Tomelo Wooly Soap - Product Story
<How it was made>
Step 1. Indigenous breeds of sheep (white & brown) in the Miranda region of northern Portugal are sheared from April to May.
Step 2. Remove the clean part of the sheared wool
Step 3. Pull the hairs out in a long form, from the bundle of hair
Step 4. Roll it up, wrap the soap with wool
Step 5. Rinse with water to bond the wool and soap
Step 6. Clean the outer hairs of the soap dried naturally, and you're done!
BEHIND STORY: Portuguese social enterprise <Tomelo>
<Tomelo>, the birthplace of wooly donkey soap, is a social enterprise created by two Portuguese natural ecologists. Due to the development and urbanization of agricultural machinery, the usefulness of donkeys has declined sharply, and many donkeys have been abandoned.
Donkeys were already domesticated and could not survive in the wild alone, and people used Miranda donkeys as food for lions and tigers in zoos. Realizing this unfortunate situation, Barbara and Josée came up with a sustainable business idea, started making soap from the milk of the first five Miranda donkeys they adopted, and turned Tomelo Farm into a social enterprise. As of 2021, there are 14 Miranda Donkeys on Tomelo Farm, with official support from the European Union.
Tomelo's 14 donkeys (as of May 2021) Avelã (15 years old) Carocha (13 years old) Egas (11 years old) Faceira (10 years old) Guigui (9 years old) Isca (7 years old) Índia (7 anos), Margaça (4 years old) Orronda (2 years old) Ouriço (2 years old) Pauliteira (1 years old) Papoila (1 years old) Pulguinha (1 years old) Preguiça (1 years old)