FAQ - Why did you start making soap?

This is a common question I get from friends and family when I tell them about our business.
The quick answer to the question of why is both, "because it's neat" and "for fun."

Similar to this is another common question "How'd you get started in that?"

The answer to this one is a little longer.
The story starts one morning when I announced that I would be replacing all of our purchased household cleaners with homemade kinds. These are the kinds of things I sometimes decide to do. Matt replied, "Well, if we're going to make those, then I want to learn how to make some shave soaps, too." As we said in the last post, "When we first started out with soaping, it was to create a good shave soap for Matt to use with his straight razor."

Making the household cleaners was pretty quick and non-complicated. However, we quickly learned that making your own soap "from scratch" involves quite a bit more work and research. After some quick internet reading on the subject, Matt purchased a how-to book on soaping and finished it in one day. Then began the process of collecting up supplies and materials to use. Most of the pots, measuring tools, and the like can be purchased in any old store. The oils, lye, and molds we purchased online (our "how do you make soap?" post is coming soon).

After making a couple simple batches Matt wanted to learn more, so he read a more technical and scientific book on soaping. He made his own log molds in his dad's wood shop, and he began teaching me the craft.

That's pretty much how we got started. Fast forward to now and we still think it's pretty neat, and a lot of fun.

-Nicole