Easy DIY Homemade Teat Wash Recipe
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This homemade teat wash recipe is natural and simple to put together and is really effective as cleaning teats and udders to prep for milking.
One of the most important things you can do to protect the health of your dairy animals and yourself is to properly clean udders and teats prior to milking. You can use premade washes that can be purchased, iodine, chlorhexidine, or something homemade like this udder wash recipe. It’s really about what you want to do and what works best for you!
I have been using a homemade teat wash the entirety of the time I have had my own dairy goats. I want something gentle, but also cleansing and effective, that I can make myself. This recipe utilizes my homemade castile soap (available for purchase in my farm store), so it cleans well and is super gentle. Something you have to worry about is using something too harsh that dries to teat and udder skin out and could cause cracking. Cracking in, around, or near the milk bag is a recipe for DISASTER.
A homemade udder wash with simple ingredients is my go-to. Not only can I make it myself quickly, I’m not dependent on the supply chain to get my supplies.
Castile Soap
I recommend my castile soap recipe to make homemade teat wash. You can also purchase it from my farm store in a concentrated paste that will easily make a quart of concentrate that can then be further diluted into well over a gallon of castile soap. Castile soap is very gently, but also extremely effective at cleaning. I use it for just about all cleaning around my house, not just homemade teat wash.
I always recommend making it yourself or supporting a small business that makes it because you can know the ingredients and the person making it! And I’m not gatekeeping so I’ll teach you how to make it or sell you some… your choice, your homemade teat wash.
Mastitis Prevention
This is a huge question I get constantly with home dairy. I have goats and they’re astronomically cleaner than cattle. A cow will poop and then plop down in that steaming pile udder first with no thought to what she’s doing. Goats don’t do that. With this I have found that mastitis in my smaller-ish goat herd is pretty rare.
I have had one singular case (albeit a doozy) in all my years of goats. I know some folks get hung up on using homemade teat wash, because they’ve been told you have to use the commercial stuff, but I disagree. We have become so hung up on clean only being completely bleached and sterile, and that’s not the case. Sometimes you can be too clean.
Good ole soap and water has served us for a long time and I’m not sure why now we don’t think it works. Wash your hands. Wash those teats. Milk. If you use super strong cleansers, not only are they hard on the udder and teat skin, but you’re removing normal bacterial flora which can lead to overgrowth of the wrong kind. Staph is common on udders, and I think over cleaning can sometimes be the culprit.
An ounce of prevention goes a long way and that starts with proper cleaning technique. Whenever you are milking, you are opening up that teat orifice to the outside air and potential bacteria. By properly washing the udder and teats, you clean them and remove that bacteria prior to milking. If you’re hand milking, this is pretty easy to do… wash your hands and the udder and teats and go along on your merry way.
But, if you’re machine milking, you need to have a very strict pre and post cleaning and drying routine to guarantee cleanliness of not only the claw, but also the tubing and milk machine its self to protect you AND your animal. This is why I hand milk as long as I can, because it is A LOT of work to keep everything clean.
Post teat dip is also very important, especially if the doe does not have nursing kids on her. I use Fight Bac, a chlorhexidine spray that I spray directly on the goat teat after milking and make sure to cover the teat end and teat thoroughly. You can also use iodine or a chlorhexidine dip, anything commercially made, or homemade, that works for you.
Essential Oils to Use In Homemade Teat Wash
I’m quite partial to Thieves, or something like it, because I enjoy the smell. LOL There are many essential oils that are great for cleaning udders and bacterial prevention. I find peppermint is a great additive for newly freshened does, especially maidens on their first freshen, to help with that post kidding udder edema that is so uncomfortable.
Best Oils to Use:
- Lavender
- Peppermint
- Tea Tree
- Rosemary
Add about 15 total drops of whatever essential oil you want, or blend, to this recipe. You can also omit them entirely.
Herbal Teat Wash Recipes
It’s also nice to make an herbal “tea” with the water to have an herbal wash that not only helps disinfect, but is great for the udder and teats and can heal any nicks or scrapes or bug bites.
Make an herbal tea with the water portion of this teat wash by adding fresh and/or dried herbs of your choosing and infuse then in boiling water for at least 10 minutes, I normally let them sit for several hours.
Herbs for Teat Wash:
- Plantain
- Comfrey
- Self Heal
- Chamomile
- Calendula
- Peppermint Leaf
- Yarrow
- Rosemary
- Basil
You could also tincture this blend and add the tincture to your teat wash as well!
Why Do I Add Alcohol?
Alcohol serves as a strong disinfectant. After my bout with gangrene mastitis, I’m more confident in the cleanliness of the teats and udder with some alcohol in the wash. I use this wash within a week, or dump and make new, so I’m confident I don’t need more preservative.
If you would like to omit the alcohol, by all means do, but make the teat wash to use or only keep it in your spray bottle MAX a couple days before making a new batch.
There are also other preservatives, like ascorbic acid based ones or grain alcohol that can work, but I don’t mess around with that. It’s simple enough to make it that I find a preservative other than some added isopropyl alcohol is not necessary.
How to Properly Clean Udders and Teats
I use reusable microfiber cloths and wash them and line dry in the sun to “bleach” them. You can also use paper towels or whatever the heck floats your boat.
Start by spraying the teats and udder area surrounding teats liberally with the teat wash. Goats especially may dance and kick because they don’t particularly like water but they do adapt and get used to it.
Allow the was to sit at least 30-45 seconds to soak and clean.
Starting at the top above the teat, wipe in a downward motion with your cloth until clean. Then using a clean portion of the cloth, swipe the teat end. Repeat for the other side… or remaining quarters depending on what dairy animal you have.
If the udder and teats are super dirty, you can respray and re-wipe as much as you need, using a need cloth each time.
Make sure udder and teats have dried before beginning milking.
Make sure your hands are clean. You can even spray the teat wash on your hands and wipe them off, which I do between does just for extra cleanliness and to not pass cooties around in case we have them.
Equipment You Might Want:
- 32 ounce glass spray bottle
- Microfiber Cloths
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons castile soap
- 15 drops thieves essential oil
- 2 tablespoons isopropyl alcohol
- Water / Herbal Tea
Step 1: Mix the Wash
To your spray bottle, add the above ingredients in order. Add enough water/herbal tea to the bottle to fill it the rest of the way up.
Shake to mix.
Try and use the teat wash within a week, otherwise you really should add a preservative, like grain alcohol that is 120 proof or higher.
To Use:
Generously spray the teats with this wash and allow it to sit about 20 seconds. With a cloth with more teat spray on it, wipe the teats with a twisting motion to clean them. Feel free to repeat the process if they’re dirty with a new rag. Do not reuse rags between does. Allow the teats to air dry off before beginning to milk.
Use good milking technique, take your time, and completely empty the udder.
After milking, use a post dip of your choosing to protect the teats and udder.
And now you know how to make your own DIY homemade teat wash! Now get to milking!
Equipment
- 32 ounce glass spray bottle
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons castile soap
- 15 drops thieves essential oil
- 2 tablespoons isopropyl alcohol
- Water / Herbal Tea
Instructions
Step 1: Mix the Wash
- To your spray bottle, add the above ingredients in order.
- Shake to mix.
- Try and use the teat wash within a week, otherwise you really should add a preservative, like grain alcohol that is 120 proof or higher.
To Use:
- Generously spray the teats with this wash and allow it to sit about 20 seconds. With a cloth with more teat spray on it, wipe the teats with a twisting motion to clean them. Feel free to repeat the process if they’re dirty with a new rag. Do not reuse rags between does. Allow the teats to air dry off before beginning to milk.
- Use good milking technique, take your time, and completely empty the udder.
- After milking, use a post dip of your choosing to protect the teats and udder.
