HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-04-16, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1997
En^ironincnt
Family need leads to all-natural soap business
Necessity truly is the mother of invention.
Inspired by a relative's skin problem,
Deloris Souch and her husband, Bill, have
developed an all-natural soap which is a
marvel to those who suffer psoriasis, have
sensitive skin or just want a product with no
additives.
Seeing their grandson's extreme eczema
vanish, Deloris says this was just one
testimonial to how well her soap works.
After getting out of the farrow-to-finish
business a few years back, the Souches began
to seriously research and produce their Down
Home Country Soap.
Beginning with that simple need, the
Deloris and Bill Souch develop and
create all-natural soaps.
little room for profit.
Morris Twp. couple developed a business
which produces a wide variety of cleansing
products to suit many purposes.
Experimentation and a brief stint in a
'budding entrepreneurs' course led to the first
soaps being poured into moulds in their
kitchen in January, 1996. Though the process
started with makeshift moulds, they soon
attained proper equipment.
The most difficult part of creating the
product was finding a good wholesale source
for the natural ingredients, said the Souches.
Though many of the items, such as olive oil
are available in local grocery stores,
producing the soap at retail prices would
Numerous phone calls and
detective work tracked down a
supplier, and, with the family truck,
barrels of all-natural ingredients
were brought home.
Some of the base ingredients were
located close to home as Bill obtains
tallow from local abbatoirs, then
renders it for the soap base.
The addition of a lye and water
mixture to the tallow is a critical step
in the soap-making process. The two
components, when combined, must
be at exactly the same temperature in
order for the soap to work. Luckily
for the Souches, they say every batch
they have poured has worked.
Once the mixture of the three
elements has reached the desired
thickness, the natural oils and special
ingredients are added. This list can
range from oatmeal to honey or
cucumber, depending on the purpose
of the cleanser.
Saying that some people might be
surprised at the things which go into
making soap, Deloris says, "If you
can eat it, you can put it on your
body."
She relates one story from a craft
show when a women bought one bar
of the cucumber soap, which is good
for psoriasis. She was back
the following day to buy
more because she had
already seen an
improvement in her skin
rash.
The cucumbers, grown
naturally by the .Souches,
are completely ground,
skin, seeds and all, and
added to the soap. The
resulting bar-is slightly
green with a hint of
cucumber smell.
Following the ancient
wisdom of Cleopatra, who
used three soaps for her
Selection
beauty regimen. DeloriX A choices o! soaPs meels customers' needs. J
says they have oatmeal
honey soap for cleanser, pure honey as a toner
and Castile (tallow, lye and olive or coconut
oil) as a beauty bar.
The oatmeal-honey cleanser, has become
tops on Bill's list of product. "I could bath
before (with commercial soap), put on a white
shirt and come back with it black (due to dirt
in the skin). Now I wash with this soap and I
can go out, get sweaty and still have a white
shirt."
Supporting Bill's finding about the cleanser,
Deloris says "People are not getting their
pores cleaned out and it is causing problems."
With summer hopefully just around the
comer, the Souches also produce a soap
which helps ward off bug bites. Unlike most
commercial soaps, these contains no
perfumes to attract insects, but does have
citronella. Deloris suggests bathing with the
soap before going outside, laundering your
clothes with it or carrying a bar in your
pocket for rubbing on the skin as
effectiveness wanes.
She also says a bar of citronella soap stored
with woolen clothes will keep the moths
away.
This all-purpose lemon-scented additive,,
along with bay and cedar, helps dogs repel
mosquitoes, fleas and ticks.
From the family pet to the children,
Souches have the right soap. For baby's
sensitive skin, a combination of apricot oil
and potash is the answer, they say.
For the ground-in grime which
accompanies the work of a farmers and
mechanics, sand from a local pit is added to
the soap to give it scrubbing power. For the
hard-to-clean laundry, lye soap reportedly
gets out the toughest stains.
For those whose hair is thinning slightly,
Deloris swears by the lemon grass and jojoba
shampoo, saying Bill's hair has definitely
thickened.
With the oils, herbs and extracts added, the
soap is poured into moulds, making
approximately 108 bars. The product must
then age for four to six months.
Once ready for market, the soap is wrapped
in plastic and finished with an identifying
label.
Selling the product mainly through craft
shows, the Souches are developing a mail
order business.
In business for just over a year, the Souches
are also offering their all-natural soap in
combination gift boxes and as school
fundraising products.
"It's better than selling chocolates bars,"
they say.
HELP *
Our Earth by Disposing of Household Hazardous Waste
the Proper Way.
MAKE A
SICK HOUSE WELL
with the
LIVING AIR XL-15
According to the EPA, indoor air
pollution is our nation’s biggest
pollution problem. Modem homes and buildings are so
energy efficient they block out nature's air cleaning
agents and trap pollution inside—inside where you
probably spend 90% of your time. What can you do?
Ventilation systems can be expensive, and filters
provide only a partial remedy. Why not look at nature?
Living Air looked to nature before designing the
revolutionary XL-15, an electronic thunderstorm in a
box. A thunderstorm is nature's most powerful air
cleaning activity. Why not take the test? Ask for a
free, no obligation
demonstration of the
powerful Living Air
XL-15.
INDEPENDENT DEALER
ALICIA DEITNER
Brussels (519) 887-6502
Household Hazardous Waste Days gives you an opportunity to clear potentially dangerous waste out of
your home and protect our environment at the same time. Residents that participate in the Bluewater
Recycling Association program may bring their hazardous products to the locations listed below where
it will be collected and distributed by trained professionals. This is a free event for members of the
Bluewater Recycling program only. Non members will be charged an administration fee.
Site Location Date Time
Wallace Twp.
Works Garage
5882 Line 88
Gowanstown
April 18 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
McKillop Twp.
Works Garage
Cone. 8 PL Lot 26
Winthrop
April 19 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Town of Goderich
Works Garage
361 Cambridge St.
Goderich
April 19 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Town of St. Marys
Works Garage
433 Widder St.
St Marys
April 20 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Village of Lucan
Works Garage
Butler Street
Lucan
April 20 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
In every home there are products that require special care. You will recognize them by these warning
symbols.
TOXIC
• Pesticides
• Rat Poison
• Pharmaceuticals
• Cleaning Fluids
• Pool Chemicals
• Ammonia
• Bleach
• Aerosols
• Paints, Solvents
• Oils, Gasoline
• BBQ Starter
• Propane Cylinders
CORROSIVE
• Batteries
• Drain Cleaners
• Oven Cleaners