Stories of the Heartland - September 2025 | Page 37

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boiler, to complete the saponification process. While the soap is nearly ready to use immediately, the faster production time and high heat can sometimes diminish the scent of fragrances.

Once the soap has been well blended, Haakonson pours the soap into soap molds. After about 24 hours, the soap is ready to be cut into squares. As Haakonson uses cold processing, she lets the goatmilk soap cure for a minimum of six weeks. Each time, she makes about 10 pounds of soap and focuses on one scent at a time. At this time, she has the scents timber, blue moon, cocoa butter cashmere, tea tree-charcoal, and milk and honey..

Haakonson offers customers soap collections over the course of the year, which allows goatmilk soap lovers to discover new favorite scents. Haakonson also offers unscented

Sheila McCoy / Stories of the Heartland

After collecting the morning milk, Steph Haakonson pours it into a bottle to be used later.

Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, September 21, 2025 Page 37

Sheila McCoy / Stories of the Heartland

Steph Haakonson’ s soaps are made with quality products and have become a favorite among customers.

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