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Richer bars

Almond milk and oat bar

Ivory bars of almond milk soap with faint oat flecks beside a small glass of almond milk, a few whole almonds and a little heap of oat flour on an orange backdrop

A vegan, palm-free bar with unsweetened almond milk as all of its liquid, sweet almond oil in the blend and a little oat flour. Unscented and mild, and more forgiving than dairy milk, since unsweetened almond milk carries almost no sugar to brown.

Skill
Intermediate
Method
Cold process
Batch
1000 g of oils about 1445 g of batter
Hands-on
55 min
Cure
6 weeks
Gel phase
No keep it cool
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What you need

For 1000 g of oils, which fills a 1.5 litre loaf mould. Weigh everything, liquids included.

Olive Oil · 40.0 % 400 g 14.11 oz
Coconut Oil · 25.0 % 250 g 8.82 oz
Cocoa Butter · 15.0 % 150 g 5.29 oz
Almond Oil · 15.0 % 150 g 5.29 oz
Castor Oil · 5.0 % 50 g 1.76 oz
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) · the lye, 100 % pure 140.4 g 4.95 oz
Almond milk, unsweetened, frozen in cubes · all of the liquid; the lye goes onto it 293 g 10.32 oz
Oat flour · 2 tbsp, finely ground oats, stirred into 1 tbsp of the oils first 11.5 g 0.41 oz
Superfat
5 %
Temperatures
Keep the almond milk and lye below 30 °C (86 °F) and soap at 27 to 32 °C (81 to 90 °F)

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Method

  1. Freeze the almond milk

    The day before, shake the carton, weigh 292.5 g of almond milk into an ice-cube tray and freeze it solid.

  2. Get ready

    Put on goggles, gloves and long sleeves, work where the air moves, weigh the oils, lye and oat flour, line the mould, clear a shelf in the fridge, and fill a bowl with ice and water for the lye jug to stand in.

  3. Melt the oils

    Melt the coconut oil and cocoa butter gently, stir in the olive, sweet almond and castor oils, and let them cool to 27 to 32 °C (81 to 90 °F).

  4. Loosen the oat flour

    Stir 2 tablespoons of oat flour into 1 tablespoon of the melted oils in a small cup until smooth, so it goes into the batter without lumps.

  5. Add the lye to the almond milk

    Stand the jug of frozen almond milk in the iced water and sprinkle the 140.4 g of sodium hydroxide onto the milk a spoonful at a time, never the milk onto the lye, stirring until each dissolves. Take 10 to 15 minutes and keep it below 30 °C (86 °F); it stays paler than dairy milk, off-white to pale yellow.

  6. Strain and blend

    Pour the almond milk and lye through a stainless steel sieve into the oils and stick blend in short bursts, stirring between them, to light trace.

  7. Add the oat flour

    Stir in the oat flour mixture and blend for a few seconds until it has disappeared into the batter.

  8. Pour and chill

    Pour into the mould, tap it on the bench to release air, smooth the top, and put it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours.

  9. Unmould and cut

    Let the loaf come back to room temperature before unmoulding, then cut it into bars once firm, usually 24 to 48 hours after pouring.

  10. Cure

    Stand the bars on a rack with air around them for six weeks, turning them now and then.

Tips

  • Buy unsweetened almond milk. The sugar in sweetened and flavoured versions scorches in lye just as dairy milk does. The thickeners and added calcium most cartons carry do no harm.
  • Almond milk is about 97 % water, so it stands in for the water almost gram for gram; the calculator counts that water and the little fat it brings.
  • Oat flour is rolled oats blended to a fine powder. Sieve out any flakes that stay whole if you want a smooth bar.

Why make it

For anyone who wants the creamy feel people look for in a milk soap without dairy: unsweetened almond milk replaces all the water, and the oils are vegan and palm-free. By our numbers it is a balanced, mild bar, cleansing 17 and conditioning 60, and it has no scent added, in line with dermatologists' advice to use fragrance-free products on dry, sensitive skin. Almond milk is almost all water and brings very little sugar or fat, so its part is mostly a paler bar and the pleasure of the idea; the case for it rests on makers' preference, not evidence. Oat flour adds a soft, barely-there texture. Oats are a recognised skin protectant in leave-on products, though in a rinse-off bar the contact is brief. With almond in it twice over, it is not for anyone with a nut allergy.

Sources

What tradition, makers' experience and research say about soaps like this, each labelled for what it is. It is not medical advice, and no soap treats a skin condition: if you have one, ask a doctor or pharmacist.

What the numbers say

  • Lauric acid 12.3 %
  • Myristic acid 4.7 %
  • Palmitic acid 12.8 %
  • Stearic acid 7.3 %
  • Ricinoleic acid 4.4 %
  • Oleic acid 45.2 %
  • Linoleic acid 9.8 %
  • Other 5.0 %

Saturated : unsaturated 40 : 60

Hardness 37 29–54
Cleansing 17 12–22
Conditioning 60 44–69
Bubbly lather 21 14–46
Creamy lather 24 16–48

Computed from the fatty acids of the fats above. The bands are what the craft has settled on, not chemistry — a bar outside one is not wrong.

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Where these proportions come from

Our own vegan, palm-free formulation: olive, coconut and cocoa butter with sweet almond oil at 5 % superfat, unsweetened almond milk frozen as all of the liquid, and oat flour at the usual tablespoon per pound of oils.

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