)
8 oz Coffee brewed with distilled water
6.2 oz Sodium hydroxide
1/3 cup Coffee grounds
Whole beans for decoration
Chosen scents (coffee, vanilla, etc.)

Mix all three oils and melt them together slowly, then allow them to cool to 110-120 degrees F. Brew 8 oz of strong coffee using distilled water. Mix the lye with the coffee very carefully and allow the temperature to cool to approximately 150 degrees F.

Then add frozen goat’s milk to the lye/coffee mixture slowly and blend until the temperature is 110-120 degrees F. Add in lye solution and mix with stick blender. As mixture thickens, add coffee grounds and any chosen scents to your preference. Pour into mold, sprinkle whole beans on top, and allow to set and cure for three weeks.

Try the recipe out and let us know how it worked out for you. The goat milk will moisturize your skin, the coffee grounds will work as an exfoliant, and the coffee will also deoderize your body after a hard days work on the homestead.

Have you ever made soap before? What are your favorite scents and recipes?