What Marion Slagter creates in her kitchen is part chemistry, part artistry, part alchemy – and it all begins with goats’ milk.

The farmer from Tirohanga makes a range of artisan goats’ milk soaps for men, women and children, and has developed a loyal following among customers throughout the country.

However, the initial reason for keeping milking goats was to use their milk to rear pure-bred puppies, not for soap making.

“I call goats’ milk the universal milk because you can use it to feed almost any baby from a hedgehog, to puppies, to fawns and humans,” says Marion.

However, when Marion stopped breeding puppies she couldn’t bear to part with her five milking goats so looked for another use for their milk.

“We make a lot of goats’ milk products for our own consumption including cheeses, yoghurt and this summer hopefully ice cream, but at an average of six litres of milk per goat per day, the girls provide more milk than we could consume.” So Marion turned to the internet to learn about soap making.

“It was very much trial and error at first. When things go wrong with soap making they can go very wrong, from soap which sets too quickly, to a batch which goes a horrible colour.”

Marion has now pretty much perfected the process but enjoys pushing the boundaries by experimenting with new colours and scents.

Frozen milk

The day Coast and Country News visited, Marion demonstrated the step-by-step process that begins with gently thawing frozen goats’ milk. “It is important to freeze it first as it is much harder to make good soap from fresh milk.”

On the stove was a pot containing olive, rice bran, coconut, castor oils and cocoa butter, heated just enough to emulsify. “I’m working with ingredients at very low temperatures because that gives me a bit more time before the soap begins to set,” says Marion, as she mixes red and black mica in two separate pottles to colour the soap.

Measuring the ingredients precisely is vital and Marion uses a formula known to soap makers as saponification values – or SAP – to calculate the precise amount of lye (sodium hydroxide) needed to fully “saponify” a given weight of oils.

It’s the use of lye in soap making that has given rise to the brand name ‘White Lye’ for her soaps. “The lye I use is manufactured and 99.9 per cent pure, as opposed to the old fashioned lye made from wood ash. Wood ash lye could give very inconsistent results and often a very soft bar of soap.

“All of my soaps contain 38 per cent whole, unpasteurised goats’ milk. I am very particular about what goes into my soaps as I don’t want to risk anyone damaging their skin by using something which is not pure and gentle.”

Marion pours the goats’ milk and lye into the oils and mixes it with a stick blender – just enough to activate the process of turning the ingredients into soap. She then adds a fragrance and pours a little of the mixture into each of the pottles of colour. She adds a white colour base to the creamy-coloured milk and oil mixture.

Black Tie

Marion’s partner Lyall Ridge has made her soap molds, which enable her to create blocks of soap in sizes to suit whatever batch she is making. It is into one of these, tilted slightly on one side, that she pours first some white soap, then drizzles red then black along its surface. The process is repeated with the mold tilted from side to side, until the mold is full.

By now the soap has the consistency of a thick, smooth pasta sauce and is setting quickly. On its surface Marion places dots of black and red before using a plastic stick to create a swirling pattern.

The soap in its mold is wrapped in towels to keep it warm and hasten the gelling process and by the next morning will be ready to remove and cut into bars.

“This is a new soap for men; and I’ve called it Black Tie,” says Marion, who believes men should also enjoy fine quality soaps which are good for their skin.

“I can’t make any claims for my soaps but a number of my repeat clients say using the soaps has helped with their skin conditions, and others just love how soft and nice to use the soaps are.”

Because it was hard to source colours for soaps in New Zealand, Marion now imports a rainbow of colours including some referred to as ‘neon’, which are popular with youngsters, and also supplies them to other soap makers.

Soap community

The soap making community is a close-knit and supportive one. Marion belongs to the online group Kiwi Soapmakers, which has a Facebook page where members exchange information and run competitions aimed at encouraging newcomers to the art.

As well as making soaps, Marion also makes goats’ milk body butters. Not confident with selling in the farmers’ market environment, Marion relies on her Facebook page – at: www.facebook.com/WhiteLye – and word of mouth for sales. She also hopes in future to be able to offer soap-making lessons.

This would have to fit around running the 220 hectare drystock property belonging to her and Lyall, who also share between them the hand-milking of five goats twice-a-day.

“During the winter, feeding and moving stock takes from 6am to 6pm but we love it here.”

Before moving to Tirohanga, Lyall and Marion were dairy farming near Opotiki.