Frequently asked questions for handmade soap

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Your skin is your body's largest organ and it absorbs nearly everything that is applied to it. Most commercial soaps found in grocery stores contain artificial perfumes, dyes, and fillers and are typically made from the cheapest, most "cost effective" ingredients. So bathing with these types of mass-produced harsh soaps can expose your body to detrimental chemicals. They also can be quite drying to your skin since most commercial soap factories extract the natural glycerine formed in the soap making process.

On the other hand, Soap Chest soap is made in small batches using high quality natural ingredients. Great care is taken to ensure that each bar is fresh, gentle, and wholesome. We harvest fresh herbs from our garden and procure goat milk from local farmers to enrich and enhance our soap. We also create infusions from calendula and other botanicals to further augment the nourishing  qualities of our soap. Pure essential oils are purchased from around the world and spices and colorants are carefully selected for quality and effectiveness.

At The Soap Chest we use the "cold process" method of making soap. We start from scratch (we never use a "melt-and-pour" block of soap) with a variety of vegetable oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, safflower oil and sustainably harvested palm oil. To these may be added exotic butters (such as shea butter or mango butter) and specialty ingredients like clay, seeds, botanicals and ground oats. These oils are saponified (chemically turned to soap) using sodium hydroxide. When all these ingredients are measured and added correctly, the end result is a mild, pure soap that gently cleans your skin without being harsh, drying or irritating. In addition, we add pure essential oils (and sometimes fragrance oils) to our soap to create wonderful aromatic scents and herbs and spices for eye-appealing texture and color.

We feel that natural handcrafted soap should be affordable so you can use it every day. We work very efficiently, executing almost all facets of our business "in house". We buy our ingredients in bulk quantities, we reuse and recycle, and we are simply fanatics about waste! We work hard to make great soap at a great price and still maintain the highest quality standards.

Direct sunlight and dampness are the enemies of natural products, so you will want to store your soap in a cool, dry place. Many people enjoy putting their aromatic bars of soap in a clothes drawer until ready to use. For best results, you should plan to use your handmade soap within a year.

It depends on where you use it. A bar of soap at the sink will last for thousands of hand washings–typically three to six months. A bar in the shower used by two people will last three to four weeks. Always keep your soap on some type of rack or dish so it doesn't sit in water. You will notice that it lasts much longer than a "store bought" bar.