Sharjah24 – AFP: Friends and family initially mocked one Jordanian family's new venture making soap from donkey milk. But now, a year on, the company is cleaning up as customers bray for more.
Atan Donkey Milk Soaps produces 100 percent natural soaps from its farm in Madaba, 35 kilometres (21 miles) southwest of Amman, where it keeps 12 donkeys, and a small manufacturing workshop in the Jordanian capital.
Although other regions around the Mediterranean produce soap from donkey milk, this is the first for Jordan.
Donkey's milk is said to be rich in minerals and proteins that can help moisturise the skin. It also has high levels of antioxidants, which protect the skin from sunlight and the effects of ageing, according to beauticians.
One litre of milk produces around 30 bars of soap, but milking each female is a painstaking task done with the help of a hand-held electronic pump.
Each donkey has to be milked three times a day in order to get about a litre of fluid, and leaving about another litre for its foal. The milk is frozen and then transferred to the company's workshop in Amman to be turned into soap.
Research has shown donkey milk can "help regenerate skin cells, reduce signs of ageing and help cure some skin diseases such as eczema," said Attiyat's mother Salma Al-Zubi.
Olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil as well as shea butter are added to the donkey milk to produce the soap which is then sold via their Facebook page.
A small, 85-gram bar of soap costs eight Jordanian dinars ($11), while a large 125-gram bar of soap is sold for ten dinars ($14).
By comparison, a litre of donkey's milk in Europe can reach as high as 60 euros, and is used in making some expensive cheeses.
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