Jeanette’s Blackberry Wine Soap

I make and sell a Blackberry Wine Soap. It’s one of my best sellers. I use a hearty homemade blackberry wine that my vintner husband creates. I use a CP process, and the final color always turns a creamy tan unless I put a color in it. It will not retain its wine fragrance during the curing process, so I add fragrance.

Here’s how I make it:

I substitute the wine for the water in my recipe, and carefully stir the lye into that. I usually do this outside on the grass behind the shop because as you stir the lye and wine together it goes through 2 phases:

1) the “I Wanna Clump Phase,” quickly followed by
2) the “Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble” phase.

Yep, stand back because when this stuff hits phase #2, it quickly bubbles up near the rim of the bowl and then settles down again. That’s when I take it inside and let it cool. From there, I proceed as usual with my recipe, remembering that this particular soap traces quickly and will look like applesauce. I whisk in color and fragrance, then pour into the mold. I do NOT insulate this soap, only cover the wooden mold with clear wrap and toss a tea towel over the top and let it sit back behind the woodstove. The soap continues to heat up and is set and ready to cut within 24 hours. I think the biggest selling point of the soap is the fact that it’s made with our homemade wine. That adds a special touch!

submitted by Jeanette G.