Today I am very excited about soap… I have just spoken to the lovely Jo from Mill Cottage Soap in Llandrindod Wells. And some small samples will be on their way to me soon so that I can select some soaps to start making wash balls with.

Woolly wash balls… soon to be filled with lovely soap from Mill Cottage Soap

I’m really pleased to have found someone in Wales who is producing their soap in a way that’s kind to the environment. I was particularly keen to buy soap that doesn’t have palm oil in it. I know that it is possible to buy ‘sustainable’ palm oil, but there are still concerns about the lack of regulation in this sector and the fact that pristine forest land in Indonesia and Malaysia is being lost to new plantations.

However, Jo uses mostly olive oil plus some coconut and sunflower oils. She uses essential oils, such as lavender, geranium and orange to scent the soap and adds no colours. We discussed the relative merits and qualities of soaps made out of different oils and talked about the soap making process and what types of soap are popular and I feel comfortable that I have chosen a good company to buy from.

I have written previously about keeping money in the local economy, and using Mill Cottage Soap will allow me to do this too. In addition, I can go over and collect. I travel quite regularly from my home in west Wales to Shropshire and Herefordshire, and Llandrindod is on the way. I will thus be able to save on postage, cut down the packaging and reduce my ‘soap miles’!

So, any requests for specific scents? I quite fancy Rosehip and Geranium, but I think Lemon and Lime or Peppermint and Tea Tree both sound very refreshing. And then there’s Bergamot and Patchouli, which sounds quite exotic… so many choices!