Local Handcrafted Goat Soap Soothes America’s Skin

Debi Swanson was a stay-at-home mom until 1999, when she and her husband, Dave, bought their nine-acre North Granby farm. Like a picture-perfect postcard, the house and buildings are set against a backdrop of serene mountains. The Salmon Brook River meanders through the property where Swanson’s herd of goats now grazes and plays. Every day, this peaceful rural scene comes alive with the daily bustle of activity surrounding Swanson’s goat soap business, Doemain B’Udder Bar.

Swanson reflects on the family’s early farm life, recalling how the couple  researched livestock in search of a low-maintenance animal that would help them work with the land. “At first, we only bought two goats, because they ate weeds and poison ivy. Then  we fell in love with their personalities.”

 She says the goats helped the children adjust to farm life more easily; at first the youngsters thought they would go stir- crazy living out in the country. Then, Swanson decided to  pursue the benefits of products made from the goats’ milk. Initially she made cheese; next she developed a goat’s milk formula for soap. Positive feedback from friends and family on the quality and benefits of the soap encouraged her to continue.

 “Personally, I always thought the goat’s milk made a fantastic soap,” advises Swanson, “but when people were going out of their way to comment on how much they loved it, I knew I was on to something good. Many commented that they no  longer needed moisturizers and lotions. Friends and family with tough conditions like psoriasis and eczema were seeing results. Teenagers loved how it helped their acne.” Emu oil  turned out to be a key ingredient.

One of the enterprise’s biggest challenges was conquering the learning curve involving the precise components of Swanson’s therapeutic formulas,  largely developed through trial and error. She recalls that it took more than two years to learn about the properties of the oils. Many batches had to be thrown away “because they came out looking like oatmeal,” she quips.

Swanson’s favorite benefit of running the farm has been that she has been able to quit her former job and spend more time with the goats, which she milks herself. She sells her 100  percent biodegradable soaps in the community and at local farmers’ markets, and enjoys teaching basic soap-making at the Connecticut Farm  Bureau Association.