Goats milk the key to sensitive soap-making
A PASSION for being selfsufficient is seeing one NorthWest farmer share her skills for making handmade soap.
Sharon Hercott has been making her own cold-pressed soaps for about seven years.
After selling her products at markets, she is now running regular soap-making workshops following requests from her customers.
“I was always interested in soap-making because for me handmade soaps were quite a luxury thing to buy because they are quite expensive,” she said.
“I’ve always had quite sensitive skin, too, so by making my own soaps I could use ingredients that help with that.”
One of the key ingredients for her products is goats milk, which she gets from her small herd of goats on the property she runs with husband Paul at Preolenna.
During her workshops, Mrs Hercott shows participants the correct methods to create unique and personalised soaps.
But she said there also was a lot of chemistry involved.
“There are a lot of dos and don’ts with soap-making and you can’t just do anything, so I go through all the chemistry side of it so people know how to make soap safely,” she said.
“I go through all the different clays you can use and fragrances and the botanicals, such as dried flowers. Once you have a good soap recipe that works, there’s a huge range of things you can use.”
Mrs Hercott said goats milk added a very creamy and moisturising texture to the soaps, and was good for anyone with sensitive skin.
The other base products Mrs Hercott uses are olive oil and coconut oil.
As well as soaps, Mrs Hercott uses the goats milk to make her own cheese and yoghurt.
The couple also run Jersey cows to produce milk, chickens for their meat, and they grow fruit and vegetables, including raspberries.
Mrs Hercott said their aim was to establish a farm stay on the property where people could visit and see first-hand how their farming systems worked. To find out more about the soap-making workshops contact Mrs Hercott on 0447 773 974.