Goats' milk soap cleaning up

Some people enjoy cheese made from goats' milk but who knew it could also create soap?

What started as a hobby for one Balclutha couple has now turned into a fulltime business.

Tracy Tooley and Malcolm Gawn own simplenakedsoap where they create and sell a range of soap products from goats' milk.

The soap is made from goats' milk, natural oils and can include other natural products such as carrot or honey.

Ms Tooley was previously an anaesthetic technician and found she was sensitive to chemicals in some products.

''I've always been a crafty person so I thought I would make my own soap.''

She taught herself to make soap through experimenting, watching Youtube videos and reading.

She first got goats with the idea of making cheese, ''but then I thought I would try it in soap''.

After having success making it and some encouragement from her friends, she went to her first market and ''I sold everything''.

Two years ago, Ms Tooley decided to make the jump to go full-time making soap.

She has not looked back.

''I've had some right muck-ups but I've had fun along the way.''

Her partner Malcolm has also become heavily involved with the business, after Ms Tooley dragged him along to a market.

''He didn't want to go but he actually really enjoyed it.''

As the business grew and Ms Tooley had more orders to fill, Mr Gawn took over the marketing side of things.

This year, they had gone to women's expos and field days. as well as having their products in Dunedin shop Otago Made.

''It's amazing how we've gone from being one year quite small to the next having grown so much.

''We started out with two goats ... then we had four and now we have 22.''

Not just her own goats' milk goes into the soap, but honey from her beehives and produce from her vegetable gardens as well.

''I find things that I can experiment with.''

She said goats were not the easiest animals to care for.

''They escape from everything, it doesn't matter how many electric fences you have on ...

''You have to do their feet, and they get worms really easily, and they destroy anything they can.''

But they were real characters and each had their own personality.

''We enjoy having them around.''

She said in future she would get more goats and hoped to expand her soap room so she could make more.

''I enjoy experimenting. I'm always changing things up and changing things around, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the future.''