Enchanted Cabin Soaps

Thank you, everyone who came out to see me at TRU Yoga for the Southwedge holiday festival yesterday!  I am “sold out” of several items now, and excited to make more for the orders coming in. Yesterday was a FANTASTIC event!  Lots of people came through, and it was inspiring to meet so many interesting and cool people. 

I love when people ask how soap is made and I get to talk about it.  Many people asked how I make the intricate molded soaps, like the featured “raw shea butter & activated charcoal” soaps that were such a hit.  I talked about the Polish artist who sells the complex dragon’s eye, mushroom, fairy doorway, castle, etc silicone molds, and the Russian lady who makes silicone mats with “old world” Christmas scenes.  My “Winter Wonderland” Old World Christmas soaps sold out so fast, I didn’t even have time to take photos of most of them!  Creating the “cameo” bas-relief effect with soap is tricky, involving multiple pours of soap with different consistencies. 

One little girl around my son’s age (10) wondered out loud, “how do you MAKE soap?”  Her dad nudged her and told her to ask me.  She shyly stepped over to me and asked, and I delighted in telling her about the lye crystals, the exothermic reactions, and the vast variety of butters, oils, and fats you can make soap with.  When I describe wearing head-to-toe protective gear to handle activated lye, her eyes got huge!!  It was inspiring to hear how many people are interested in the soapmaking process, which is a magical combination of chemistry, nature, and art.

Saponification truly is amazing to experience, as you take disparate substances and combine them to make a radically new substance that is vital to human life.  One visitor commented about the “witchy” nature of soapmaking, and I said, “YES!  Our great-great-great grandmothers actually made soap in a cauldron over an open fire, stirring together wood ash natural lye and animal fats to create the earliest soap!”  

The soap we create isn’t just pretty – it’s a human necessity that protects us from disease.  Everyone uses soap!  No other substance has quite the same molecular ability to latch on to dirt, grease, grime, and germs on our skin and pull them away.  I love the practical dimension of soapmaking, and how it can simultaneously be an act of magic, science, art, and utility.  

I will be teaching soapmaking classes in the new year!  I’ve taught classes at University of Rochester since 2008 and and through my 10+ years at Chariot Learning, and now I’m thrilled to begin teaching small batches of students at my soap studio at the Lower Mill in Honeoye Falls.  

Thanks for visiting my blog!