The other day I shared some recipes for making your own facial cleansers using natural ingredients like avocados and grapes and whatnot. But apparently, I missed another recipe for a cleanser that uses arguably the most natural ingredient of all: breast milk. Seeing the recipe for breast milk soap reminded me of a time I went to a dinner party where some of the other guests were brand new parents. After dinner, one of the new moms presented a cheesecake she'd made for dessert and as we all sat down to eat it, she proudly proclaimed, "It's made with my breast milk!!" I'd never seen so much cheesecake leftover after a meal before or since.
Anyhow, for those of you not grossed out by the idea of cleaning your body with the milk meant to feed your babies, or those who are just a wee bit curious, the full recipe after the jump:
Recipe:
3 lbs. vegetable shortening
17 ounces dark olive oil
18 ounces Safflower oil
6 cups thawed breast milk
(you can use any amount of breast milk you like and substitute the rest,
just
make sure your total fluid volume reaches 6 cups).
12 ounces pure sodium hydroxide (lye - Red Devil brand works)
1 ounce Borax
2 TLBS honey
1 ounce Essential oil - optional
Ice Cubes
Tool List:
Stainless steel pans
Wooden or stainless steel spoons
Newspaper to cover counter tops
Candy thermometer
Measuring cup
Scale
Blender
***Wear Gloves and protective eye-wear when making soap...lye burns!!
****Use only stainless steel pans for making soap - DO NOT use aluminum!!
Procedure:
Melt the veg. shortening in a sauce pan (about 8 quart size)and add the oils. Bring temp up slowly until
the shortening is all melted. Don't over heat or scorch the oils.
Plug your kitchen sink. Fill half way with water and add about 3 dozen ice cubes.
Put thawed cold breast milk in a sauce pan (about 3 quart size). Place the sauce pan into the water. You
*must* keep the milk cool when you add the lye to it or the lye will burn it and make it unusable, not to
mention real stinky!
Slowly stir in the sodium hydroxide (lye) stirring constantly and occasionally circulating the outer ice
water. The lye is going to heat the milk up as you stir it in. Avoid breathing the fumes by working in a
well ventilated area.
Adding the lye should take at least 5 minutes, any faster and you will burnout your milk. If you
accidentally splash any on yourself, rinse immediately!
Once combined, continue to stir the milk/lye mixture for just a few more minutes (3) and then remove
from the water bath and set aside. You will notice that the milk/lye mixture steadily becomes yellowish in
color. That is normal.
Add the honey and borax to your melted oil which should still be warm but not hot (115 degrees or so).
Now, slowly and carefully pour the milk/lye mixture into the pan of oil. Stir constantly until it is all mixed
together.
This mixture must now be whipped in a blender (2/3's full at a time for safety sake). Run the blender (with the lid on) at
whip speed for 60 seconds each time. Pour off into a clean pan.
Repeat the blender process a second time. This is when you will add your essential oils.
Once the mixture has been blended twice, it will be ready to pour into a mold where it will saponify and
be ready to cut after 24 hours.
[recipe via Traditional Midwife, which suggests you save a few bars for when your babies are all grown up because they, no doubt, will love nother more when they're 18 then bathing themselves in their mother's old breast milk]
