Why did you become a Soap Maker/Artisan?

[Jody]

My sister-in-law from Nanimo, B.C. has a friend who makes soap and we were both curious so we went over to her house one day with wine and said "make soap with us". She wouldn't let us drink the wine until after the soap was made or at least until the lye was mixed and in but she hooked us both instantly.

I got really interested and started reading and searching the internet for anything and everything I could find and started branching out a little from the very basic soap we made with her friend. My sister-in-law was here this wekend and saw all the soaps I have been making so she is going to start branching out too. Mostly she makes awesome jewelry and has done some soap but is going to make more now.

 

[Lindy]

Jody - believe it or not but soap & jewellery go together well - especially on the same table / cart / booth.

 

[topcat]

Jody - believe it or not but soap & jewellery go together well - especially on the same table / cart / booth.

That is great to hear Linda - I am going to a market with my Mum in a couple of weeks (my first real market) and she sells.....jewellery! So that is a plus for me - yay :wink:

TC

 

[jenn624]

A combination of a new outlet for creativity (I LOVE to create things - drawing, painting, crafting, designing websites, making soap, etc), needing something to give for Christmas, and my own dry & itchy skin (winter is murder on me argh! itchy)
Soap is really fun to make, and you can just do so much with it. I like hobbies where there are always new things to try and new stuff to learn.

 

[pepperi27]

Commercial soaps make me itch like mad! I started out making candles first then mp then rebatching. I love it all its so much fun learning and creating whatever I want!

 

[Deda]

I didn't start out to make soap. I started out studying Holistic Medicine. My path just kinda meandered until one day I woke up and I was a Soapmaker.

 

[starduster]

When is the dream

I didn't start out to make soap. I started out studying Holistic Medicine. My path just kinda meandered until one day I woke up and I was a Soapmaker.

Ahh deda, I think maybe you're still in the big dream. Only you got all of us in there with you .zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Deda]

Don't wake me up!

 

[carebear]

nothing to do with being an artisan, that's for sure.

I loved the way my son's eczema disappeared...

If I wasn't trying to build a business my house would be full of uncomplicated, un scented, un colored SOAP with nothing funky added.

 

[Jnice999]

Carebear can you tell me what type of soap you have used for your son. My 10mn old has very sensitive skin, really dry patches on her cheeks they are always red. I have tried so many natural remedies.

 

[carebear]

Actually we can use any hand made soap as long as it's not a detergent product as most commercial soaps are

If it's on his cheeks I'd make sure you do a double rinse on the laundry and make sure to use a detergent that does NOT contain enzymes (it's on the label in itsy bitsy print) such as All.

PM me your address and I'll send you the mildest soap I make. If *I* can wash my face with it (menopause is NOT kind to skin) then anyone should be able to use it. But really - don't use soap of any kind on his face - and probably doesn't need it on his body either.

(natural remedies didn't get me anywhere, and straight shea butter made ours worse. Eucerine cream was the best we found)

 

[carebear]

oh, and be on the lookout for food allergies - if the eczema comes and goes see if you can find a pattern. it's a possibility.

 

[bhendrix]

I like to make pottery and i needed something cute to put in my bowls
i love a new hobby so i can buy new doodads and gaggets
i'm an elementary art teacher and the others teachers really like my soap

 

[beachgurl]

My kids have always had problems with "excema", supposedly. I also had skin problems, it's really humid here and my skin would crack and peel even in the summers. I got a bar of cold process soap from a place called Natural Acres in Pennsylvania and within 3 days the peeling of my skin stopped. It all went downhill from there and I can't stop. My kids haven't had an episode of excema since and my skin has never again peeled. It's also a great stress buster.

 

[carebear]

My kids have always had problems with "excema", supposedly. I also had skin problems, it's really humid here and my skin would crack and peel even in the summers. I got a bar of cold process soap from a place called Natural Acres in Pennsylvania and within 3 days the peeling of my skin stopped. It all went downhill from there and I can't stop. My kids haven't had an episode of excema since and my skin has never again peeled. It's also a great stress buster.

that was pretty much our experience as well. Isn't it amazing?

(of course it would have been much cheaper just to buy more soap, but not half as much fun as this tremendously expensive hobby LOL)

 

[Guest]

why soap?

I started soaping as an arts and crafts project for my son. I left the bars lying around and the nanny used one...then came back for more. Thent....it was all blur.......now I'm a soapmaker.

 

[IanT]

For me... Ive always wanted to make and use things that were as close to the source as I could. I dont trust consumer products because you never know what they put in that stuff and if I make my own... I ve got TONS of choices (come on with the smiley digi :* )...

I love it though... the satisfaction of using your own product is incomparable

 

[Tabitha]

I got hooked on a $10.00 bar of soap in a high end boutique where I used to dress windows/mannequins. After I had kids, no longer worked there (or anywhere else), I no longer got the discount so I no longer could afford the soap. I looked for a recipe online to make it... 8 years later here I am.

 

[nettles]

I first started making soap about 25 years ago. Then, I was a young, idealistic back-to-the-lander that wanted to do EVERYTHING by hand, the old-fashioned (READ : the most difficult LOL) way. So, when a neighbor was butchering a cow, I asked for the scraps of fat, and rendered the tallow. My first mold was empty milk cartons. My kids grew up using that soap - one commented just the other day how she remembers those hard, smelly brown chunks of soap..... (I tried my best)

NOW is a different story! My soaps are all vegan and pretty and scented with essential oils. I've come a long way. The only thing is, I think those jokes made about making soap being addicting are NOT jokes! I'm hooked. I love it. I love everything about it. Well, I love MOST things about it. Lining the molds is not my favorite. And I REALLY love those mornings when I know I have some soap to take out of the mold. It makes me spring out of bed with a smile. And then comes the unmolding.... Ahhhhh! How pretty! And if it is NOT A-OK, that has the ability to wreck my day.

 

[honor435]

Just wondering what made you choose soapmaking?I haven't started yet (waiting for my supplies). But I love how creative you can be with soaps, and to be able to make something for my family to use everyday is pretty cool. I also have a 10mn old baby with sensitive skin so I already have a couple of soaps in mind for her. Oh and saving money is a definite plus.

I have always been a soap addict, buying, now i can make my own "smells" and i know whats in it!! Iam selling some and giving for gifts, people love it.