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If you’re milking goats, or a cow, cleaning the udder appropriately is a necessary step in ensuring a safe dairy product for your family.
Washing the udder, and especially the teats, prior to milking reduces the amount of hair, dirt, debris, and bacteria that can be incorporated into your milk. Drying the teats off after cleaning them is also important. Washing without drying can leave the teats chapped and sore. I use paper towel, but a clean cloth is another option.
I make my own spray for cleaning the udder before milking. I consider it one of the 6 essential items for hand-milking my herd of Nubian dairy goats. To learn about the other 5 items I need, read the article linked here.
The recipe I came up with and now use daily is a simple mix of water, soap, and essential oils. Before I started using it, I used diluted Dawn dish soap as an udder wash. There are lots of store-bought options to choose from as well.
What was important to me was:
- using something that was made with natural ingredients
- that didn’t dry out or irritate my doe’s skin
- didn’t leave residue in the milk.
This 4 ingredient, homemade teat and udder spray checks all of the boxes. I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!
Materials for Making Homemade Teat/Udder Wash
- Spray bottle
- Measuring spoon (tablespoon)
- Pipette
I picked up a few of these cheap 16-ounce spray bottles because I can always find a use for them! The tablespoon is for measuring out castile soap and the pipette is for transferring essential oils.
I poured the ingredients for the udder wash right into my spray bottle and mixed it by swirling so I wouldn’t have extra equipment to clean. If your spray bottle has a small opening, you may want to mix the ingredients in a glass measuring cup with a pointed spout or use a funnel.
Ingredients for Making Homemade Teat/Udder Wash
- 2 Tbsp. castile soap
- 20 drops lemon essential oil
- 20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
- Distilled water
Castile soap is plant-based and biodegradable. It does not contain colorants, irritating surfactants, or detergents. It is a gentle cleanser for skin and surfaces- as long as it is properly diluted. I only use 2 tablespoons; a little goes a long way!
Lemon and eucalyptus are two of my favorite antibacterial essential oils. Both have been found to be effective against common bacterial pathogens like staphylococcus (Sadlon & Lamson, 2010) and listeria (Hsouna, Halima, Smaoui, & Hamdi, 2017). There are lots of other essential oils that would have a similar effect though too, if you have a winning combination I would love to hear about in the comments below.
I use distilled water instead of tap water to prolong the shelf life and to help ensure that mineral content doesn’t compromise the performance of my homemade teat and udder wash.
Directions for Making Homemade Teat/Udder Wash
- Put 2 Tbsp of castile soap into a clean, empty spray bottle
- Put 20 drops each of lemon and eucalyptus essential oil into the spray bottle (on top of the castile soap)
- Add enough distilled water to fill the bottle, leaving 1 inch of air space at the top of the bottle
- Put the spray top on the bottle
- Gently swirl the bottle to mix the ingredients
- Store in a cool place, out of direct sunlight
Directions for Using Homemade Teat/Udder Wash
- Spray the homemade teat/udder wash right on to wet the goat’s skin
Note: If your doe doesn’t like being sprayed, spray the mixture onto a paper towel and use it as a wipe instead
- Gently massage to work in and thoroughly clean the teats and udder with a paper towel
- Use a second, clean paper towel to dry the teats/ udder
- Begin milking
References:
Hsouna, A.B., Halim, N.B., Smaoui, S., and Hamdi, N. (2017). Citrus lemon essential oil: Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities with its preservative effect on against listeria monocytogenes inoculated in minced beef meat. Lipids in Health and Disease, 16, 146. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-017-0487-5
Sadlon, A.E., and Lamson, D.W. (2010). Immune-modifying an antimicrobial effects of eucalyptus oil and simple inhalation devices. Alternative Medicine Review, 15(1):33-47. PMID: 20359267
Mother, farmer, author, and teacher by trade… She loves tending to things and watching them grow!