Farm and Soap Updates — soap making

Soap as Art A bar of soap can be a remarkable art form. Have a quick glance around the internet looking for fancy, quirky, and detailed soaps and you will see the amazing artwork that soap makers are capable of! Alas, I do not count myself among these soap maker artists. Without wishing to cast even the smallest of aspersions upon those who do raise soap making to an art, my goal has always been to make a simple, functional bar of soap that almost anyone can afford to buy regularly. Functional Soap When I photograph my soap for the...

Animal fats are far less common in our daily lives than in the past and in recent decades there has been a push to remove them from not only our diets but from our skin products. The result is that most people today are not very familiar with the different types and uses of animals fats. Did you know that prior to the widespread use of petroleum products, animal fats were used for anything from candles to axle grease, not to mention forming an important part of the diet. Here at Fat Chance Farm, we are, of course, big proponents of using...

I am sometimes asked if I make goat milk soap and the answer is no, in fact I make cow milk soap! I'm not quite sure when and why goat milk became the "go-to milk" for soap making but you can make soap with any kind of milk (or any kind of water based liquid really!) The only soap I currently make with milk is my Milk and Maple Soap. Both cow and goat milk contain fats, vitamins and minerals that are great for the skin and that make a bar of soap more moisturizing. The cow milk I use...

Every so often I get asked some variation of "the lye question" from customers or prospective customers: Do your soaps contain lye? (yes... and also no) Can you make me a soap without lye? (Nope) Is lye soap bad for your skin? (it depends...) Do your soaps contain lye? First lets talk about the several different ways that lye can appear on an ingredient label. I simply use the term "lye", since it is simple and clear and most folks understand what it is. Another name for lye is "sodium hydroxide" (chemical formula NaOH) which is probably a bit more...

I've heard from many customers lately looking to use my soaps for natural household cleaning. Not only does soap contain a short list of natural ingredients but it is easy to make, ship and use without the use of plastic.  The soap I recommend for these tasks is my Tallow Household Soap (formerly Tallow Laundry Soap). The name change reflects the myriad of uses this soap can be put to around the house, the ingredients remain the same, just tallow, water and lye, or if you prefer the list of ingredients post saponification (the chemical reaction that creates soap) simply...