I have been making Handmade Cold Process soap since I was given a book my Tatyana Hill back in 2004 when I started developing allergies to skincare and other household products.

This book was visually spectacular and gave me a lot of inspiration in my early tries but I never quite got the results I expected.   There are different types of soap and for many people the hard smooth shiny bars from Imperial Leather or Cussons where all we knew of soap.  Commercial soap is made in huge vats using the continuous method which essentially means ingredients are added to the vat and sometimes by products of the chemical reaction are removed because they are more valuable.  A good example of this is Glycerin which is a product of the reaction between the oils and the sodium hydroxide (commonly known as Caustic Soda) glycerin is a naturally moisturising ingredient used in other cosmetics and is highly prized.   Extracting this can mean the soap is less moisturising which can give rise to the common refrain I hear in the shop that people cannot use bar soap because it dries their skin out.   

Handmade Cold Process Soap is a very different beast and I have spent years educating people on the vast difference in how works and what is does to your skin.  As you can imagine I am a passionate convert and nothing but my own soap has been on my skin or my families skin since 2004!   Handmade soap is made in small batches in a pan by melting the oils, adding water and caustic soda and blending until it thickens before adding essential oils, clays, herbs and other natural ingredients designed to enhance the soap.  Sometimes additional oils are added to make the soap more moisturising and sometimes you can add milk instead of water which has natural benefits.

I have always loved passing on my knowledge and have taught many people over the years how to make soap that can be tailored to each person using it and is a simple a cost effective way of saving money and plastic by making a large batch once or twice a year to last your family for washing, shampoo, cleaning and gifting throughout the year.      I am starting to teach soap, skincare and candle making again and am hoping to take my workshops on the road to a community hall or space near you in the next few months.  If you want to learn a usefull skill using your own herbs, goats milk and other natural ingredients please get in touch  for availability.   

 

Thanks Sarah

When it comes to handmade soap one of the biggest issues we find from our customers is the soap not drying our properly and becoming soft and squidgy and frankly not lasting as long as it should.  To give you small amount of technical information soap is made from a magical combination of Oils, Water and Sodium Hydroxide in a mysterious process called Saponification!

 

This process turns simple ingredients into Soap and Glycerin which is an amazing skin product that moisturises whilst drawing moisture to it.  Glycerin carries on attracting moisture so when a bar of soap is sat in a pretty but inpractical soap dish with no ridges and no drainage it soon sucks up water and turns to a fragrant but mushy mess (hardly cost effective!)

A few tweaks to your sink apparel can solve this problem and ensure long lasting soap.  If you love a pretty china or pottery soap dish then a quick solution is a slice of Loofah on top to place the soap dish raising it up from the water and ensuring good air circulation.  Not to mention a fabulous soap impregnated scouring pad to clean the sink with.

One of our best selling soap dishes is a wooden Hemu soap dish with wide slats and raised sides to keep the soap away from water and drain it well between uses

If you fancy a bit of 80's Nostalgia then a fantastic new (see reworked for the 21st Century) product is our magnetic soap holder which is ones of my absolute favourites and guaranteed to ensure long lasting soap.  Simply pop the bottle top shaped metal part into a bar of soap and stick the sucker on the tiles or the side of the sink ensuring super dry soap all the time

 

And last but by no means least Soap on A rope, the 80's Classic (can you tell I am a child of the 80's?) hangs in the shower allowing air to circulate round the bar ensuring is stays dry between uses and has a handy strap to hold onto preventing soap slipping in to the bath!

So don't fret if you have wet soap, help is here for all budgets and if you fancy a go at The Good Life you can grow your own Loofah so you never run out of soap dishes or kitchen scourers ever again!

Take Care Sarah

The Clovelly Soap Company was my dream for the last 14 years and I have slowly worked towards being where we are now. I managed on my own making small batches of soap for years and selling at craft fairs and a few local shops in London.

 

Once we had moved to Clovelly the decision to really grow the business had to be a joint one with my husband Casie who was integral to the explansion plan. He took over making the soap about 3 years ago when the pans just became too heavy for me and I wanted to concentrate on our brand, working on sales and designing ranges.

 

 

Now we work together to run our lovely little shop in the pictureque & unique tourist village of Clovelly where we live, send out orders to our lovely stockists and design ranges, products and packaging for one off promotional soaps, corporate gifts, wedding favours and guest soaps. It is a juggle with family life but we wouldn't have it any other way. Making Soap and Candles looking out of our studio window is bliss and being able to sneak off to surf or garden or just hang out with the kids make this the best job in the world.