Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

An accountant by trade, Artesia resident Rachael Joy found a hobby four years ago that could be a full-time vocation someday.

Joy and her family live on a farm northwest of Artesia where alfalfa is grown and goats roam the fields, producing milk used to create handmade soaps and other body care products.

“I wanted my own little herd,” Joy said during a recent interview at the family farm.

Founded in 2021, her DSB Soap Company operates out of the family household. Joy said 50 goats provide the milk and she does the rest.

The process starts with mixing containers and a lye pot.

“I freeze the goat milk and add lye to the frozen milk,” she said.

Joy has another pot used for melting oils, which are mixed with the lye. Next comes a process called saponification, which involves using a hand mixer to blend the ingredients.

According to the website goatmilkstuff.com, saponification produces a balanced bar that contains both soap and glycerin.

“When the soap is handmade through the cold process method, the glycerin is in balance with the soap,” says the website.

Joy said she uses a cold process to make all DSB soaps. She uses clay and mica, a substance found in granite and other rocks, to add color to the mixture.

“I pour the batter into molds, and it sits for 24 to 48 hours,” she said. “Then I cut it into loaves.”

She said three loaves can be cut in a large mold and two loaves can be cut into a small mold.

“Once it’s cut I put it on a wire rack and it cures for four weeks,” she said. “After four weeks, I shrink-wrap it and put it in the mail.”

Soap orders are taken online, Joy said, and she also sells soap at trade shows in southeast New Mexico.

Joy and her family raise Nigerian Dwarf goats registered by the American Dairy Goat Association, she said. The herd’s name is Desert Sky Bliss.

“Since we started making soap, we shortened it to DSB. We had a lot of milk,” she said.

Joy said she learned to make soap from her late mother, Lori White.

Born in Bremerton, Washington, Joy met her husband Jagan, an Artesia native, while he was in the military. They moved to Artesia from Washington in 2007. Her mom moved to Artesia in 2015.

“We made all the soap in my mom’s house,” Joy said. “My husband had to enclose the garage – we had to make a place for all of my soap.”

The goats are milked twice a day and the best time for milking is in late fall and early winter, she said.

“In December, January and February goats are birthing. To have a baby, a goat has to have live milk,” she said.

She said her husband and daughters Jaylee and Jeslyn help with the soapmaking and shipping.

The amount of time Rachael devotes to making her wares varies based on demand, she said.

“When I have a lot of events coming up, like during the holidays, I make a batch of soap every day. Plus maybe 50 candles a week …. it’s kind of seasonal right now.”

And what about turning her hobby into a full-time pursuit?

Maybe, she said, and she might start by growing her presence online.

“I’ve got to expand my market, and I do have a website,” she said. “Most of my soap is on there and I do have lotions on my website.”

Joys’ web address is dsbsoapco.com.

Follow Mike Smith on X @mikesmithartesianm.