We’ve all heard it a million times, but thanks to COVID 19 we are constantly bombarded with “Wash your hands” and “Don’t touch your face.” Honestly, it’s always been an important message but even more so now.
Yes, it is so simple that it sounds corny, but please wash your hands. Hand sanitizer is a great option when you can’t wash, but regular hand washing helps prevent the spread of germs. A quick 20 second wash can prevent you getting ill as well as prevent you from spreading illness to others.
Here’s a demo from Alton Brown on hand washing explaining how and why to wash.
We agree with carrying soap with you for hand washing and that’s one of our favorite uses of our soap samples. If you don’t have access to water, then keep some hand sanitizer with you.
Be safe. Now that quarantine is opening back up, we still need to take care to prevent spreading the virus.
If you want some soap samples, just drop us a line and we will try to get a few over to you.
If you have ever tried any other hand made soaps, then you know that not every bar is the same. Scents will vary, as so will ingredients, but the finished bar of soap can vary greatly even if the ingredients are fairly similar. Here are some of the reasons that make Wyldewood Soap a little different.
The Goat Milk –
Here at Wyldewood, we use fresh, frozen goat milk in every batch. When we milk our goats, that milk is immediately brought in, filtered and measured. Then it is straight into the freezer where it stays until we pull it out for soaping. We partially thaw the milk before adding sodium hydroxide in an effort to keep the milk as cool as possible. Mixing sodium hydroxide and water or goat milk is an exothermic reaction, meaning it gives off heat. If you have never seen this reaction, it can get very hot very fast and if not done properly, the milk will be ruined by too much heat.
Oils and/or Butters
Each bar of our soap will have an ingredient list on the back. We believe that you should know every ingredient in any of our products. We have developed our soap recipe over the past 15 years and each ingredient is there for a reason and contributes specific properties to the finished bar of soap. You won’t see a lot of specialty oils and butters in our soaps because we feel that these are best used in leave on products. The process of soap making (called saponification) means that the molecules of sodium hydroxide react with the fatty acid chains in oils and butters to produce glycerin and a fatty acid salt (aka soap). Since the oils in our recipe will be chemically reacting with lye, we choose them based on the properties they will give to our finished soap and we save the specialty oils and butters for recipes that let you receive all their skin loving benefits.
Our Soap Making Process and Curing Process
Here at Wyldewood, we typically use the cold process method of soap making. Cold process soap making basically means that we do not add any extra heat as part of the curing process. We mix our soap and then pour each batch in a mold. The soap will stay in the mold overnight at least and then we cut into bars and place the bars on curing racks. Each batch will then cure for weeks before we will label and sell them. While most of the chemical process is completed in the first 24-48 hours, we feel that allowing a longer cure makes the bar milder and allows excess water to evaporate. A well cured bar of soap will last much longer and cleanse better. We also keep records on every batch so that we can ensure quality and make sure you get the best soap possible. Some fragrances or colors can shift over time or added ingredients may not hold up like we expect and a longer cure allows us to monitor for any problems.
Soap that has just been poured into the mold
Freshly cut soap on curing racks
We are passionate about soap making and are constantly researching to make sure we bring you the best soaps and other products. If you ever have any questions on the ingredients we use or why we chose to use a certain ingredient, feel free to contact us and ask. We love talking soap and goats!
Choosing between a sugar scrub and a salt scrub may seem like a pointless choice, but there are differences in each that you should consider. Both are great for cleaning your skin. Also, they both exfoliate and leave your skin fresher and more radiant. So why should it matter which one we choose?
Sugar Scrubs
Sugar scrubs tend to be gentler on your skin that salt scrubs. One reason for this is the diameter and shape of granulated sugar. Salt crystals are small cubes and this means sharper edges. The sharper edges are wonderful for scrubbing, but you need to consider where you will be using the scrub. Sugar granules are also usually smaller than salt which makes them more suitable for sensitive skin. As a result, you are more likely to see sugar scrubs for facial skin. Sugar scrubs can melt as you use it more than salt scrubs. Sugar scrubs have a higher glycolic acid content as well.
Salt Scrubs
Salt scrubs are great for scrubbing due to the size and shape of the salt crystals. Salts can come in many different varieties and sizes so you have a lot of options when choosing your salt scrub. It is not hard to find salt scrubs that include Epsom salt, Himalayan salt, Mediterranean salt, or Dead Sea Salt. Each of these types of salts has a different mineral profile. Some of these minerals include calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper and iron just to name a few. The added minerals make salt scrubs perfect to use while in the bathtub so you can get the benefits of the salt scrub and the added salt/minerals to your bath water. Salt scrubs are great to use on feet, elbows, knuckles and legs. Just remember that if you have any kind of skin abrasion, salt will sting more than sugar.
I personally would not recommend using a salt scrub more often than once a week, but sugar scrubs can be used a little more often. Regardless of which scrub you choose, please use them lightly. A gentle touch is best with any exfoliation and you never want to rub harshly. Start with a small amount and rub in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water to achieve the best results. We also recommend using a lotion after exfoliation.
It’s time for our second installment of meet the girls and our chosen girl is Rebekah. She is one of our senior does and her mom was Twilight (one of our first 3 girls). Rebekah is a chamoisee pattern with white and has some of the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen on a goat.
She is our current herd queen and likes to rule over everyone except her best bud, Tinkerbell. While she may not have quite as many antics as Tinkerbell, Rebekah has always been a character here at Wyldewood. If she thinks you have food or treats, she will be all in your space. If she thinks you might be considering catching her for something, then you will never get near her. In her younger days, we called her the Matrix goat. She was known to run along the wall in the barn and jump over the wall of the stalls to get away from you. Luckily, she has settled down quite a bit in her older years.
Rebekah’s other talent is teaching all of our dogs that they don’t want to go in the goat when we are working on things. Rebekah and her mother have made sure all of our dogs give the goats a very wide berth. She is usually the first to put any livestock guardian puppies in their place as well. She gets along great with our senior Great Pyrenees, Sam. He loves to be near the girls, but doesn’t get in their space so Rebekah tolerates him more than any other dog that has ever lived at Wyldewood.
Rebekah
We are hoping for some beautiful babies from Rebekah this spring and I am hoping for at least one girl that I can keep. I would love to have another girl with her beautiful blue eyes so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.
We are getting close to Christmas so there are not many more events on the calendar for us. Check out the links below for our last three events of the season. As always if you are not able to catch us out and about, you can always order online or message us.
Saturday, December 7th – Holiday Mart in Trenton, TN at the First Baptist Church. It is from 9am – 3pm and will have lots of great vendors set up.
Saturday, December 14th – Christmas on Main in Tiptonville, TN at the Tiptonville Main Street Center from 10am – 2pm.
Sunday, December 15th – Christmas Soaping with Wyldewood Soap Works will be at All Things Pie and More in Newbern from 1pm – 5pm. All Things Pie and More will have special treats and so will we! Free soap samples and I’m also planning on some other goodies.
You’ve invested in some wonderful hand made soap, but how do you get the most out of that investment? We’ve compiled some of our favorite methods to help extend the life of your new bar of soap.
Keep soap dry between uses. Your new bar is made from real soap and lots of skin loving oils. Since it is not made with detergents and extra hardeners, it will break down and dissolve if left in standing water. Investing in a good soap dish will allow that extra moisture to drain away. This lets your bar dry thoroughly between uses and will help extend the life of your soap. Check out the wooden soap dishes that we now carry. We also offer a premium wooden soap dish as well.
Save your scraps! If you are like me, you are not fond of using the tiny slivers at the end of your soap bar, but we do not want to waste any wonderful soap. My favorite solution is to use a soap saver bag. Simply drop in your soap scraps and tighten the drawstring. To use, wet the bag and use like a scrubby. I love the mild exfoliation from the bag too.
Diluting your soap. I will admit that this is not a method that I use. I am a fan of bar soap all the way, but many people enjoy diluting their bar soaps. To do this, you just need to grate your bar of soap. Add approximately one ounce of grated soap to 1 cup of filtered water and leave overnight. The next day, stir until everything is well blended. To use, simply dip your washcloth into the mixture. Personally, I would recommend not letting this mixture sit around more than a few days unless you choose to add some kind of preservative.
So feel free to try any or all of the above ideas to help keep your soap investment lasting as long as possible.
I thought it would be fun to introduce a few of the girls here at Wyldewood Soap Works and Farm. One of our older ladies, Tinkerbell, is up first.
Tink is one of our Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats. She is a buckskin pattern with minimal white and beautiful blue eyes. Her best friend is one of our other senior does, Rebekah. You will learn more about Rebekah in our next “Meet the Girls” blog post.
Around the farm, Tinkerbell is one of our herd queens. She likes to be the boss of everyone and is one of the reasons we have to make everyone spread out at feeding time. Most of our girls are happy to share a single feeding trough, but not Tinkerbell. She thinks she deserves an entire one to herself!
Tinkerbell is also known for hitting anything and everything. Luckily, that doesn’t include people! If you are outside and hear someone hitting the barn, it’s Tinkerbell. Sounds like someone is hitting the fence? It’s Tinkerbell. Stall board broken in the barn? It was Tinkerbell.
I’m sure we’ve all heard of glycerin soap or you’ve seen the clear soaps at your local store, but do you know what makes it such a good ingredient for body care products? It is a humectant, which means that it attracts moisture. So when you use a lotion or a soap that contains glycerin, it helps attract moisture from the air to your skin. We love to use a little bit in some of our products. You can also find it in our soaps. One of the great things about hand made soap is that glycerin is a natural by product of the saponification process. The chemical reaction that makes soap also creates glycerin as one of the by-products. It remains in the bars of soap. This is just one of the reasons that hand made soaps are beneficial for your skin.
Close-up image of woman pouring soap mixture into plastic form
On a side note, have you ever had someone tell you that their soap is 100% pure glycerin? It probably contains some, but pure glycerin is a thick, clear fluid. A bar of soap may contain the pure ingredient, but would have other ingredients too.
It’s been way too long since I posted any new blog posts so I thought it would be fun to share some fun spring pictures. All the baby goats are here and running around like crazy. Flowers are blooming and pollen is everywhere. I love this time of the year when my grandmother’s azalea bushes are blooming. The colors are spectacular and pictures really don’t do them justice.
We have one more event left for the 2017 holiday season. Come out next weekend to the Old Hickory Mall in Jackson, TN and get your holiday shopping wrapped up. We will be at the Rockin’ Around the Christmas Shoppe Holiday Mart. The Shoppe will be set up in the “pop up shop” next to Victoria’s Secret inside the mall.
Wyldewood Soap Works will be there with our award winning goat milk soaps as well as lotions, lip balms, bath bombs, bath salts, and bath accessories. We will have premade gift sets available or can custom design a gift set however you would like. Get some goat milk soap for yourself and for all the people on your shopping list. Soap and lip balm sets make great stocking stuffers!
The Shoppe starts Thursday evening with a “Shoppe Sneak Peek” from 6pm – 9pm. We will be set up Friday, Saturday and Sunday during Old Hickory Mall hours.
Stop by to see the local vendors and their assortment of unique, handmade items. Come on out and have a rockin’ good time while getting your Christmas shopping done.
