Soap Making at Moon Haven

Soap making days are so much fun at Moon Haven.  We have worked hard at getting our systems down pat to the point where most days we are able to produce a wide variety and volume of beautifully crafted, natural soaps.

The Routine:
Eric, Chris and Leonie  arrive at the "Soap Shed" early in the morning...

Eric and Leonie unmould the previous day's soap batches, cut these into logs and bars and put them onto our curing racks. We then prepare the moulds for that days batches of soap.

Meanwhile Chris is pouring oils and preparing caustic for each batch, mixing in herbal teas, oats and other additives. Then its all hands on deck as we begin our soap making marathon. Each batch is individually crafted - each has it's own permutation - herb teas, oat gunk, different colours, swirls, textures and additives.

While Eric is the master soap maker, his minions, Chris and Leonie feed him ingredients, utensils (envisage a sugeon like demand for a "scraper" and a loud thunk as it is slapped into the outstretched hand ) and handing off of used bowls, buckets and pots.

Chris then dashes off to clean the pots in our industrial sized sinks and pour even more oils while Leonie prepares for the next batch. Eric in the meantime is putting the recently crafted soap "to bed". This means finishing off the texture for the soap if this is required and placing a towel over the mould to ensure the warmth is retained. If all things are flowing well we then move onto the next soap.

We do this for several hours until we are almost fainting from hunger! After each of the soap batches have been put to bed and put away on our purpose built shelves the real cleaning up begins where every pot, bowl, spoon and bucket is thoroughly washed and dried. Surfaces are cleaned down and everything is sparkling clean. Then its a late in the day snack as we review our progress and take a break from standing on our feet and constant movement. Phewwww.

The day's work has not finished as it's then time to prepare for the next day's soaping with herbs to be ground, botanical teas to be made, colours measured and scent blends poured. Each is carefully placed on the shelves in our soaping clean room in regimented order according to the next day's soap schedule.

Floors are swept, surfaces and floors given a another clean, towels collected for the night's washing and we check that all soaps are progressing well through the various stages of saponification. We turn off lights and look back on a good days soaping as we lock the doors .. knowing everything is ready for another full day of soap creation tomorrow... It's all immensely satisfying... there is nothing like seeing the soap curing racks full and the soaping shelves full of saponifying soap.