I’ve been making soap since 1998. What originally began as a “cute idea” got under my skin and now I am hooked!

It all started when I moved to our family ranch. Once my daughter and I arrived, I started looking for ways to support myself. I wanted to do something that was somehow related to the land, so I started researching different types of “homesteading” activities.

Animal husbandry was out because I didn’t really want to raise and then sell or kill animals every year. Plant crops seemed like an awfully lot of work. And besides, I didn’t really have the skill set for either activity. Weaving never really interested me. Quilting didn’t seem like it would produce sufficient income. And then there was soapmaking.

Choosing Soapmaking as My New Career

There was something about the idea of soapmaking that appealed to me. I’d never made soap - didn’t even know that you could make soap until I started reading up. But I just kept coming back to it.

Then I read that the earlier soap makers were called “Soap Chandlers”. Hmmm. My maiden name is Chandler. I had moved to the Chandler Ranch. The epiphany came - I’d go for soapmaking and Chandler’s Soaps was born.

The Beginnings

Shortly after I made my decision to make soap making my new career, my niece Shelly got a divorce and needed a retreat for herself and her two young girls. So Shelly, with daughters Sabrina and Sarah, arrived at the ranch and Shelly became a partner in Chandler’s Soaps.

Together Shelly and I learned soap making. We studied books, bought and experimented with ingredients, forayed into the growing world of internet soap making sites and gradually became pretty good soapmakers!

That first year we sold our soap at local craft shows, to family and to a few other customers from word of mouth. I thought we had discovered the newest, greatest, big idea!

The Evolution of a Soap Maker

It was at one of those craft shows that I met someone who mentioned there was a Guild for handcrafted soap makers. I was so surprised that there were even enough soap makers to create a guild! Shelly and I went to the 3rd Annual Conference of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild in Hood River, Oregon in 1999. It was terrific and inspiring.

My soap making skills increased and we added different kinds of soap to our product line. We also discovered creams, lotions, body oils, and other products that used the same ingredients. More expansion (maybe too much expansion) ensued in 1999.

During that time a marvelous man entered my life. He also happened to be a website designer, so the first website for Chandler’s Soaps was launched in 1999.

In mid-2000 Shelly decided that it would be best for her and the girls to get back to “civilization” so she moved back to Seattle. I was sorry to see her go.

My Soapmaking at Present

I am still making soap, still inventing new and different types and scents of soaps and still enjoying both the creative and manufacturing processes.

In 2001 I built a small workshop in which I make my soap. In 2003, I opened a small store in downtown Myrtle Point, Oregon.

Over the years I’ve developed a range of products and standard formulations that I am very happy with. I’m still working to improve my packaging and marketing, but the soap itself is (if I do say so myself) really excellent! I use it for everyting - my face, body, feet and hands, kitchen dishes, laundry, washing the horses and dogs, and even cleaning the car!

For a discussion what soapmaking is all about, see The Art & Science of Making Soap

For pictures and an explanation of the soap making process, see Making Soap.

For information about current products (and to purchase them if you want), go to www.chandlerssoaps.com.