Home | The Home of Garland Goat Soap »
The Story of Garland Goat Soap of Maine
By Arielle | March 23, 2009
Welcome to Garland Goat Soap’s Blog, where you can keep up to date on the happenings at Garland Goat Soap of Maine! The roots of Garland Goat Soap go back about nine years ago, when as a twelve year old, I had the opportunity to observe and help a friend make goat milk soap. My family had a small homestead/farm and enjoyed gardening, canning, cheesemaking, baking our own bread, sewing, growing fruit trees and berries, raising livestock, building, and in general producing as many of our own needs naturally off our small bit of land as possible. To me, soapmaking seemed like a natural — and fascinating — extension of these activities. Besides, we had our own herd of lovely dairy goats, and were always excited about new ways to utilize their wonderful milk. So, soon after that initial soapmaking experience with our friend, we took the plunge and tried mixing up a batch of goat milk soap ourselves. It was as complete disaster! The resulting bars were an oily, gloppy, — and caustic — mess!
However, I was still fascinated with the process of soapmaking, and procured some books that gave me more information on the details of soapmaking. Armed with a deeper knowledge, I again attempted to make soap, careful to be more precise with measurements and temperatures in the process, and this time produced a usable bar of pure, natural goat milk soap that delighted my family and I. Encouraged, I continued to produce soap for my family, constantly expanding my knowledge of the art and chemistry of natural soapmaking by research and experimentation. Several years, extensive research, and many batches of soap later, I had created my own recipe of natural soap, a perfect combination of my goats’ pure milk and luscious oils to produce creamy, long-lasting, mild and cleansing soap.
The soap worked so well for us! It was so soothing and healing and helped our dry, cracked hands, often exposed to the harsh elements of farming, become soft and smooth. We frequently shared soap with friends as a gift, and they were equally delighted with it! It was several years ago that I officially started selling soap, first to local stores and individuals, and thus Garland Goat Soap of Maine was founded. From there, as they say, the rest is history! Even as the business has grown, I continue to love handcrafting the goat milk soap in small batches, and continue to use only natural and pure ingredients in each of our expanding varieties of soap. After all, I first set out to share my goat milk soap because of its pure, natural goodness, and that’s something that won’t change!
Topics: History | No Comments »