Milk and Honey Soap

As an engineer, I tend to gravitate towards the mechanical and electrical posts for Make, but all of us (hopefully) use soap. Some days, like when doing preventive maintenance, engineers need quite a lot of it, and possibly even a new set of clothing.

In the video below, you can see some of what appears to be the original process of making “Milk and Honey Soap.” In it, goat milk is combined with honey (and possibly other ingredients) then poured into a mold. The business started out as having goats as pets. When the goats produced more milk than was needed, and beehives were also available, soap was conceived of as a use for their excess farm products.  It quickly grew to more than the owner was able to produce (even with her kids helping, apparently)!

Although they no longer keep their own bees or goats, appearances are still made at the Santa Fe farmer’s market. Although things have expanded, the focus of this business is still on “making beautiful, natural products with the bounty of rich goat milk and warm golden honey and beeswax.”

A lot of us make stuff with the goal of entertaining ourselves, but it’s really neat to see something like this turn into a sustainable business!