How My Soaping Addiction Started

I started my encounter with soap about 2 years ago when I came across Melt & Pour at Hobby Lobby. I have always been an avid DIYer and being able to make custom soaps for Christmas gifts was right up my alley. I had a few animal molds and made soap on a yarn string for all my nephew. And, my kids got to help! Fast forward to 2015 and I was researching laundry soap. Keep in mind that I had already been making my own laundry soap out of grated dove bars, borax and washing soda, but wasn’t happy with how it was cleaning. Then I found Fels Naphtha and a recipe for using that to make a 5 lb. bucket worth of laundry soap. I really liked that so much better, but I was positive I could make my own version of bar soap so much cheaper, if I only did a little research. Also the thought have having complete control over what went into the products I used on my kids was a huge draw.

I love YouTube. Being a visual learner, YouTube is right up my alley. And it didn’t take long for me to find the amazing, beautiful world of soap making out there. I quickly went from watching laundry soap DIYs to handcrafters swirling, coloring and doing all sorts of magic with soap. I watched every episode of Soaping 101, drooled at Sarah Milroy from Spicy Pinecone, and couldn’t look away as Katy White from Royalty Soaps made her creations. I think I watched 3-4 hours of YouTube videos a day, for about 6 months, all while doing research online as well. Having once been a couponer, I had a stash of bath, body and household cleaners that I quickly posted on Facebook to sell so that I could buy supplies to make my own soap. $40 richer, I set out to order supplies.  

First thing I made was laundry bars. As soon as I unmolded them, I knew I was hooked. I commissioned my husband to make me a tall and skinny mold out of scrap wood because I was going to try some color and design. Half a thumb (hubby nearly took of the whole top of his thumb in a freak accident cutting the wood for my mold), several redesigns and a roll of freezer paper later, I was ready. What was meant to be a delicate feather swirl turned in to a plop and drop and a half full mold. I didn’t calculate my mold size correctly and ended up with these tiny little bars of soaps scented in White Tea and Ginger, from Bramble Berry. I quickly whipped out a couple more batches and had friends and family using them in no time.

One day as I looked at the amount of soap I had just made, I realized that I had made enough to support my family’s cleanliness need for about the next 6 years. And I wanted to make more soap!!!

So, my husband said to me: “Honey, this stuff is awesome! Why don’t you sell it?” (Can y’all see why I love this man??!!)

Colored Ginger: my first soap using micas to color it.

It was supposed to be tall and skinny, but is short and sweet.

After pondering that this would mean I would then get to make MORE soap, I agreed. And so, the adventure of being a small business owner began.