Hello!  And thanks very much for visiting our online storefront!  I'm Carol Ochs (pronounced "Oaks"), soapmaker at Simply Soap, in San Diego, California. Crafting premium handmade soaps for you is my business, but it's first my pleasure! I really have fun going to work every day!  You can check out our workshop tour here if you'd like to see more: WORKSHOP

To answer some FAQ's:

How did I start making soap?

I was inspired to try making soap when my mother-in-law ordered some "handmade soap" for me through a magazine article many years ago and it ended up being the first soap I'd used that did not cause my skin problems!  It was a "Ta-Da" moment!  I started making soap to accommodate my sensitive skin needs.  As I studied and unveiled "back-to-basics" simplicity, I learned why modern day soaps ("detergent bars") caused me unexplainable and seemingly untreatable skin problems for years.  I thought my skin problems were genetic, but it turned out the REAL problem was products I was using ON my skin! 

It helps too I think, that I've always seemed to feel out-of-place in the 21st century, a bit of a throwback to older times and how things "used to be" ...done by hand.  I think I'd feel perfectly comfortable in a medieval village, making and selling my soap wares!  (As long as they had hot running water for the tub back then, .....didn't they?--hehe! *wink*)

How do you know what you're making is really better for your skin? 

From personal experience and customer feedback.  I had always been really confused trying to read soap wrappers from products labeled "natural" or "pure", or even recommended by dermatologists, but they had either no ingredients listed, partial ingredients listed, or had complicated chemical mumbo-jumbo names that I didn't know the meaning of.  When I did some research and found out exactly what those names translated to, I was pretty surprised that manufacturers get away with labeling their soap "all-natural" or "pure"  when it's often not nearly at all!  I wondered why stuff like ethanol alcohol was needed in soap.  I tend to come from the school-of-thought that "things needn't be so complicated"...closest to "as found in nature" is best  In short, soap products are very loosely regulated!  You need to be a self-educated sleuth (or make soap yourself) to find true purity!  And no...chemicals and harsh additives are not needed to get clean.  If it took me learning to make soap myself to control what went into what I used on my skin, then I was ready to go that route!  Anyway, I knew I needed simple, knew I needed pure.  I also knew I couldn't be alone.....  

How does one embark into making soap?

Soapmaking was not an easy craft to learn though!  When I began my study of it in the early '90's, the internet was just coming into existence and not nearly as chockfull of soapmaking info. as it is now.  Finding soapmaking books then was like searching for the Holy Grail!  I had to special-order How-To books from Europe!  And if I was lucky enough to find another soapmaker whose brain I tried to pick, I quickly learned that asking another soapmaker for their recipe is the same as asking for the Holy Grail...a big no-no!  So I realized then and there that lots of trial and error was going to be involved in this little chemistry project I was taking on!  

Initially, I spent over a year, studying, experimenting, and perfecting soap recipes, ...recipes that met my own picky criteria for: 1) being soothing, 2) creamy texture, 3) incredible lather, 4) rinsing CLEAN, 5) not making me itch or break-out, 6) staying firm to the last sliver, 7) and smelling divine!  My background in nursing, a love of herbal gardening and art, a fascination with and desire to use natural plant ingredients, as well as a return to simple methods reminiscent of the ancients....I found myself combining all of my skills and instinctively turning to Wise Woman ways to create soap that worked for my skin.  Initially I made so many trial batches that I had to give soap away because my family and I couldn't possibly use it all!  Our house looked like a soap farm--it was EVERYWHERE!  People we gave it to beginning one Christmas after I'd been making soap over a year, kept coming back, asking to "buy" more!   Voila, a business was born!  But I never wish to minimize or  make a business seem THAT easy to start.  It's a lot of hard work and important to be a good business person as well as a good soapmaker!

What's your set-up like and how did it become a business? 

Simply Soap is green manufactured out of our home-based cottage workshop (click to see virtual tour of workshop) just ten steps out our backdoor, where we use many organic botanicals we grow ourselves.  I live and work here with my husband and three children who also help with the business. We're pleased and proud to be crafting a cruelty-free, Earth-friendly product.  Bathing rituals are an opportunity to reconnect with the beauty and simplicity of nature, luxuriate & re-center your mind.  Hence, the message I put on all of my soap labels:

"May you never lose the sense of harmony obtainable through rituals as simple as bathing.  Make the ordinary extraordinary; add richness to everyday traditions!  

So that's how our company evolved!  I continually experiment, seeking out new ingredients and special purpose formulas based on customer feedback and requests.  I love making soap...it's a passion!  A "great day" to me is one where I can spend it experimenting with my many jars and bottles of oils, herbs, and botanicals, concocting to my heart's content! My family affectionately refers to me as either "The Mad Scientist" or "The Soap Witch"!...(I'm probably a bit of both!)  We sell Simply Soap to retail and wholesale clients globally via our website, meeting the most interesting folks from all walks of life!  We all seem to have at least two things in common; we like to be clean ...simply clean, and re-connect with nature!  

Can I come tour your workshop or buy from you there?

As a home-based business, we are not zoned for, nor insured for commercial traffic; our web site IS our storefront, so all orders are shipped out from us, we are NOT able to accommodate drop-by shopping or tours.  Sorry! 

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I invite YOU to try Simply Soap!  Come feel the immediate difference & enjoy a pleasurable experience with YOUR bathing rituals!  Thanks for your interest!  We always appreciate feedback and suggestions! simplysoap@aol.com 

     Carol Ochs, Owner - Simply Soap

 (And by the way, it's much easier nowadays to obtain soapmaking info. and books!  A simple online search for "soapmaking" will yield you a wealth of information and soapmaking online communities! But one thing hasn't changed---usually no book, and no soapmaker worth their salt will just "give" you their hard-earned "best" recipe.  But most published recipes are great starting points to begin at!  I also never recommend any new soapmaker begin "selling" their soap until they have at least a year of solid soapmaking experience under their belt.)     

Copyright protected and registered © 1994- Carol Ochs, Simply Soap.  All rights reserved.  The name Simply Soap is registered trademarked in the USA, Serial Number 75686743, Registration Number 2379053. All others in the U.S. using this name are illegal infringers. 

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