LOL - the responses had me laughing so hard ya'll! I REALLY want a pop up book with teach soap members that jump up to tell me things now! That was the best one! But anyways - all I can say is this:
First - I am an interactive learner - sure I pick up a lot from just paying attention, but I can't actually apply most things mentally and make sense of them without the "do it myself" or even "talk it out with others" phase of learning - I REALLY have to talk stuff out to get a good grasp on it when it is theory and such or actually hands on give it a go. So google and blogs are okay, but don't really and truly help me much since 90% of that is NOT interactive enough.
Second - the books I HAD/still have are okay, but VERY VERY VERY VERY basic "make soap". Not much "why it works" type stuff in them - just some recipes, some ultra basic safety stuff...and really it's all the same recipe repeated with different scents and some additive type stuff, but same oils, same lye and water portions....So if ALL you wanted to do was make a batch or 2 of soap and not really honestly learn anymore than how to mix it all together...well...they are good for that.
Third, and ya'll will notice this a lot if you haven't already, there are a TON of goat specific forums where people make soap, sell soap, use milk in that soap, and it's their ONLY way of marketing their goat milk because the dairy laws and such are so tedious most of us do not operate a dairy - it's more work and money involved than it would be worth for a small herd. Half if not more of them have NO CLUE what is taking place when they are soaping and they are all just selling the exact same soap with slight differences in color and scent as every other farmer is making - same soap, new farmers market, that's all...I swear, just passing around the same recipe and such. But honestly - just being face value take it as it is honest - most of those people will also lie, leave out important bits of info, etc just to confuse and mess with their "competition" (being other goat producers). They have to be fibbing on some things, I mean at least I HOPE they are...I HOPE they don't really feel this way....Case in point:
True story, listen to some of what I have been told recently: I have heard not to worry about zap testing, ph testing or otherwise..."just don't worry, you don't have to do that"......okay....guess not but isn't it better "safe than sorry?" I have heard of one farm that even sells their CP soap within a day or 2 of making it because "it's safe, don't worry".....really? shouldn't you at least give a better product to your customers than that? I would think so.....my favorite was "don't worry about insurance if you are just selling to a few people that stop by the farm, it's not worth it".....suuuurrrreeee....until someone sues your pants right off of you I suppose.....and THEN what huh? Let's see here...what else have I heard...OH! OH! My personal favorite was "you don't have to understand the process to know you have made a good soap". I guess not, I mean I don't know the meaning of life, but here I am living it...but shouldn't you be able to answer any customer's questions in an educated manor? I don't know...I DO know that I WILL NOT buy goats from these same people, let alone their soaps!
So...you see the "culture" I am coming from here is a confused one at best...we as a group (small farmers) generally have to cheat the system on a lot of stuff - I can't sell milk, not even for soaping as craft milk, without a license...just can't, not legally (and they do run sting and busts on that out here at least)....BUT...I can trade/barter...I can even do a "lease" on a goat...i just can't actually sell the milk - so if one of ya'll wanted some of my milk to make soap with, we couldn't exchange money, but we could trade or you could lease a goat (just so happens your portion has the udder attached)...I also can't sell a processed/butchered anything...but I can sell it ALIVE and butcher it as a FAVOR/GIFT - a LOT of small farmers operate like this...not without proper licenses can you sell food but you CAN sell soap much easier and most people on a small scale do NOT and CANNOT afford that paperwork..so they do what they have to make ends meet...I am not always okay with it, but I understand I guess...
Do you see the mentality and where a lot of small farms are coming from? Not an excuse, but just how it seems to work...Always bootleg and backdoor...I just think though that somethings should be more informed than most of their soap making practices seem to be...skinning a rabbit is ten times easier to learn than making soap! And most all of them are making and selling soap...because following a recipe is not that hard to them, but that is ALL they do, follow the recipe and never delve any further into it...for real...not ALL of them, but a good majority of the people I have run across are like that...
Anyways...I guess I am rambling...sorry...just kinda trying to explain why so much confusion seems to be moving about in certain circles...especially when a homesteading type jumps in with newbies questions...LOTS or wrong info out there and most of them are saying the total opposite of what ya'll are saying here in fact...
Also..I have to admit - most goat people tend to be the kind that jump in with both feet full throttle...you have to be tenacious to a degree to own goats, the little critters are tough and confusing! So I admit I have jumped in with both feet, but I ain't not trying to sell nothing! I'm just having fun making soap in my little farmhouse
So...off my box....out to feed before dark
Sorry....rambling I know...again...sorry
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