Our story
The fire that started it all.
Long before handmade soap became fashionable, our grandfather, Oupa Jan, made soap because that's what people did. After meat processing, he rendered the leftover tallow himself, built a fire outside, and stirred a great pot of soap by hand. It wasn't a hobby or a business. It was simply part of life.
Oupa Jan
The fire that started it all.
The whole family was involved in one way or another, and those days became memories that stayed with us long after childhood.
The boerseep he made wasn't for skincare. It was hardworking soap, used for washing clothes and everyday household chores. But standing around that fire, watching simple ingredients become something useful, planted a seed that would quietly grow for years.
We never imagined then that those memories would one day inspire our own journey.
Two sisters
Coming home to craft.
Life took us in different directions, but our connection to the area and our family remained. While the original family farm, Susandale, is no longer in our family's hands, the memories of it have never faded.
Years later, as two sisters talking about what came next in our lives, something remarkable happened. Without planning it or mentioning it beforehand, we both said exactly the same thing on the very same day: "I want to make soap." Neither of us knew the other had been thinking it. We looked at each other and smiled. It felt like more than coincidence. It felt like a sign.
That conversation became the beginning of Wildgrain Co. Inspired by the memories of Oupa Jan making traditional tallow soap over an open fire, we set out to create something of our own. We studied, experimented, and carefully refined the old-style recipe into a nourishing soap that is gentle enough for everyday skincare while still honouring the nose-to-tail philosophy that wasted nothing.
As two sisters, we created Wildgrain Co to honour a family legacy, not by recreating the past, but by building on it. We take the values we grew up with — honest ingredients, careful craftsmanship, and respect for every part of the process — and carry them into every bar we make today.
What we promise
Four principles. Nothing more.
Ethically sourced tallow
From ethical South African suppliers, sourced with the intention of being kind to nature.
Whole, recognisable ingredients
Never more than six per bar — everything on the label, everything you could pronounce.
Truly small batches
Poured, cut and cured by hand. If we can't make it well, we don't make it.
Kind to skin, kind to earth
Nose-to-tail respect, minimal and recyclable packaging - always.
